Toward a Systematic Understanding of "Heaviness" in Metal Music Production

"Heaviness" has been one of metal music's defining features in three decades of metal scholarship. Research acknowledged its essential quality, but no comprehensive definition of musical heaviness was developed. This article, therefore, elaborates a preliminary framework of musical he...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rock music studies Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 16 - 37
Main Authors: Herbst, Jan-Peter, Mynett, Mark
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Abingdon Routledge 02.01.2023
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects:
composition
Compositional styles
Heaviness
Heavy metal music
metal music
Musical composition
production
ISSN:1940-1159, 1940-1167
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:"Heaviness" has been one of metal music's defining features in three decades of metal scholarship. Research acknowledged its essential quality, but no comprehensive definition of musical heaviness was developed. This article, therefore, elaborates a preliminary framework of musical heaviness by identifying its constituent production, performance, and compositional components, including their relationships. The findings suggest that while structural and performative components provide the necessary foundation for heaviness, metal has been increasingly driven by its production. Since musicians reach limits, technology has become one of the primary means to produce ever heavier metal music in the genre-defining quest for greater heaviness.
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ISSN:1940-1159
1940-1167
DOI:10.1080/19401159.2022.2109358