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MMS 101

Our series of short posts on different topics in metal studies, written to introduce a general audience to current research.

Metal Methodology

A podcast series hosted by ISMMS Secretary Owen Coggins featuring interviews with notable scholars in metal studies.

Events, CfPs & more

All information about events, calls for proposals, and other announcements related to metal music studies.


All Posts

  • 2023 ISMMS Elections Open: Vote Now
    Voting in the 2023 ISMMS elections is now open in the Members’ Area of the ISMMS website. All current members of the society are welcome (and encouraged!) to vote. You will need to be a current member to vote, so please consider joining the society to have your say. There are three board positions open: 2 Ordinary Member … Read more
  • Elections for ISMMS Executive Board Positions, Nov-Dec 2023
    The positions of Secretary and two Ordinary Members on the ISMMS Executive Board will become available at the end of the current terms of Dr Owen Coggins, Dr Reinhard Kopanski and Douglas Mattsson, none of whom intend to stand for re-election. We therefore call on the ISMMS membership to elect candidates to serve four year … Read more
  • Call for Chapters – Breaking the Silence: Minority languages in contemporary music as reclamation, resistance and revitalisation
    Lead Editor: Gareth Schott (University of Waikato, NZ)  We invite extended abstract proposals for chapters that explore the significance of songs sung in marginalised or minority languages within contemporary music genres (from indige-punk, metal, hardcore, hip hop, rap, pop and so on). For so many minority cultures, language signifies survival. Language presence in contemporary music … Read more
  • Call for Expressions of Interest: New Editors for Metal Music Studies
    The Editorial Board and Intellect seek expressions of interest for a new Editorial team (Sections 1 and 2) for Metal Music Studies. Aims & Scope This peer-reviewed Journal provides a focus for research and theory in metal music studies, a multidisciplinary (and interdisciplinary) subject field that engages with a range of parent disciplines. It provides … Read more
  • CfP: Heavy metal on the airwaves symposium
    Friday February 2nd 2024, Liverpool John Moores University, School of Humanities and Social Science Historically, heavy rock and metal music seems to have had a somewhat uneasy relationship with rock radio. As Deena Weinstein (2000) notes, during the late 1970s when bands such as AC/DC and Kiss were enjoying substantial success in terms of concert … Read more
  • Call-for-Chapters for Transatlantic Songs and Music
    Call-for-Chapters for an edited volume published by a US-based academic press (TBD):  Transatlantic Songs and Music   Benjamin Hebblethwaite, University of Florida, hebble@ufl.edu  Silke Jansen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nuremburg, silke.jansen@fau.de   Kevin Meehan, University of Central Florida, kevin.meehan@ucf.edu  This Call-for-Chapters invites researchers to prepare submissions for our edited book about transatlantic and Atlantic-intersecting songs and music. These pivotal forms of transoceanic cultural … Read more
  • CfP for Metal Animals at Days of animal STudies conference
    Split, Croatia, October 17–21, 2023 We invite you to contribute with your presentation to the special section on metal and animals at the Days of animal STudies conference, which will be held for the 5th time in Split, Croatia. The main organizer of the conference is the Centre for Integrative Bioethics, Faculty of Humanities and … Read more
  • CfP for Metal and Transgression: Scenes, Politics, and Religion (Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia), 6–7 September 2023
    Call for papers As one of the many branches of rock music, metal was identified with notions of transgressiveness, controversy, and rebelliousness, both by internal scene members and outsiders. As such, the neverending quest for transgression and controversy became one of the most important driving forces of metal’s artistic and social practice, urging the metalheads … Read more
  • ISMMS 2025 Presentation