The Culture of Heavy Metal Music Listeners Around the World:
People who listen to heavy metal music are often seen as a minority group in most cultures and countries, but is it possible that heavy metal music listeners have a distinct culture of their own that transcends the dividing lines of nations? This paper is intended to research and report the similarities between heavy metal listeners across the world. In order to do that I will be splitting the world up into four major categories for observation and research:
1. The United States
2. English speaking Europe (Ireland, Great Britain)
3. Non-English speaking Europe (Finland, Switzerland, France, Italy, Russia, etc.)
4. Asia (India, Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, etc.)
I do realize that this leaves out some key areas like The Middle East, Africa, South and Central America, unfortunately there is almost no literature (especially peer reviewed articles) coming from these regions; it is also a problem that there are not very strong metal communities in those regions. But what is heavy metal music? The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as: “loud and harsh sounding rock music with a strong beat; lyrics usually involve violent or fantastic imagery.” A better definition was found at the website wikipedia: “Heavy metal (often referred to simply as metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. With roots in blues-rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, heavy, guitar-and-drums-centered sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion and fast guitar solos. All Music Guide states that "of all rock & roll's myriad forms, heavy metal is the most extreme in terms of volume, machismo, and theatricality.” One of the key aspects of culture is communication and language. Metal music, no matter where it comes from is predominantly English. Bands from Japan, Finland, Italy, and Mexico will usually write songs in English (whether this is to appeal to the large metal scene in Britain and the
1. The United States
2. English speaking Europe (Ireland, Great Britain)
3. Non-English speaking Europe (Finland, Switzerland, France, Italy, Russia, etc.)
4. Asia (India, Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, etc.)
I do realize that this leaves out some key areas like The Middle East, Africa, South and Central America, unfortunately there is almost no literature (especially peer reviewed articles) coming from these regions; it is also a problem that there are not very strong metal communities in those regions. But what is heavy metal music? The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as: “loud and harsh sounding rock music with a strong beat; lyrics usually involve violent or fantastic imagery.” A better definition was found at the website wikipedia: “Heavy metal (often referred to simply as metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. With roots in blues-rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, heavy, guitar-and-drums-centered sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion and fast guitar solos. All Music Guide states that "of all rock & roll's myriad forms, heavy metal is the most extreme in terms of volume, machismo, and theatricality.” One of the key aspects of culture is communication and language. Metal music, no matter where it comes from is predominantly English. Bands from Japan, Finland, Italy, and Mexico will usually write songs in English (whether this is to appeal to the large metal scene in Britain and the
References: · Bassett, Mary T. 2003. ‘‘Smoking Among Deprived Populations: Not Just a Matter of Choice.’’ American Journal of Public Health 93:1035. · Bourdieu, Pierre. 1994. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Harvard University Press. · Bryson, Bethany. 1996. ‘‘‘Anything But Heavy Metal’: Symbolic Exclusion and Musical Dislikes.’’ American Sociological Review 61:884–89. · Erickson, Bonnie H. 1996. ‘‘Culture, Class, and Connections.’’ American Journal of Sociology 102:217–51. · Griswold, Wendy. 1994. Cultures and Societies in a Changing World. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. · Gusfield, Joseph R. 1993. ‘‘The Social Symbolism of Smoking and Health.’’ Pp. 49–68 in Robert C. Rabin and Stephen D. Sugarman, eds., Smoking Policy: Law, Politics, and Culture. Oxford University Press. · Hersch, Joni. 2000. ‘‘Gender, Income Levels, and the Demand for Cigarettes.’’ Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 21:263–82. · Katz-Gerro, Tally. 1999. ‘‘Cultural Consumption and Social Stratification: Leisure Activities,Musical Tastes, and Social Location.’’ Sociological Perspectives 42:627–46. · Kawachi, Ichiro, and Lisa F. Berkman. 2000. ‘‘Social Cohesion, Social Capital, and Health.’’ Pp. 174–90 in Lisa F. Berkman, ed., Social Epidemiology. Oxford University Press. · Lamont, Miche´le, and Marcel Fournier, eds. 1992. Cultivating Differences: Symbolic Boundaries and the Making of Inequality. · Lopez, Alan D., Neil F · Stack, S., Gundlach, J., & Reeves, J. L. (1994). The heavy metal subculture and suicide. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 24, 15-23. · Strosahl, K., Chiles, J., & Linehan, M. (1992). Prediction of suicide intent in hospitalized parasuicides: Reasons for living, hopelessness, and depression. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 33, 366-373. · Seabrook, John. 2001. Nobrow: The Culture of Marketing 1 the Marketing of Culture. · Wass, J., Miller, D · Van Eijck, Koen. 2001. ‘‘Social Differentiation in Musical Tastes Patterns.’’ Social Forces 79:1163–84. · Weinstein, D. (1991). Heavy metal: A cultural sociology. New York: Macmillan. · Wilkinson, Richard. 1996. Unhealthy Societies: The Afflictions of Inequality. London: Routledge.