Introduction
The ISMMS (International Society for Metal Music Studies), an international association that initiated new interdisciplinary research on metal music, was officially launched at the first conference held at Bowling Green State University (Ohio, United States) in April 2013. It was titled “Heavy Metal and Popular Culture.”
This founding event was followed, in 2015, by the conference “Modern Heavy Metal: Markets, Practices and Cultures” held at the Aalto University School of Business in Helsinki (Finland). In 2017, by the conference “Boundaries and Ties: The Place of Music Communities,” held at the University of Victoria (British Columbia, Canada). In June 2019, the gathering took place in Nantes (France) around the theme “Locating Heavy Metal Music and Culture,” as a prelude to Hellfest. The 5th biennial conference, titled “Heavy Metal Music in the Global South,” was originally scheduled to take place in Mexico City in June 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was ultimately held in June 2022, marking the society’s first meeting outside the Global North. The 2023 edition took place at Concordia University in Montreal around the theme “No Outsides: Metal in an Era of Contagion.” Finally, the most recent edition, in June 2025, was held in Seville (Spain) in hybrid format and was devoted to the theme “New Metal Worlds: Building Bridges and Mending Broken Backs.”
Over this period, research and scholarly events dedicated to metal studies (books, journal issues, conferences, exhibitions and workshops) have multiplied around the world. This dynamic was notably confirmed by the creation, in 2013, of the interdisciplinary journal Metal Music Studies (Intellect Books).
Fourteen years after the founding of the ISMMS, the University of Liège in Belgium will host the 2027 edition.
Theme:
This conference proposes to explore metal music through its many forms of production – sonic, visual and material – by focusing on the works, objects, practices and discourses that give it substance. The aim is to return to the foundations of what metal produces and creates, by interrogating the know-how and forms of expression deployed by its actors: artists, fans, technicians, producers and other cultural mediators.
The conference will examine the dynamics of composition, materiality, writing and manufacture – from both a craft and an industrial perspective – in order to understand how these productions contribute to the shaping of values, identities and communities.
The conference will also address the logics of circulation and dissemination specific to metal: its globalization, the decentralization of sites of creation, and the symbolic and cultural economies woven around these productions. We wish to interrogate the production processes that shape metal music. While musical and sonic dimensions occupy a central place in this reflection, they cannot be separated from the cultural, social and symbolic characteristics that accompany them.
Do the processes of metal’s production constitute vectors of inclusion, openness and tolerance? Or do they, on the contrary, contribute to the construction of symbolic boundaries, identity politics and mechanisms of distinction? How do metal’s productions shape the communities that identify with them?
Indicative Thematic Strands
- Musical languages and practices of metal music.
- Iconographies and visual worlds (album covers, music videos, stage design, clothing).
- Techniques, technologies and materialities: sound production, organology, sound engineering.
- Fans as producers.
- Fans as collectors: the production of memory, archives and collections.
- Craftsmanship, manufacturing and making practices, from DIY to industrial production.
- Production of discourse and writing, and issues of inclusivity vs. gate-keeping: examination of historical myths about the metal community (“teddy bears,” beer drinkers, LGBTQIA+ friendly, etc.).
- Networks of production and global circulations.
Selected Bibliography of Recent Edited Volumes
- Advances in metal music and culture (collection) Advances in metal music and culturequi était chez Emerald avant et qui est chez Intellect maintenant “https://www.intellectbooks.com/advances-in-metal-music-and-culture”
- Anderton, C. & Burns, L. (eds.) (2025). The Routledge Handbook of Progressive Rock, Metal, and the Literary Imagination. London: Routledge.
- Brown, A. R., Spracklen, K., Kahn-Harris, K. & Scott, N. W. R. (eds.) (2021). Global Metal Music and Culture: Current Directions in Metal Studies. Routledge.
- Burns, L., Moylan, W. & Lacasse, S. (eds.) (2022). Analyzing Recorded Music. London: Routledge.
- Garbaye, R. & Guibert, G. (eds.) (2024). Musical Scenes and Social Class: Debating Punk and Metal. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Riches, G., Snell, D., Bardine, B. & Gardenour Walter, B. (eds.) (2016). Heavy Metal and Popular Culture.Springer.
- Herbst, J.-P. (ed.) (2023). The Cambridge Companion to Metal Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Varas-Díaz, N., Nevárez Araújo, D. & Rivera-Segarra, E. (eds.) (2021). Heavy Metal Music in Latin America: Perspectives from the Distorted South. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Practical Information
Paper proposals must include: a title; an abstract of no more than 250 words; three to five keywords; a short biography (no more than 50 words); an institutional or organizational affiliation (where applicable); and an indication of one or two thematic strands (maximum) into which the proposal fits.
Individual papers will last 20 minutes and will be followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Panels will comprise three papers. Proposals for roundtables bringing together three or four speakers are also welcome.
If you would like to propose a format that does not fit these guidelines, please do not hesitate to contact us; we will consider it to the extent possible. We are working on hybrid presentation and attendance capabilities; please indicate in your application if you would need to present remotely. We cannot guarantee that a hybrid format will be possible, but we are working to make it happen.
The deadline for submitting proposals is 15 September 2026. Decisions will be communicated to authors no later than 15 November 2026.
Proposals should be sent to: ISMMS2027@uliege.be
Registration fee
In-person with presentation: €150
In-person with presentation (Global South): €80
In-person without a presentation: €60
In-person without a presentation (Global South) : €40
Organizing Committee
Marion Brachet (Université d’Évry – Paris-Saclay)
Jason Julliot (Université de Rennes)
Christophe Pirenne (University of Liège – Université de Louvain-la-Neuve)
Livy Snyder (ISMMS)
Chloé Violle (University of Liège)
Scientific Committee
Bryan Bardine (University of Dayton, Ohio)
Lori Burns (University of Ottawa)
Meng Tze Chu (National Taiwan University)
Owen Coggins (University of Huddersfield)
Gérôme Guibert (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3)
Jan-Peter Herbst (University of Huddersfield)
Susana González-Martínez (University of Helsinki)
Lewis Kennedy (Leeds Conservatoire)
Christophe Levaux (FNRS – Université libre de Bruxelles)
Sylvia Martínez (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Charlotte Naylor-Davis (ISMMS Chair)
Gabby Riches
Jedediah Sklower (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3)
Jeremy Wallach (Bowling Green State University)
Gender and Equality Coordination
Marion Brachet (Université d’Évry – Paris-Saclay)
Code of Conduct
This call for papers is issued in accordance with the principles of scientific integrity, academic ethics, inclusion, gender equality and accessibility.
Participants are invited to consult the ISMMS Statement of Antidiscrimination at https://metalstudies.org/statement/ and the University of Liège’s Ethics Charter at https://www.uliege.be/cms/c_20520258/fr/charte-ethique-de-l-universite-de-liege#q9
We appreciate that disability can be a barrier to participation in conferences, please mention in your application if there are adjustments you might need at the conference and we will work with you to make things as accessible as possible.
Spaces will be provided for exhibitors, publishers, university presses and other material presentations.
Photographs of the campus, as well as practical information about the University of Liège, are being made available to speakers alongside this call for papers.
Miscellaneous
Updates concerning the conference will be published on the ISMMS website: https://metalstudies.org/ismms-conference/
Keynotes and plenary sessions will be broadcast via videoconference.
The conference takes place just before the start of the Grasspop Metal Meeting, 17–20 June 2027.