Rocznik Komparatystyczny


ISSN: 2081-8718     eISSN: 2353-2831    OAI    DOI: 10.18276/rk.2020.11-15
CC BY-SA   Open Access   ERIH PLUS

Issue archive / 11 (2020)
The Ever-Evolving Maze – The Analysis of Metal Genres

Authors: Krzysztof Skórski
John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
Keywords: music genre taxonomy of music heavy metal extreme metal
Data publikacji całości:2020
Page range:18 (279-296)
Cited-by (Crossref) ?:

Abstract

Heavy metal music is often perceived as crude and simplistic by people who are not acquainted with its complexity. In this article, I would like to explore and analyze the (meta-)genre of heavy metal music and its elaborate internal subdivision. Firstly, it is crucial to define metal music and distinguish it from other styles within the larger family of rock music. This section will be followed by a brief presentation of the history of heavy metal and the dominant dichotomy of chaotic and Dionysian themes present in the lyrics of metal songs. Ultimately, I intend to unravel the complex web of metal genres by describing the most crucial ones, demonstrating the “kinship” between particular styles, and providing examples of the representatives of each discussed subgenre.
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