Session 5: Gender and Sexuality

Session 5: Gender & Identity
Chair: Keith Kahn-Harris

Metal for Nordic Men? Amon Amarth’s Representations of Vikings
Florian Heesch
Hochschule für Musik Köln, History|Herstory research project (www.historyherstory.de) and Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Institut für Skandinavistik, Germany

Since the early 1990s the metal scene shows a growing interest in Norse topics. Old Norse myths and Viking topics play an important role in extreme metal genres as pagan metal and even in black metal where they have taken the place of satanism and occultism to a certain extent. This can be observed especially in the Nordic countries but to a lesser extent also in other European countries and in the USA. Although the phenomenon is generally well known, references to Norse topics have rarely been analysed in detail.
This paper attempts to fill the gap of knowledge by providing a precise analysis of an exemplary Viking metal song, namely the Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth’s “The Pursuit of Vikings” from the album “Fate of Norns” (2004). Since a couple of years Amon Amarth ranks as one of the most successful extreme metal bands worldwide. The band focuses almost entirely on Norse topics. Their song “The Pursuit of Vikings” has become a scream a long hymn in life performances and can be considered exemplary for Amon Amarth’s image of Vikings.
My analysis of the song focuses on the lyrics, the music and visual representation in live performances and videos and their intermedial relationship. It aims at revealing references to medieval eddic poetry as well as to younger Viking images, which have become popular since early romanticism. Furthermore, the paper argues that the song’s death metal style including the growling vocals is fundamental for the aggressiveness and masculinity of Amon Amarth’s representation of Vikings.

Mud Shark: Groupies and the Construction of the Heavy Metal Rock God
Rebecca Forrest
George Mason University, USA

The experiences and influence of groupies have rarely been seriously considered in studies of heavy metal music and the caricature of groupies drawn by the popular media has been privileged.  This paper seeks to discuss the role groupies played in the construction of the myth and persona of the metal rock god, while acknowledging the preconceived notions perpetuated by popular media.
According to Deena Weinstein in “Heavy Metal: The Music And Its Culture” groupies are not appreciated by the rest of the [metal] audience and frequently male fans “think that [groupies’] access to the performers is ‘unfair.’ (pg. 228)”
Books about metal bands and their exploits on and off the road, like “Hammer of the Gods” and “The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band,” treat groupies like a punch line to a never ending joke that only the boys are in on.  The popular media tends to present groupies as sexually indiscriminate, submissive, mentally ill, and taken advantage of.
However, groupies and their sexual exploits, like the myth involving Led Zeppelin, the groupie and the mud shark, played an integral part in the construction of and mythology and the persona connected to metal rock gods in the early days of heavy metal.
Groupies directly participated in and even instigated wild backstage parties, outrageous hotel antics, and drug use that have been the basis for the construction of the persona of the male metal rock musician as wild, sexually potent, powerful, and poignant.  At the center is the groupie.
Review and analysis of newspaper and magazine articles, documentaries, lyrics, and movies will be used to discuss media views of groupies.  Autobiographies by groupies, female music fans, and books about metal bands form the basis of the discussion of groupies and their role in identity construction.

Masculinities within Black Metal: Heteronormativity, Protest Masculinity or Queer?
Mikael Sarelin
Department of Religion and Folkloristics, Åbo Akademi University, Finland

My paper focuses on different patterns of masculinity that are to be found within the Finnish black metal-scene. By using examples that I have experienced during my fieldwork, that includes both interviews and participating observation during black metal-concerts, I am going to describe different masculine practices within the scene. I will be giving examples of three different types of masculinities that I have found to coexist within the black metal-scene. These examples are 1) heteronormative behavior that aims to strengthen the heterosexual norm in society at large, 2) protest masculinity that challenges the heterosexual norm through exaggerating the masculine norm set by society, and 3) elements of queer masculinity that question the heterosexual norm within society.
Furthermore, I would like to discuss the functions of these three elements within the black metal-scene. What are the purposes of the elements, and how is it possible that they are allowed by the fans to coexist within one, quite homogenous music-scene? Individuality is highly praised among my informants and also elsewhere within the black metal-scene. It would seem as individuality might be the key to explaining how masculinities that are this different from each other can coexist within the same scene. Another possible explanation to the variations in masculine behavior is the constant fear of stagnation within black metal. Some of my informants have stated stagnation as a threat against black metal, something that must be avoided “by all means”. Could fear of stagnation cause masculinities to reshape and coexist?
My material is limited to the Finnish black metal-scene and some of its more active participants. Therefore  most of my conclusions and theories are applied on the Finnish black metal-scene, but I would say that the apply, at least in a wider perspective, also globally.