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

Moberg, Marcus

doi:10.1080/03007766.2010.538242

Cited by 22 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…After all, authors such as Marcus Moberg (2012) and Robert Walser (1993) have written on the subject emphasizing how the 'Satanism charge' against most metal music has been enduring. We would argue that in Puerto Rico, even today, metal music is perceived as a uniform activity of anti-Christian individuals even though a closer look at the scene would yield a different conclusion.…”

Section: Religion In Puerto Rican Societymentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Religion might seem like an unlikely ally for the emergence of a metal scene due to the music's historical link to anti-religious perspectives and mysticism (Moberg 2012). Still, a detailed view of research ventures from the field of sociology of religion can shed light on how religion can be a catalyst for the provision of social structure and communal identities.…”

Section: Religion As An Organizational Cornerstonementioning

confidence: 98%

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On your knees and pray! The role of religion in the development of a metal scene in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico

Varas-Díaz

Rivera-Segarra

Mendoza

et al. 2014

International Journal of Community Music

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Heavy metal music is simultaneously reflective of, and reactive to, the cultural underpinnings of the spaces in which it is created. Wallach et al. have emphasized the need to understand metal music outside of Anglo-American contexts and culture. Although the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico seems like an unlikely scenario for the emergence of a metal scene, it has in fact existed via underground means for the past 25 years. Due to the Island’s strong Hispanic and Catholic roots, stemming from Spanish colonialism in the fifteenth century, religion has played a central role in the development of the local metal scene. The first systematic organization of a metal scene was structured by Christian metal groups under the name of ‘Metal Mission’ and served as a meeting space for social interaction based on metal music and religion. The objective of this article is to document the role of Christian religion in the emergence and maintenance of a metal scene in Puerto Rico. We will present data from a larger study of the metal scene in Puerto Rico, which used a mixed methods approach including ethnographic observations (300 hours), qualitative interviews (n=50) and surveys (n=400) with members of Puerto Rico’s metal scene. Although metal music has roots in critical perspectives towards religion, our research shows how it has also helped shape the Island’s metal scene.

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Section: Religion In Puerto Rican Societymentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Religion As An Organizational Cornerstonementioning

confidence: 98%

On your knees and pray! The role of religion in the development of a metal scene in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico

Varas-Díaz

Rivera-Segarra

Mendoza

et al. 2014

International Journal of Community Music

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show abstract

“…2011, p. 7; Moberg 2011, pp. 33, 39–44, 2012, p. 121) as providing a rational basis for his fears but there is the unstated implication left hanging in the air that this decline in the West might be due to Christianity being false or incomplete whereas Islam is true.…”

Section: Interview Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion and heavy metal music in Indonesia

James¹,

Walsh²

2019

Pop. Mus.

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We trace the history of Indonesian Islamic metal bands, including Purgatory, Tengkorak and Kodusa, and the One Finger Movement that revolved around these bands (centred mainly on Jakarta). We look at the differences in symbols, heroes, rituals and values between One Finger Movement bands and the Bandung (Indonesia) secular Death Metal scene. We also study Bandung Death Metal band Saffar, which was known for its Islamic lyrics on its debut album but which has been for a few years in something of a limbo owing to the departure of vocalist and lyricist Parjo. We also look at Saffar's positioning of itself as a ‘secular’ band with Islamic and Anti-Zionist lyrical themes rather than as an Islamic band per se. This dichotomy can be best explained by the phrase ‘a band of Muslims rather than a Muslim band’. The secular Bandung scene context is a significant explanatory factor here.

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“…Un travail similaire a aussi été entrepris par Falardeau et Perreault (2014) Dovring (1954Dovring ( -1955) confirme qu'une analyse de contenu des chansons de Zion (un recueil de 90 hymnes religieuses publiées en Suède en 1743) effectuée au xviii e siècle a mis en relation deux identités sociales distinctes, soit celle de l'Église luthérienne et celle de l'Église morave. Plus récemment, Moberg (2012), dans sa recension des écrits à propos du rock heavy metal, suggère que les thèmes identifiés dans les paroles de chansons de ce genre comme le satanisme s'opposent à une vision socialement valorisée de la religion. Finalement, l'étude du Black Sacred Music démontre l'importance d'étudier cet acte de communication par l'entremise de son contenu et la relation qui en découle (Hamilton et al 2013).…”

Section: La Religion Dans La Chansonunclassified

Au nom de la relation

2019

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Considérant la chanson comme un acte de communication (Lasswell 1948), l’objectif de cet article est d’examiner, de façon qualitative et inductive, le contenu religieux et non religieux ainsi que le contexte relationnel qui sous-tend les paroles des hymnes nationaux de 195 pays. À cet effet, nos résultats indiquent que la religion est mentionnée dans deux tiers des paroles des hymnes nationaux du monde. De plus, quatre types de relations semblent être présents au sein de celles-ci, soit des relations intragroupes, intergroupes et parasociales (une avec le pays et l’autre avec une entité religieuse). Finalement, nos analyses qualitatives permettent de préciser que les deux relations parasociales se déclinent comme reflétant une relation asymétrique complémentaire. Nous discutons ces résultats à la lumière de l’idée que l’identité se construit d’une manière relationnelle.

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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

Cited by 22 publications

References 6 publications

On your knees and pray! The role of religion in the development of a metal scene in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico

On your knees and pray! The role of religion in the development of a metal scene in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico

Religion and heavy metal music in Indonesia

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