Abyssal Noise: Representations of Death and Dying in Extreme Metal Music

Stevens, Frankie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6178-6778 (2022) Abyssal Noise: Representations of Death and Dying in Extreme Metal Music. In: Embodying the Music and Death Nexus: Consolations, Salvations, Transformations. Emerald Interdisciplinary Connextions . Emerald Publishing, London, England.. ISBN ISBN : 1-80117-766-X ISBN : 9781801177672

[thumbnail of Book chapter]
Preview
Text (Book chapter)
F.Stevens Abyssal Noise.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial.

Download (357kB) | Preview

Abstract / Summary

This contribution is an investigation into the palpable connection of extreme metal music and concepts of death, dying and mortality. Like other dark subcultures, metal has an intense infatuation with the macabre; many of its subcultures seek to uncover meaning through musical exploration into varying dark themes that emerge when thinking about death and what lies beyond the bounds of existence. From the abrasive and animalistic blood lust of death metal to the melancholic textures of black metal and the sonic void evoked in doom metal, extreme metal is a catalyst through which fans of the macabre can explore many perceptions and conceptions of corporeal fragility; the consuming pain of life, of death, and of knowing; and the existential notion of the ungraspable abyss. This chapter explores these varying conceptualisations of death in extreme metal culture, their sonic representations and their cathartic consolation: delving into the psychoanalytic reasoning and embodied sound of death.

Item Type: Book Section
ISBN: ISBN : 1-80117-766-X ISBN : 9781801177672
Subjects: Music
Music > Popular Music
Courses by Department: Academy of Music & Theatre Arts
Depositing User: Frankie Stevens
Date Deposited: 20 Jun 2024 14:00
Last Modified: 08 Aug 2024 08:28
URI: https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/5574
View Item View Record (staff only)