Sound, Symbol, Sociality : The Aesthetic Experience of Extreme Metal Music

Based on ethnographic research within the extreme metal community, Unger offers a thought-provoking look at how symbols of authenticity and defilement fashion social experience in surprising ways. Exploring the many themes and ciphers that comprise this musical community, this book interprets aesthetic resonances as a way to understand contemporary identity, politics, and social relations. In the end, this book develops a unique argument: the internal composition of the community's music and sound moulds symbols that shape, reflect, and constrain social patterns of identity, difference, and transgression. This book contributes to the sociology of sound and music, the study of religion in popular culture, and the role of aesthetics in everyday life. It will be of interest to upper level students, post-graduate students and scholars of religion, popular culture, and philosophy. Matthew P. Unger is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Concordia University in Montreal. He is co-editor (with George Pavlich) of Accusation: Creating Criminals and Entryways and Criminalization. His work encompasses social theoretical and archival approaches to socio-legal ethics, religion, and sound "Based on ethnographic research within the extreme metal community, Unger offers a thought-provoking look at how symbols of authenticity and defilement fashion social experience in surprising ways. Exploring the many themes and ciphers that comprise this musical community, this book interprets aesthetic resonances as a way to understand contemporary identity, politics, and social relations. In the end, this book develops a unique argument: the internal composition of the community's music and sound moulds symbols that shape, reflect, and constrain social patterns of identity, difference, and transgression. This book contributes to the sociology of sound and music, the study of religion in popular culture, and the role of aesthetics in everyday life. It will be of interest to upper level students, post-graduate students and scholars of religion, popular culture, and philosophy." --back cover This book looks at how sound reveals the normative constitution of the social world, how sound is a site of political and moral contestation, and how it has become a significant marker of identity and social patterns.--Page v. Introduction -- A genre of paradoxes and dichotomies -- Defilement and social theory -- Post-secular aesthetics and the symbolic constitution of extreme metal music -- The modalities of defilement within extreme metal -- The symbolic experience of Christian extreme metal -- Conclusion -- Erratum to -- Works cited. Matthew P. Unger. The original version of this book was revised. Includes bibliographical references (pages 119-130) and index. Front Matter....Pages i-xv Introduction....Pages 1-16 A Genre of Paradoxes and Dichotomies....Pages 17-37 Defilement and Social Theory....Pages 39-52 Post-secular Aesthetics and the Symbolic Constitution of Extreme Metal Music....Pages 53-63 The Modalities of Defilement Within Extreme Metal....Pages 65-88 The Symbolic Experience of Christian Extreme Metal....Pages 89-109 Conclusion....Pages 111-118 Erratum to: Sound, Symbol, Sociality....Pages E1-E5 Back Matter....Pages 119-137