Helena Christensen

Contact Information:

• chrishel001@stu.sumnersd.org

• 
  

This research is supposed to highlight how societal views and religious beliefs affect our perspectives  overtime. This is also significant because most documented views of metal are on various media platforms and are reactionary. The goal is to document views on an academic platform. 

Metal is often viewed to be "dark" based on the lyrical content and imagery. But these views are from the past. As society has evolved, the music has as well whether it is the message in a song or the overall imagery created by a band. However, there is still the stereotype that all "Metalheads" are anti-religion or violent and that the music causes this. Would the perception of "Metal Music" from the past hold true to today's music ?

I hypothesize that the view will not be as religious based as it has been in the past. I think there will still be negative perceptions of the genre but for other reasons based on the social-cultural content.

Religious Activity: Attending service, community outreach through religious organizations, prayer, and missions.

I will be using an anonymous survey. The survey will be collecting data in regard to perceptions of the metal music genre based on experience and religious beliefs. 

Based on the results, my hypothesis was proven correct. However, not quite for the reason in my hypothesis. While the reasons for a distaste for metal music was not because of religious beliefs, it was also not because of the social-cultural content either. Based on results, the common theme was that the sound is what people notice or commented about the most.

While the sound of music is the common answer to what people think when asked to describe the genre, it was also commonly cited that some of the participants did not have much experience with the genre. As a result, another test should be done that includes songs from the past and the present to truly see if there is a shift between perspectives of the genre. 

Religion in Popular Music or Popular Music as Religion? A Critical Review of Scholarly Writing on the Place of Religion in Metal Music and Culture. Marcus Moberg

Heavy Metal as Controversy and Counterculture. Titus Hjelm, Keith Kahn-Harris, and Mark LeVine