A genre from below, that what metal is.

It is quite astonishing how closed and underground the genre is, even in these modern days we live in.
There is no authority in the genre to shape the developments or to be the opinion leader.
There is not even a general consent concerning the boundaries of the genre itself.


So taking into account the somewhat anarchistic nature of the genre wouldn't it be interestning and
quite possibly very enlightening to see how has science dealt with the genre.

The idea behind creating this thread is to have place were we could exchange links or
bibliographical information concerning professsional studies on metal.
There should be no confinements in what reagrds the discipline or field the work is from.
Sociolgy, history of music, musical theory, genealogy of genealogy musical/metal genres are first that come to my mind.


And ofcourse this here could be a place where we can express our views
on the relationship of scinetific study of the genre and the genre itself.

There was a professor at my University that had been trying for years to get the department to let him teach a class of this nature...lets just say he's still fighting...too bad though...

Is the genre really still that closed and underground these days? I don't know how it is over there, but the more the years go on in North America the genre has been getting less closed and underground...

I don't know what you mean by an "opinion leader"...a spokesperson for the entire genre, you mean? I don't think any genre of music has one of those...every band in metal seperately has the ability to shape the genre in whatever new developments and bands just follow behind and build up behind that band in support...one "opinion leader" could've been Chuck from Death...Death came out of nowhere and a stack of bands followed behind him...as far as consent is concerned...in other genres of music, there are so many disgusting and appaling things happening...where was the consent on the boundaries of what is going on the social and political realms of those genres?

I think there is one man out there who would want to teach the anthropoligical aspects of metal...Sam Dunn

Oh yeah 'opinion leader' is an expression from my vernacular which I shouldn't tried to translate. What I mean was an establishment, for exmaple as in literature where certain journals or schools shape the opinion of larger group of people and often take the liberty to decide the criteria for quality.

About the genre being underground, I think metal still does retain a mentality of 'undergroundedness'. As you can see this is the part of me speaking who has been got his training in metal forums such as this here and doesn't take into account mainstream metal.

If you do have any links to the writings, if there are any, of these two men, do share them with us.

An interesting study on the workings of scene (in this case extreme metal) is by Keith Kahn Harris and is called Extreme Metal Music And Culture On The Edge It is a sociological dissertation on how the extrme metal scene works. But I find it can also be applied to f.e. the doom metal scene and other scenes.
Keith used to write for Terrorizer Magazine and can be contacted at www.kahn-harris.org.
I think he might be able to help you further.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 17.11.2008 at 01:31

An interesting study on the workings of scene (in this case extreme metal) is by Keith Kahn Harris and is called Extreme Metal Music And Culture On The Edge It is a sociological dissertation on how the extrme metal scene works. But I find it can also be applied to f.e. the doom metal scene and other scenes.
Keith used to write for Terrorizer Magazine and can be contacted at www.kahn-harris.org.
I think he might be able to help you further.

that sounds awesome. definitely looking at this.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 17.11.2008 at 01:31

An interesting study on the workings of scene (in this case extreme metal) is by Keith Kahn Harris and is called Extreme Metal Music And Culture On The Edge It is a sociological dissertation on how the extrme metal scene works. But I find it can also be applied to f.e. the doom metal scene and other scenes.
Keith used to write for Terrorizer Magazine and can be contacted at www.kahn-harris.org.
I think he might be able to help you further.

Where can we find this? Was it published?

Written by BloodTears on 17.11.2008 at 11:06


Where can we find this? Was it published?

It was published by Berg.

So...

Publishing House: Berg
First Published: 2007
Author: Keith Kahn Harris
Title: Extreme Metal: Music And Culture On The Edge
ISBN: 1 84520 399 2

But beware for it is dry scholarly reading most of the times.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 17.11.2008 at 11:50

Written by BloodTears on 17.11.2008 at 11:06


Where can we find this? Was it published?

It was published by Berg.

So...

Publishing House: Berg
First Published: 2007
Author: Keith Kahn Harris
Title: Extreme Metal: Music And Culture On The Edge
ISBN: 1 84520 399 2

But beware for it is dry scholarly reading most of the times.

Believe me, I'm quite aware of the academic dryness

Thanks.

This is an interesting thread, and it is a subject that I have been mulling in my own mind for some time. I would love to see a medium set up where metalheads who take very seriously their understanding of the genre could dicuss it from an academic perspective. This would create an opportunity for us to collectively define what constitutes metal, and get away from the "I know it when I see it" approach.

Not that I am for setting up strict boundaries and placing bands within definitions that are confining, but in order to gain a deeper understanding of something, you first have to set up some parameters around what you are talking about.

I also enjoy some of the more "academic" books on Metal. Deena Weinstein's "Heavy Metal: The Music And Its Culture" is good. I have yet to read Kahn-Harris' book, but it is on my to-read list, as is Daniel Ekeroth's "Swedish Death Metal."