Cardwell, T. (2017). Still life and death metal: painting the battle jacket. Ph.D. thesis, University of the Arts London (United Kingdom), Ann Arbor.
Abstract: This thesis aims to conduct a study of battle jackets using painting as a recording and analytical tool. A battle jacket is a customised garment worn in heavy metal subcultures that features decorative patches, band insignia, studs and other embellishments. Battle jackets are significant in the expression of subcultural identity for those that wear them, and constitute a global phenomenon dating back at least to the 1970s. The art practice juxtaposes and re-contextualises cultural artefacts in order to explore the narratives and traditions that they are a part of. As such, the work is situated within the genre of contemporary still life and appropriative painting. The paintings presented with the written thesis document a series of jackets and creatively explore the jacket form and related imagery. The study uses a number of interrelated critical perspectives to explore the meaning and significance of the jackets. Intertextual approaches explore the relationship of the jackets to other cultural forms.
David Muggleton’s ‘distinctive individuality’ and Sarah Thornton’s ‘subcultural capital’ are used to emphasise the importance of jacket making practices for expressions of personal and corporate subcultural identity. Italo Calvino’s use of postmodern semiotic structures gives a tool for placing battle jacket practice within a shifting network of meanings, whilst Richard Sennett’s‘material consciousness’ helps to understand the importance of DIY making practices used by fans. The project refers extensively to a series of interviews conducted with battle jacket makers between 2014 and 2016. Recent art historical studies of still life painting have used a materialist critique of historic works to demonstrate the uniqueness of painting as a method of analysis. The context for my practice involves historical references such as seventeenth century Dutch still life painting. The work of contemporary artists who are exploring the themes and imagery of extreme metal music is also reviewed.
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Carew, F. (2018). The Guitar Voice of Randy Rhoads. Master's thesis, Wayne State University, Ann Arbor.
Abstract: Randy Rhoads was an influential rock guitarist whose synthesis of musical influences had an impact on heavy metal. He developed a classically influenced guitar style that inspired new developments in the guitar’s virtuosic technique and harmonic and melodic language. The sound of heavy metal can be traced directly to his guitar style. Yet no definitive studies have been conducted on his guitar voice, synthesis of musical influences, or contribution to heavy metal music. This thesis is the first study to define the musical influences that make up Rhoads’s innovative guitar voice and playing style. It examines his early childhood, formal training, and influences, honing his skills in Quiet Riot, mastering his skills on Blizzard of Ozz , and mastering his skills on Diary of a Madman . It provides a look at his guitar voice through his adaptation, synthesis, and implementation of musical influences by conducting a detailed musical analysis of the formal, harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic aspects of the songs on Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman.
The examination of his guitar voice and playing style is provided by the following materials: CDs, DVDs, books, scholarly journals, master’s theses and doctoral dissertations, and transcriptions of songs on Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that Rhoads’s guitar voice and playing style are classically influenced and a synthesis of different musical styles. It advocates that his playing style pushed the hard rock music envelope create a new approach to guitar playing that led to a more refined version of the music. It suggests that Rhoads’s musical approach and mindset in the 1980s: classical-style virtuosity, harmony and melody, and acoustic guitar was important to the development of the heavy metal sound, therefore placing him in the historical annals of popular music.
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Coggins, O. (2025). “A Maze with Very Minimal Guiding Light, Thematically Slithering Between Worlds”: Black Metal, Progressive Rock, and Ambivalent Constellations of Imagination in Remmirath’s Shambhala Vril Saucers. In C. Anderton, & L. Burns (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Progressive Rock, Metal, and the Literary Imagination (pp. 244–256). Routledge Music Handbooks. Oxfordshire, England: Routledge.
Abstract: << This an outstanding collection of chapters that explore the intersections between progressive rock, metal and the literary imagination. Each contribution here is a must-read and the editors have done an incredible job framing the
Handbook.
Karl Spracklen, PhD, AcSS
Leeds Beckett University, Portland >>
"This Handbook illustrates the many ways that progressive rock and metal music forge striking engagements with literary texts and themes.
The authors and their objects of analytic inquiry offer global and diverse perspectives on these genres and their literary connections: from ancient times to the modern world, from children’s literature to epic poetry, from mythology to science fiction, and from esoteric fantasy to harsh political criticism.
The musical treatments of these literary materials span the continents from South and North America through Europe and Asia. The collection presents critical perspectives on the enduring and complex relationships between words and music as these are expressed in progressive rock and metal.
The book is aimed primarily at an academic market, valuable for second through final year students on undergraduate courses devoted to both popular music and to literary studies, and to postgraduate programs and researchers in a range of fields, including: popular music studies, musicology, creative music performance and composition, songwriting, literary studies, narrative studies, folklore studies, science fiction studies, cultural studies, liberal studies, and sociology, and for media and history courses that have an interest in the intersection of narratives, music and society."
Source for both: https://www.routledge.com
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Coloccia, F. (2016). Untitled. Helvete: A Journal of Black Metal Theory, 3, 113–122.
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Coudert, G. (2012). Black metal et art contemporain: tout détruire en beauté. Rosières-en-Haye: Camion Blanc.
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Elovaara, M., & Bardine, B. (Eds.). (2017). Connecting metal to culture: unity in disparity. Bristol: Intellect Books.
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Fejes, J. (2025). “Enuma Elish is Re-written”: A Quantitative Survey of Mesopotamian Mythology’s Reception in Metal Lyrics. In C. Anderton, & L. Burns (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Progressive Rock, Metal, and the Literary Imagination (pp. 204–214). Routledge Music Handbooks. Oxfordshire, England: Routledge.
Abstract: << This an outstanding collection of chapters that explore the intersections between progressive rock, metal and the literary imagination. Each contribution here is a must-read and the editors have done an incredible job framing the
Handbook.
Karl Spracklen, PhD, AcSS
Leeds Beckett University, Portland >>
"This Handbook illustrates the many ways that progressive rock and metal music forge striking engagements with literary texts and themes.
The authors and their objects of analytic inquiry offer global and diverse perspectives on these genres and their literary connections: from ancient times to the modern world, from children’s literature to epic poetry, from mythology to science fiction, and from esoteric fantasy to harsh political criticism.
The musical treatments of these literary materials span the continents from South and North America through Europe and Asia. The collection presents critical perspectives on the enduring and complex relationships between words and music as these are expressed in progressive rock and metal.
The book is aimed primarily at an academic market, valuable for second through final year students on undergraduate courses devoted to both popular music and to literary studies, and to postgraduate programs and researchers in a range of fields, including: popular music studies, musicology, creative music performance and composition, songwriting, literary studies, narrative studies, folklore studies, science fiction studies, cultural studies, liberal studies, and sociology, and for media and history courses that have an interest in the intersection of narratives, music and society."
Source for both: https://www.routledge.com
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Fuertes Sánchez, F., & Fuertes Sánchez, N. (2024). Seremos caos hasta el final: Metaleras, arte negro y destrucción. In M. Saavedra, & R. Tapia (Eds.), La Fuerza, Influencia y Tensiones de las Mujeres del Underground/Metal Boliviano (pp. 179–208). Special Issue of Perspectivas y Resistencias Musicales 2 (2).
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Gallesio Serra, M. (2021). Metal y otros lenguajes artísticos: más allá del sonido pesado. In E. Scaricaciottoli, & G. Minore (Eds.), Para cruzar mil senderos: Primeras jornadas de debate por una nueva cultura pesada en el metal argentino y latinoamericano (pp. 6–9). Buenos Aires: Clara Beter Ediciones.
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Gallina, F. (2021). Dipinto sull'acciaio: Del rapporto tra Heavy Metal e Pittura. Roma: Arcana.
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