“Is the Devil as Scary as It Seems?” The Phenomenon of Black Metal and the Influence of Metal Music on its Listeners Cover Image

„Czy taki diabeł straszny?” Fenomen black metalu i wpływ muzyki metalowej na odbiorców
“Is the Devil as Scary as It Seems?” The Phenomenon of Black Metal and the Influence of Metal Music on its Listeners

Author(s): Marcin Szulc
Subject(s): Philosophy, Music, Aesthetics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego

Summary/Abstract: Among many kinds of rock music, Heavy Metal became the icon of rebellion. Its enthusiasts are associated with sexual, alcoholic and drug excesses, as well as often dark and iconoclastic stage spectacles and satanic rituals. The most extreme variety of this kind of music, Black Metal, is particularly infamous. Considering the fact that art is sometimes a transfer belt between the artist and the recipient, we found it interesting to try and formulate a characterization of this music genre as well as the subculture itself, describe how music preferences are shaped, and investigate the extent of influence of Black Metal/Heavy Metal on its recipients.A colloquial saying states that “you are what you eat” – if so, does the idea of death, darkness and evil propagated in the lyrics fall on fertile ground of nihilism, amplifying negative attitudes and fostering the formation of a pessimistic picture of the world? To answer these questions a wide overview of literature has been performed, revealing miscellaneous images of the listener. The results of the analysis present a more typical than atypical portrait of a teenage metal fan: capable of thinking and feeling, but above all rebelling against the reality in which he has come to live.

  • Issue Year: 28/2013
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 165-189
  • Page Count: 25
  • Language: Polish