Performed Identity

Occurring at the juncture of art and commerce, heavy metal music is a purposeful construction engaging multiple performative realms. Metal musicians make performative choices for serving particular aims, be it fame, wealth, or art. Metal artists are the contracted employees of record labels whose own corporate aims needed to be recognized. For publicity and promotion, bands must acquiesce to the wishes of assorted media entities like radio or television. Functioning within a subcultural genre, artists balance the normative practices of metal musicians while being mindful of the preferences for those consuming their performance, the metal audience. Ultimately, the musicians must adapt their performance to balance the demands of critics, peers, and a purchasing public in such a way as to appear innovative and authentic while retaining ties to metal's musical and performative standards. It is at the nexus of these factors that this academic study explores metal performativity during the era in which metal thrived as one of the most commercially successful rock music subgenres. This book should appeal to those interested in performance, media, and popular cultural studies.