For the dates and times of all panels and workshops please see the conference program.
More information on the presenters and chairs can be found on our conference contributors page.
Panel I: Symbolic Thought Patterns of Spiritual Healing: Deciphering Religious Symbolism
1. To Hades and Back: A Reflection on the Reception of Religious Symbols in Metal
Anna-Katharina Höpflinger, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
In the public imaginary, premodern cultures are often defined as being permeated by religious world views, mythologies and practices, while in the modern era so-called “secularisation” prevails. Apart from the fact that this assumption is too simple, we can ask: how does metal as a “modern” music genre deal with such contemporary ideas (and stereotypes) of religion in premodernity? Are there trends in how religion is thematised in metal when reflecting premodern cultures? And why does the preoccupation with religion and the reception of (premodern) religious symbols seem to be so common in metal music and the metal scene?
In my presentation, I will reflect on the “use” of religious symbols in metal, while also considering a helpful definition of religion for the study of metal. I will illustrate my thoughts with selected examples of metal’s preoccupation with premodern cultures. In terms of form, the paper will be a classic short lecture.
2. Ancient Egypt and Extreme Metal
Markus Kutschka, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
This contribution provides an overview of the motifs of the reception of ancient Egypt by extreme metal bands, focusing on death and black metal. The reception in music, image and lyrics of bands coming from Egypt itself and Germany will be described. A basic observation indicates that the incorporation of ancient Egyptian elements primarily manifests in the lyrics and visual elements, such as album artwork. Generally, the musical compositions themselves appear to remain relatively unaffected. The connection to ancient Egypt is predominantly forged through the synergy between music, imagery, and textual content. Prominent visual motifs include ancient Egyptian symbols such as the “Ankh” and the “Udjat eye,” depictions of deities and pharaohs, hieroglyphic texts, as well as representations of monuments such as temples. At least six major lyrical themes are covered: historical events, mythological stories, conceptions about gods and theology, fictional stories set in Egypt, modern social and regime criticism, and the reception of an already existing reception of ancient Egypt.
3. Puratu, Tigris, Esir: Anatolian Culture and Spirituality in the Music of Pentagram (Mezarkabul)
Ceren Kuşdemir Özbilek, Yaşar Üniversitesi
Pentagram (aka Mezarkabul) is a Turkish heavy metal band that was formed in 1984 and it is probably the most famous Turkish metal band abroad. They have eight studio albums so far and what makes the band unique in Turkish metal scene is the fact that they’ve changed their musical style with each album. Their first two albums, Pentagram (1990) and Trail Blazer (1992) overwhelmingly have speed and thrash metal sounds whereas their last three albums, MMXII (2012), Akustik (2017), and Makina Elektrika (2022), moved more towards a rather softer version of heavy metal. However, it is their third, fourth and fifth albums that define the band’s peculiar sound and secured its place in Turkish metal music. Anatolia (1997), Unspoken (2001), and Bir (2002) are albums that incorporate Turkish folk and traditional music sounds along with classic heavy metal tunes. For example, they extensively use bağlama, a famous Turkish string instrument, and the lyrics in these three albums are heavily influenced by Islamic mysticism and Sufism. The band’s journey from speed and thrash metal to heavy metal with Turkish undertones clearly marks a point in the band’s discography in which questioning this shift is inevitable. I argue that this shift designates a response to the allegations of satanism towards the band and a way to actualize the will to produce music that is both “Western” and “Eastern” by keeping the heavy metal element and adding premodern Anatolian cultural components to appeal to the Turkish listeners. In this way, it is possible to read this shift to premodern Turkish culture as the band’s way to gauge and deal with the reception of metal music in Turkey. This study will include analyses of sample songs that contain Anatolian cultural and spiritual elements as well as how the band has changed the reception of metal music in Turkey.
Panel II: Aproximaciones a la premodernidad en tu idioma: Miradas desde investigaciones hispanohablantes y latinoamericanas (Approaches to Premodernity in Your Language: Perspectives from Spanish-Speaking & Latin-American Research)
1. Conversando con Quijano sobre las warmikuna: Sexo-género, evidencia histórica y metal andino peruano (Talking with Quijano about warmikuna: Sex-Gender, Historical Evidence, and Peruvian Andean Metal)
María de la Luz Núñez, Universidad de Chile
En este trabajo indago los modos en que las mujeres son representadas y/o incluidas en los discos de metal andino peruano desde el concepto de “colonialidad del poder”. Si bien algunxs académicxs ya han investigado la música metal desde una perspectiva decolonial, todxs ellxs trabajan con varixs autorxs, sobre todo al momento de analizar evidencias desde una perspectiva de género. En cambio, en este trabajo propongo centrarme solo en la noción de “colonialidad del poder” de Aníbal Quijano, de modo que pueda mostrar sus componentes y la importancia que tiene el factor sexo/género en él. Para lograr tal fin presento el concepto de “colonialidad del poder”, expongo brevemente sus componentes, y me concentro en el factor sexo/género,dialogando con la crítica que María Lugones hace al respecto. Seguidamente, muestro algunas evidencias históricas que sustentan la importancia de dicho componente en la teoría de Quijano. Después, hago una rápida presentación del metal andino peruano, nombrando las 10 bandas que conforman dicho subgénero, mostrando su particular instrumentación, y los temas que comparten sus portadas y letras. Por último, me fijo en las escasas veces que las mujeres son incluidas en dichas producciones, ya seadentro de las portadas, las letras, o en el papel que tuvieronlas músicas dentro de las bandas. Todo ello me permitirá saber si existe “colonialidad del poder” en los roles que ellas cumplieron y la manera en que son representadas; o si, por el contrario, su presencia puede ser interpretada como una práctica decolonial del metal.
In this work I investigate the ways in which women are represented and/or included in Peruvian Andean metal albums from the concept of “coloniality of power.” Although some academics have already investigated metal music from a decolonial perspective, they all work with various authors, especially when analyzing evidence from a gender perspective. Instead, in this work I propose to focus only on Aníbal Quijano’s notion of “coloniality of power,” so that I can show its components and the importance that the sex/gender factor has in it. To achieve this goal, I present the concept of “coloniality of power”, briefly explain its components, and focus on the sex/gender factor, dialoguing with the criticism that María Lugones makes in this regard. Next, I show some historical evidence that supports the importance of said component in Quijano’s theory. Afterwards, I make a quick presentation of Peruvian Andean metal, naming the 10 bands that make up said subgenre, showing their particular instrumentation, and the songs that share their covers and lyrics. Finally, I look at the few times that women are included in these productions, whether on the covers, the lyrics, or in the role that the musicians had within the bands. All of this will allow me to know if there is “coloniality of power” in the roles they played and the way in which they are represented; or if, on the contrary, its presence can be interpreted as a decolonial practice of metal.
2. La premodernidad en el otro lado: Mitología mesoamericana en los nombres de bandas mexicanas de heavy metal (Premodernity on the Other Side: Mesoamerican Mythology in the Names of Mexican Metal Bands)
Miguel Reyes Contreras, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México
En el escenario actual del heavy metal en México, muchas bandas han desarrollado un discurso para empoderar las culturas indígenas. A partir de un trabajo previo (Reyes, 2021) donde se explora el proceso de nominación en el mundo del heavy metal se encuentran algunos patrones lingüísticos. Sin embargo, una revisión a fondo de los nombres de las bandas mexicanas revela que existe un interés creciente hacia las culturas precolombinas, lo que se refleja tanto en la denominación de bandas como de álbumes. Tomando esto en consideración, la presente comunicación tiene el propósito de analizar el proceso de denominación de bandas que han optado nombrarse con un nombre en lengua indígena y presentar un panorama de los temas en sus letras. Esta búsqueda podría revelar un discurso en común entre las bandas que buscan una revitalización de las tradiciones precolombinas y darles relevancia. Mediante una recopilación de nombres en Encyclopedia Metallum, se realiza un análisis lingüístico de los nombres y los temas. Se recuperan más de 4000 nombres y se analizarán los 100 que están en lenguas prehispánicas. Hasta el momento, los resultados revelan que el maya y el náhuatl son las lenguas más destacadas, aunque hay algunas que cantan en otras lenguas y que no se encuentran en la página web y que se han agregado a la base de datos. En cuanto al Análisis del discurso de las bandas que se enfocan en lo indígena muestran un compromiso para destacar la cultura premoderna en estos tiempos.
On the current Mexican Scenario of Heavy Metal, many bands have been developing a discourse to empower indigenous cultures. Parting from a previous paper (Reyes, 2021) where I explore the naming process in the Heavy metal world, finding some linguistic patterns. But a deep review of the Mexican Band names reveals that there is an increasing approach to the pre-Columbian cultures and this is reflected in the naming of the bands as well as album names. With this in mind, the following communication wants to delve upon the naming process of bands which decide to be named using indigenous languages and present an overview of the topics in their lyrics. This searching might reveal a common discourse among bands which seeks a revival of pre-Columbian traditions and give them some relevance. By collecting all names in Encyclopedia Metallum, a linguistic analysis of names and a review of their topics is carried out. More than 4000 names are analysed and almost a hundred are named in Precolumbian languages. So far, the findings reveal that Mayan and Nahuatl are the most remarkable language, but some other bands singing in other languages are not listed in the metal archives and have been added to the data base. The insights in the discourse of the indigenous-centered bands show a deep commitment to highlight the premodern culture in modern times.
3. “The philosopher adept of Sophrosine”: Hipatia de Alejandría en el heavy metal (Hypatia of Alexandria in Heavy Metal)
Marina Díaz Bourgeal, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
La filósofa neoplatónica y matemática tardoantigua Hipatia de Alejandría es probablemente uno de los personajes más famosos de la historia de Roma. Glosada ya en las obras de autores tardoantiguos y bizantinos, Hipatia despertó el interés tanto de investigadores como del público general del siglo XIX en adelante. Desde entonces, son muchos los que se han sentido cautivados por su historia tal y como nos la transmiten los autores tardo antiguas y por las lecturas modernas que se han hecho de su historia en la literatura y otras artes. Al menos dos revistas académicas de estudios feministas llevan su nombre. En 2009, la película Ágora, de Alejandro Amenábar (con Rachel Weisz como Hipatia), llevaba a la ficción su figura y la presentaba, en palabras de Luke Lavan, como una suerte de “atea materialista”. Hipatia constituye, por tanto, una figura atractiva para creadores de diferentes disciplinas artísticas para contar historias que responden a nuestras preocupaciones modernas y post-ilustradas sobre el fundamentalismo religioso y la tolerancia, las relaciones entre ciencia y religión o las relaciones entre iglesia y Estado, así como sobre otros temas como las actitudes reaccionarias hacia las mujeres y su autoridad en diferentes ámbitos. En nuestra cultura moderna, la música, entre otras disciplinas artísticas, y más específicamente la música heavy metal, ha demostrado ser un artefacto cultural muy poderoso no solo para la transmisión de ideas sobre el pasado y su relectura desde una mirada moderna, sino también como vía para despertar el interés por las sociedades del pasado. En ese sentido, la historia de Hipatia de Alejandría y los neoplatónicos alejandrinos no es una excepción. Esta comunicación explorará la imagen de Hipatia en los trabajos de varias bandas de metal procedentes de diferentes regiones del mundo e indagará acerca de las motivaciones tras este uso y reinterpretación de su figura. Con este objetivo, esta contribución prestará además atención a las dinámicas de intertextualidad y transmedialidad en las que la recepción de Hipatia en el heavy metal está integrada, dado que la música no es un arte aislado sino que se ve influido por, y al mismo tiempo influye en, muchos otros formatos culturales.
The late antique Neoplatonic philosopher and mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria is probably one of the most renowned characters of all Roman history. Considered already in the works of late antique and Byzantine authors, Hypatia aroused both scholarly and public interest especially from the nineteenth century onwards. Since then, many have felt captivated by her story as transmitted by both late antique authors and modern readings in literature and other arts. At least two academic journals on feminist studies bear her name. In 2009, Alejandro Amenábar’s film Agora, with Rachel Weisz as Hypatia, fictionalized her and presented her, in Luke Lavan’s words, as a sort of “materialistic atheist”. Hypatia constitutes, therefore, an attractive figure for creators from different art fields to tell stories that respond to our modern, post-Enlightement concerns about religious fundamentalism and tolerance, the relations between science and religion or the relations between Church and State, as well as about broader topics, such as reactionary attitudes towards women and their authority in different fields. In our modern culture, music, among other fields of art, and more specifically heavy metal music, has proven to be a very powerful cultural device not only to transmit ideas about the past and reread it with modern eyes, but also as a way to generate interest in past societies. In that sense, the story of Hypatia and the Alexandrian Neoplatonists is not an exception. This paper will explore the depiction of Hypatia in the works of several metal bands coming from different regions of the world and will inquiry the motivations behind this use and reinterpretation of her figure. With this objective, this contribution will also pay attention to the dynamics of intertextuality and transmediality in which the reception of Hypatia in heavy metal is embedded, since music is not an isolated cultural device but is influenced and in turn influences many other cultural formats.
Panel III: Taught in a Mosh: Unique Approaches to Metal & Premodernity
1. Wild Eyes and Thundering Hooves: Representations of Equines in Album Art
Carolyn Willekes, Mount Royal University
Clara Wanning, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
The horse is an animal of considerable semiotic significance in human history. For tens of thousands of years humans have carved, etched, painted, sketched, and sculpted images of horses. Given its prevalence in the artistic record, it is perhaps no surprise that the horse has found its way into the culture of metal music. The thundering sounds of a galloping horse, and references to equids can be found in numerous songs like Iron Maiden’s The Trooper or Motörhead’s Iron Horse but here the horse is a thematic motif, rather than a being viewed as an individual being. In this talk, however, we aim to dig deeper into the layered meaning of the horse in metal music by looking at representations of equids in the art of metal album covers such as Rhapsody’s Legendary Tales, Saxon’s Heavy Metal Thunder or Thunder Horse’s Chosen One. We will do this by looking at the use of equine iconography on the album art of different metal subgenres to consider the visual messages being communicated through the use of anthropomorphism to evaluate how these images take the powerful, often emotional, symbolism of the horse and its roles in premodernity to create a clear message framed around the horse-human relationship.
2. Disability as Super-Ability: Blindness and Divine Judgment in Heavy Metal Depictions of Samson
Ben Gould, Brandeis University
While the biblical Samson’s shaving of hair and subsequent blindness is narratively tragic (Aristotle, Poetics), Samson accomplished a greater feat of vengeance when he was blind and “disabled” than he ever did when he was “able-bodied.” This Old Testament narrative of Samson occurs repeatedly in lyrical themes across genres of heavy metal and popular music (The Death Wish of Samson, Tourniquet, The Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Sedaka, The Cranberries, Pixies, etc.); however, these musical interpretations of Samson almost exclusively focus on his physical strength and “super-abled” nature while villainizing Delilah for stealing that super-ability. This essay instead seeks to use a disabilities studies lens—one which is sorely lacking from heavy metal representations and scholarship concerning Samson—to analyze Samson’s strength and glorification of the Hebrew YHWH (Olyan, 2008) as depicted in metal music. Though Delilah’s betrayal precipitated Samson’s untimely demise, the use of disability as punishment (Mitchell & Snyder, 2014) was ultimately necessary for Samson’s use as an instrument of divine judgment in Judges 16. Most musical representations of Samson that do not focus on Delilah highlight Samson’s defeat of a Philistine host with an animal jawbone and the sprouting of the stream En Hakkore in Judges 15. Tourniquet’s “En Hakkore” uniquely joins feats of chapters 15 and 16 by attributing Samson’s final act of judgment to an “En Hakkore from within,” a stream to which he would not have needed to turn had he still possessed his sight and strength.
3. Historical Consciousness and the Reception of Classical Antiquity in Heavy Metal
Ingrid Cristini Kroich Frandji, Universidade Estadual do Paraná
Reception Studies focus in highlighting the intertextuality between ancient past and the ways which it is discussed in the 21th century. In this sense, any cultural product, even thought talking about Ancient History, reproduces interests and even prejudices from the moment it’s created. When it comes to Heavy Metal, the reception of Antiquity is complex, since it’s visual (album covers), textual (lyrics), and musical. It also creates new meanings about this past, which will be understood in different ways by music fans. This paper seeks to articulate the different attributions of the meaning of Classical Antiquity in the Heavy Metal subculture to the concept of historical consciousness, developed by the German historian Jorn Rüsen. Understanding the different forms of production of History – including those of cultural products – as mobilizing a specific perception of time, the concept of Historical Consciousness can help in understanding the different meanings attributed to Ancient History and Classical Antiquity.
To this end, albums that have Classical Antiquity as their primary theme will be selected, and these will be analyzed based on the typologies of historical consciousness presented by Rüsen – Traditional, Exemplary, Critical and Genetic. From these typologies, it is possible to articulate the reception and readings of Classical Antiquity in Heavy Metal with perspectives on temporality and the function of History, emphasizing the different meanings of Antiquity in attributing meaning to the experience lived in time.
4. The Classical Canon: The Use of Ancient History and Myth as a Defining Feature of Core Metal Subgenres
Kris Fletcher, Louisiana State University
Although scholars primarily define metal and its subgenres in sonic terms, the subject matter of songs also plays an important role. The use of ancient history and myth in particular can help us theorize the difference between “core” or “central” subgenres of metal from “peripheral” or “borderline” ones.
Subgenres such as hair metal and nu metal are often considered borderline metal, and are even excluded by the online Encyclopedia Metallum. This paper will demonstrate that these styles are also peripheral in terms of both the paucity and superficiality of their references and allusions to the ancient world in contrast to the frequency of such material in less-contested and less commercially successful subgenres such as traditional-, death-, black-, and power metal.
Hair metal shows almost no interest in the ancient world. Exceptions include Lizzy Borden’s “Notorious,” with its chorus of “Hail Caesar,” and two songs about ancient Egypt: “Queen of the Nile” by Dangerous Toys and “Valley of the Kings” by Blue Murder. All of these songs draw only on the most basic stereotypes of the ancient world.
Nu metal likewise makes infrequent use of the ancient world. While songs titled “Hematopia” and “Theophagy” appear on Otep’s 2013 album Hydra, neither they nor the album itself have any connection with the ancient world. Mudvayne use Latin in songs such as “Solve et Coagula,” but they draw on alchemy rather than the ancient world itself.
All together, these peripheral examples remind us just how unusual the use of the ancient world by metal bands is in terms of its quantity and quality. Moreover, they show the importance of subject matter in defining subgenres and even for defining a core concept of what metal is.
Panel IV: Metallic Mythography: Retellings & Inventions
1. Of Vampires and Ancient Tales: The Use of Mesopotamian Elements in Black Metal. Two case studies from Austria and Germany
N. Nyar Linder, Universität Wien
In recent years the reception of ancient Mesopotamia in Extreme Metal has become the focus of scholarly attention. Specifically, the reception of Babylonian myths via modern occultism has been discussed in the work of Anna Katharina Höpflinger, and Peter Pichler has constructed the idea of a sub-genre ‚Mesopotamian Metal‘ that uses ancient Mesopotamian history as a model for a utopian society.
A preliminary survey of Black Metal bands that use Mesopotamian elements in their lyrics and/or names, conducted through the Metal Archives, has revealed the existence of several different ‚conceptual strands‘ associated with such elements. These conceptual strands each interact with a different semiotic space developed around Mesopotamia in modern popular (oc)culture.
I argue that if we want to understand the reception of Mesopotamia in Extreme Metal, particularly in Black Metal, we need to identify these semiotic spaces, their interactions with each other and the larger semiosphere of modern culture, as well as take into consideration the horizons of expectation of the musicians incorporating Mesopotamian elements in their work.
In this presentation I examine two of these conceptual strands: the first conceptualises Mesopotamia as a transgressive site of primordial knowledge and vampiric power, making liberal use of (secret) occult literature. The second stands in stark contrast to this: here, Mesopotamian epics are faithfully adapted – and ‚metalised‘ – for a modern audience, thus breathing new life into ancient stories.
In unravelling these contrasting approaches this presentation offers a new perspective on how we can approach reception studies in regards to ancient Mesopotamia, taking note of the many different aproaches to the ancient cultures of Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria in Black Metal. Instead of a monolithic subgenre, Mesopotamian elements in Black Metal show the music as both a vessel for ancient tales and a modern canvas for artistic exploration.
2. Metal, Myth, and Virtuosity
Steven Gonzalez, University of Southern California
This paper is on the reception of the myth of Icarus in metal in Iron Maiden’s 1983 song, “The Flight of Icarus” from the album, Piece of Mind, and Yngwie Malmsteen’s “Icarus Dream Suite Op. 4”. It argues that these dynamic receptions illuminate tendencies within the genre of metal. I draw upon classical versions of the myth from Virgil’s Aeneid and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, as well as classical associations with the notion of virtuosity, to highlight how the appropriation of the myth by Iron Maiden and Malmsteen establishes their position within the genre of metal.
Iron Maiden’s retelling of the Icarus myth contains the salient features of the myth: a boy tests a pair of wings created by his father. Yet the song also contains several narrative details outside of classical versions of the myth. These details highlight significant themes which are intrinsic to both the genre of metal and classical literature: power, rebellion, intergenerational conflict, poetics, memory, ambition and the concept of virtuosity and the artist. The nuances of Iron Maiden’s retelling creatively employ the above themes in a way that announces their position within the genre of metal.
These latter themes are especially prevalent in Malmsteen’s “Icarus Dream Suite Op. 4”. Although instrumental, the musical elements of the song continue the themes above. Malmsteen’s blazing fretboard work shows how virtuosity in metal could reach new heights. In the context of Ancient Greece, virtuosity played a similar role. In the last quarter of the fifth century, when there was an increasing awareness of an opposition between old and new musical styles, musical innovation and virtuosity challenged established hierarchies and the boundaries of genres. Malmsteen expanded the technical expectations of the genre, allowing him to differentiate himself from his predecessors. The myth of Icarus played a key role in this endeavor.
3. Strange Cousins From the West: Clutch and the (Re)Construction of American Mythology
Eden Kupermintz, Heavy Blog is Heavy
Over more than twenty years, Clutch have been making music that straddles the lines between rock, metal, and punk. They have also been vividly constructing a sort of American Mythology over the course of their career, visible mostly in lyrics but also in album art and merchandise. This mythology, drawing from the hodge-podge and mercurial nature of American culture itself, channels beasts, heroes, and tropes from classical origins like Greek and Roman mythology but also elements from indigenous folklore and traditions of the occult.
In this talk, I will explore and discuss two main questions. First, how do Clutch treat myths and storytelling traditions from diverse pre-modern cultures? What stories get re-told in Clutch’s music? Can we point to a common thread which binds them, some theme that Clutch are relying on uniquely pre-modern stories to elucidate? Secondly, what makes the mythos that Clutch are building American? What needs to change from the original stories, if at all, to make these stories and ideas fit for a modern myth?
To answer these questions, I will explore lyrics, art, and merchandise from across Clutch’s career, as well as some side-projects which are relevant to the discussion. I will attempt to show that Clutch (and especially their vocalist and lyricist, Neil Fallon) are well versed in the stories and histories of pre-modern cultures. However, they have also had an anachronistic and very modern perspective on these cultures and stories, which affect how the stories are told and the cultures remembered, all through the lens of the modern, American, mythology that Clutch are primarily interested in building.
Panel V: Wimps and Romans Leave the Hall: Battle Hymns of Ancient Transgression
1. Carthage in Metal Music
Nathaniel Katz, University of Arizona
Numerous metal bands have sung about Greco-Roman antiquity. This paper looks at how metal has responded to another ancient Mediterranean civilization, Carthage. Carthage is the topic of around 250 songs. Though fewer than the number of songs about Rome, this is still a substantial body of music. The comparatively smaller number of songs makes it possible to build a comprehensive picture of how metal remembers and reimagines Carthage.
Metal focuses on Carthage as it intersects with Rome. Bands that sing about Carthage disproportionately come from countries central to “classical” Greco-Roman history, especially Italy and Greece. Analyzing the lyrics of songs also shows that the majority take the Roman perspective, with the second most common approach being an alternating point of view rather than a purely Carthaginian perspective.
Though a few bands touch on the Carthaginian queen Dido’s role in Vergil’s poetry, most recount the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage. Hannibal and the destruction of Carthage are the most popular topics. Adaptations of Cato’s famous call for that destruction—Carthago Delenda Est or “Carthage Must be Destroyed”—have also been used as a way for bands to communicate either general misanthropy or in a few cases neo-Nazi perspectives.
In addition to providing an overview of how metal has responded to Carthage, this paper explores how three concept albums exemplify or buck those trends. Carthage’s Punic Wars! (2018) and Ex Deo’s The Immortal Wars (2017) are about the Second Punic War. Cartagena is the only Tunisian band to focus on Carthage; their Roma Delenda Est (2018) is the only concept album to entirely follow Carthage’s perspective. Instead of going battle by battle, its topics range more broadly, including Carthage’s historical encounter with the Gauls and an imagined meeting between them and the Chinese Han dynasty.
2. Spartacus in Metal
Alexandra Sills, University of Leicester
Christina Hotalen, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Gladiators have remained fascinating for centuries thanks to their uniquely violent glamour. One in particular has achieved immortal fame: Spartacus has been variously remembered as a rebel, an Icarus, a liberator, an insurgent, a hero and a martyr. His story has inspired political movements, art, literature and cinema, wherein the 1960 eponymous movie proved so iconic it has influenced every depiction of gladiators on screen for the last seven decades (Sills 2023).
Both the real Spartacus and the fictionalised depictions of him deviate greatly from the archetypal gladiator, despite Spartacus achieving a level of perpetual extended fame his more typical contemporaries never enjoyed. Moderns have imbued Spartacus with an ideology shaped by their own reading of his biography and their purposes in evoking him, ideology that is likely apocryphal and diametrically opposed to the ideology exhibited by conventional gladiators in their role as instruments and exemplars of Roman ideas of virtus.
Metal as a genre has and embraced stereotypical gladiators and the anomalous Spartacus alike, using gladiators as the ancients did to interrogate their own thoughts on masculinity, honour, courage, imperialism, political ideology and mortality. This paper asks if Metal draws the same lines in the arena sand between the quasi-Marxism of Spartacus and the Colosseum as the Ideological State Apparatus of Roman imperialism (Gunderson 1996).
This paper aims to identify whether musicians are drawing their inspiration from classical texts or classical reception. Interviewing members of the bands Ade and Ex Deo reveal what these bands intend to communicate using Spartacus as their subject and what they’re drawing on as sources in their song lyrics. We will discuss individual songs and full-length albums inspired by his story, from a wide range of Metal bands and its sub-genres.
3. Laurel-Wreathed Lies and Triumphal Tragedies: Eluveitie’s Counter-Readings of Caesar’s Commentarii de Bello Gallico
Ralph Moore, Independent Scholar
It is one thing to draw on historical narratives and texts as a source of lyrical inspiration and reference in musical composition. Many songs may retell historical events as they are commonly understood, preserve folk memories of the past, or adapt primary sources to transmit them to new audiences. It is another thing, however, to use music as a vehicle to challenge and rebuke historical narratives and texts, engaging in historiographical debate from an artistic, non-academic point of view. Metal, as a genre associated with themes of defiance against authority and demands for truth and authenticity over lies and pretence, makes for a particularly evocative medium to rail against perceived historical deceit and resulting injustice. Can metal give new voices to those whose stories might otherwise go untold?
Swiss folk-metal band Eluveitie draw their lyrical subject matter and band identity from the Iron Age cultures of Gaul, particularly the Helvetii people of ancient Switzerland. Much of their discography, especially their 2012 concept album Helvetios, deals with the Roman conquest of Gaul c.58-50BCE. The main surviving source for this conflict is provided by the Roman commander Gaius Julius Caesar in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico (“Commentaries on the Gallic Wars”), whose biases and potential misrepresentations have long been the meat of academic discourse. Eluveitie’s lyrics offer counter-readings of Caesar’s narrative of legally justified, albeit brutal, war, reframing his lauded victories as cruel atrocities and his barbarian adversaries as sympathetic underdogs, even turning quotes from the text on their heads to this end. As historical sources from an authentically Gallic perspective are virtually non-existent, and the facts of the conflict remain uncertain and disputed, this paper examines how Eluveitie’s lyrics reinterpret Caesar’s words through their own lenses and how they reflect issues relating to the reception of historiographical debate outside the realms of academia.
Panel VI: Pagan Fears, the Past is Alive: Reviving Ancient Heritage
1. De Ferro Italico: Uncovering the Italic Pagan Past in the Music of Draugr
Tobia De Siati, Università degli Studi di Pavia
The Italian underground metal band Draugr was formed in Abruzzo in 2002 and disbanded in 2013 – giving birth to two other bands: Atavicus and Selvans. The band, at its inception, was inspired by Scandinavian Black Metal and Viking Metal bands: this inspiration is evident in the band’s name as well as in its two demos from 2003. From that point on, the band’s goal changed: the interest in the Scandinavian mythology gave way to a deep interest in the ancient legends and culture of the Italic tribes (mainly Samnites and Oscans) who inhabited their land long before Rome exerted power over it. The band’s interest evolved into the full-lengths Nocturnal Pagan Supremacy (2006) and De Ferro Italico (2011), both of which are dedicated to the Italic heritage.
As Draugr evolved, the nature of their use of Italic pagan themes shifted in purpose: initially set in contrast to the dominant Christian culture, on the second album these themes are used to reflect the Italic-Pagan/Roman-Christian conflict. The band has relied upon lyrics, languages (Italian, Latin and Osco-Umbrian), and local folk instruments to evoke the remote past of their land.
Although the band has been active for little more than a decade and has released only two albums, its influence on the Italian extreme metal scene has been enormous: before their contribution, there were few releases partly focused on the Italian mythical heritage, later on more and more bands completely dedicated to the cultural heritage of the peninsula emerged.
This paper aims at an ethnomusicological analysis of Draugr’s two full-length albums, based on interviews with the musicians involved, focusing on the elements used to reconstruct the pre-Roman Italic cultural identity. This study reveals an ideal identity built on contrasts, not unlike the one that emerges from the archaeolinguistic findings of pre-Roman Italy.
2. Pagan Warriors in Czech Pagan Black and Folk Metal
Miroslav Vrzal, Masarykova univerzita
The theme of warriors can be encountered quite often in metal bands´ discourse and is also related to the construction of masculinity in metal culture. An example can be the power metal band Manowar, which puts the theme of warriors into the fantasy discourse. In Pagan-oriented metal, the theme of warriors is transformed into the form of Pagan warriors of pre-Christian European cultures. The contribution will specifically focus on the way in which the theme of Pagan warriors was and is represented in Czech Pagan black and folk metal (arising from black metal). To answer this question, the method of discursive analysis of the lyrics of important representatives of Czech Pagan black and folk metal (Inferno, Trollech, Svardenvyrd, Žrec) was used. The paper will show how the Pagan warrior is constructed, for example, in the context of anti-Christianity or nationalism. The contribution will also reflect the development of Czech pagan black and folk metal and their specifics.
3. Heavy Stories, Heavy Music: Representations of Indigenous and Colonial Heritage in Metal
Stephen W. Silliman, University of Massachusetts Boston
Metal has a long tradition of representing colonial and Indigenous heritage in its music, lyrics, and imagery. The emphasis has often been on the romanticization of premodern Indigenous cultures of the Americas, the disastrous effects of European imperialism on Indigenous peoples, and the persistence of Indigenous cultures despite these heavy historical burdens. Most treatments of the first two themes appeared in European metal (and adjacent hard rock) scenes in the 1970s and 1980s – especially in England, Germany, and Scandinavia – with few parallels in heavy music originating in North America, the otherwise geographic location of these stories. This created particular white European narratives of tragic colonial history with heroic Indigenous actors, alongside notable (but not complete) white American silences about those same histories. The third theme, one that looks at Indigenous cultural persistence through these histories, has emerged in North America and other settler-colonial contexts more recently through death, black, thrash, folk, and avant-garde metal performed largely by Indigenous artists. The grounding of metal in Indigenous experiences and voices has produced harsher and more critical narratives of loss and erasure but ones also tempered notably with powerful stories of survival and continuity. These ensure that indigeneity does not remain locked in the idea (or stereotype) of the “premodern” and that metal can participate in critical decolonial practice.
Panel VII: Let’s Not Listen to Kamelot, ‘Tis a Silly Band: Comedy, Critique, & Medievalism
1. New Bards in Town: Bardomagno, Feudalesimo e Libertà and the Reception of the Middle Ages in Italian Folk Rock
Federico Landini, Independent Scholar
Medievalism means the analysis of how the Middle Ages are used, translated, adapted, played with in the modern times. Italy has seen in the last few years the exponential growth of one reality in particular: the satirical Facebook page of “Feudalesimo e Libertà” which praise the Middle Ages as the true Golden Age – contrasting the opposite definition of Dark Age – against the Modern Times. Their musical arm of the law is the “Folk Rock” band of Bardomagno which has brought together members of the italian Metal scene – their original line-up featured members of Nanowar of Steel, Folkstone and Holy Martyr – and became the official bards of the Holy Roman Emperor. Through their clever commingling of modern topics and a neo-vulgarisation of the Italian language, I have the intention to analyse their peculiar version of the Middle Ages show another face of the Metal reception of this wonderful period of our history.
2. Heavy Metal Gimmickry with Warrior Pope
David Burke, Bath Spa University
Heavy metal culture is an example of bricolage (Weinstein 2000; Walser 2014), a postmodern recombination of symbols and images that cohere around specific themes, including premodernity which is often used as a source of grounding, substantiality or authenticity. However metal is also known for its playful approach to its own subject matter, which in some cases is merely silly but in others allows musicians to disavow their own controversial rhetoric (Kahn-Harris 2007). In recent years the continued proliferation of metal bands has led to the emergence of prominent comedic or “gimmick” bands across the range of subgenres, a phenomenon which may be linked to the relative ubiquity of social media (Burke forthcoming). This paper will explore, using autoethnography and performance features, the ways in which the band Warrior Pope relates to the above phenomena and structures.
After joining the band Warrior Pope as singer/trombonist, I have written several songs focusing on the Cadaver Synod, which are historically faithful with some dramatic license. In my live performances I use the character of a lecturer derived from my position as a PhD student focusing on metal studies, and as an early career lecturer. I will demonstrate the performance techniques I use to inhabit this character, which adds to the novelty of the band while also distancing myself from the content of the music. Many discussions in band rehearsals have focused on developing additional novelties for our live show, partly as a means to differentiate ourselves from other local bands and partly to provide a spectacle for the audience. I claim that the focus on spectacle among UK metal scene bands should be understood as an increasing professionalisation of metal music at the local level. Finally I will consider the implications of this phenomenon as specifically regarding the study of premodernity and metal.
3. Mead, Miezen—and Introspection? Feuerschwanz, the Medieval, and a Shift in Gender Roles
Brian Egede-Pedersen, Nykøbing Katedralskole
Formed in 2003, the original motivation behind the comedic German folk metal band Feuerschwanz was to offer an alternative to a national Medieval scene that took itself far too seriously, according to the band themselves. Humourous takes on typical Medieval tropes such as the Black Death, chivalry, and the love of bagpipes followed; yet as is sometimes the case with the reception of the past in metal music, the line between the playful and the potentially troubling is not necessarily clear. Parts of Feuerschwanz’s lyrics and stage show include elements of hypermasculinity so typical of Medieval/Viking appropriation in popular culture, something that culminated in 2015 when the band was accused of being misogynist. This was vehemently denied by various members of the band; but have they done anything to remedy this perception in recent years? That is what this paper examines. Through an analysis of Feuerschwanz’s lyrics, music videos, live performances etc. and the application of gender theory and Lotten Gustafsson’s ideas of the Enchanted Zone in playing with the past, some of the paper’s preliminary conclusions are that in spite of the band’s initial claims that it was all just satire and should not be taken seriously, since 2015 Feuerschwanz has made an effort to place women in roles of more power and agency while decreasing the amount of male gaze in their visual media. This is especially noticeable in the band’s recent surge in Viking-related material, which as mentioned is an area especially ripe with hypermasculinity. How this dovetails with both scholarly and popular culture attempts to reclaim a Medieval narrative from the far right and how fans react to this change are worthy of further consideration and study, including from a teacher’s perspective of how students react to the Medieval representation of Feuerschwanz.
Pedagogy Workshop: Can I Play with Metal? Visions of Heavy Metal in School and University Curricula
Antje Bosselmann-Ruickbie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Tyler Franconi, Brown University
Stefanie Acquavella-Rauch, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Heavy Metal Studies have become an established interdisciplinary research field, and Metal is making its way into education. With this roundtable, we aim at exchanging thoughts on how to include Heavy Metal music, lyrics and artwork into teaching at schools and universities. How can Metal help to teach students, e.g., of Classics, History, Art History and Archaeology? What methodological and didactical competence can students gain from being exposed to ‘Metal Teaching’? What methodological and didactic competence do teachers need? The table invites to sharing experiences and discuss ideas and visions for Metal in the classroom. The two organizers will present their ‘ears-on’ experience from recent university courses in the US and Germany.
In Spring 2023, Tyler taught the course: “Somewhere Back in Time: the Ancient World in Heavy Metal Music” at Brown University. This course examined the ways in which metal music engages with the ancient world: which topics are chosen, and what motivations are apparent in these choices. They studied this engagement through a series of historical case studies that reached from ancient Egypt to the Viking Age and explored themes such as the reception and (mis)appropriation of the past, globalization, and nationalism. While lyrical content was central, they also considered album artwork, music videos, musical traditions, and the use of different languages (both living and dead). These modern investigations were set within the context of the primary source material, both archaeological and textual, that so often influenced these artists.
In July 2023, Thomas Göttlich and Antje taught the interdisciplinary course “Heavy Metal Artwork: Approaches from History and Art History, and Questions of Possibilities of Use in the Classroom at Schools and Universities” at Gießen University, Germany. Based on the art historical concept of the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ (total work of art) they focused on ‘Historicizing Metal’ albums, their artwork, video material, stage props, and last but not least, the lyrics to fathom the possibilities of using Heavy Metal to teach history and art history at schools and universities. Students from the disciplines of History, Art History, Applied Theater Sciences and the Law faculty participated. While the teachers have a background in History and Art History, Thomas is also a practicing Metal musician (Grave Digger, Rebellion) whose experience in making Historicizing Metal and designing the artwork has added considerably to the academic discourse.
Overall, we found teaching these classes to be a rewarding—if sometimes challenging—experience that encouraged students to engage with the past through more than the traditional artworks, objects, and texts. They learned that the past is still very much present in the modern world, and that it is constantly being reworked and reimagined to suit many different artistic, social, and ideological purposes. We will use this roundtable to discuss the methods, goals, and outcomes of our courses with colleagues pursuing similar didactic projects in different modern and pre-modern contexts.