Though it's given little attention - and even less serious attention - by the mainstream press, metal music has for decades been a major creative and cultural force around the world. This book brings together a group of contributors from Europe, North America and the Caribbean to make a case for metal's place not merely on the periphery of our culture, but at its very heart. Contributors attend not merely to the music, but also to the accompanying culture, and they offer intriguing insights into the rise of metal in places where it's traditionally been little known, like the Middle East and North Africa. The result is a global portrait of metal that asserts its importance and its ongoing contribution to culture.
 

Acknowledgments

List of Figures

Foreword

Alex Skolnick

Introduction

Mika Elovaara, Ph.D. and Bryan Bardine, Ph.D.

Chapter 1: Thor and Trolls, Flutes and Fiddles: 'Folk' in Metal

Mika Elovaara, Ph.D.

Chapter 2: ... Another Thing Coming: Nostalgia and Kitsch in Mass Cultural Manifestations of 'Metal'

Brad Klypchak, Ph.D.

Chapter 3: Metal as a Vehicle for Critical Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean: Challenging Traditional Female Gender Roles through Music

Nelson Varas-Díaz, Ph.D.; Sigrid Mendoza, M.A.; Eliot Rivera, Ph.D.; and Osvaldo Gonzalez, B.A.

Chapter 4: Diversity in Metal Politics

André Epp, Ph.D.

Chapter 5: The Horror and the Allure: Metal, Power, Gothic Literature, and Multisubjectivity

Jeremy Wallach, Ph.D. and Esther Clinton, Ph.D.

Chapter 6: Bang Your Head to the 'Beat' of Non-Conformity

C.C. Hendricks, M.L.A., M.A., Ph.D. Candidate

Chapter 7: Metal Documentaries: The National, the Global, and the Cosmopolitan

Gerd Bayer, Dr. Phil. abil.

Chapter 8: But That Doesn't Help Me On Guitar!: Unraveling the Myth of the Self-Taught Metal Guitarist

Kevin Ebert, M.M.

Chapter 9: Beyond 'Forms of Aggression': Teaching Extreme Metal in the Composition Classroom

Paul Petrovic, Ph.D.

Chapter 10: From Sabbath to Slayer: Using Metal in the Writing Classroom

Bryan A. Bardine, Ph.D.

Conclusion

Mika Elovaara, Ph.D. and Bryan Bardine, Ph.D.

List of Contributors

Index