Popular Culture Review 30.1 • Winter 2019 Book Review
Sounds of Origin in Heavy Metal Music . Edited by Toni-Matti Karjalainen . Cambridge Scholars Publishing , 2018 . 195 pp .
ISBN : 978-1-5275-1170-5
Review by Heather Lusty University of Nevada , Las Vegas
For decades , the slim body of scholarship on heavy metal music has been predictably and uninspiringly focused on fans , centered on questions like : Who listens to heavy metal ? Why do they enjoy such aggressive music ? Should we treat them like “ regular people ?” Does metal exclude women ? While much of the superficiality of this approach lies in the interests of sociology itself , scant few other academic fields have willingly entered the foray of music scholarship since the “ established ” comprehensive surveys of Denna Weinstein and Robert Walsam ’ s 1980s studies . Yet the diverse body of heavy metal genres , concepts , and focus invite serious scholarly attention that is just beginning to blossom .
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One such example is Toni-Matti Karjalainen ’ s new edited collection , Sounds of Origin in Heavy Metal Music , a natural outgrowth of the Modern Heavy Metal Conference ( MHMC ) Karjalainen founded in Helsinki in 2014 . Every year since its establishment , MHMC draws more than 150 scholars from around the world , as far away as Brazil and the Philippines , and invites the genuine interest and participation of industry and media as well . Having had the pleasure of attending 2018 ’ s symposium in Helsinki , I can attest to the wide breadth of creative approaches international scholdoi : 10.18278 / pcr . 30.1.13