Department of Classical and Early Mediterranean Studies

In this conference we gather investigators and artists to critically examine how heavy metal music and its culture (or scenes) have interacted with, been inspired by, and commented on global premodernity (history and culture up through roughly 1600 CE). We wish to seize the moment when the study of heavy metal music and the study of the reception of classical, religious, and historical texts and artifacts in popular culture have risen to prominence.

While heavy metal in Europe and North America has obviously been seen to interact with western religious symbolism and draw on classical icons, the metal scenes elsewhere—especially those in the majority world—draw on a diverse range of imagery, folk tales, and indigenous history to tell their stories and inspire their work. This conference aims to create a wider view of the place of premodern histories and musical traditions within heavy metal. 

One of the joys of heavy metal music for many fans is the breadth of this now half-century-old, global counterculture. Our aim is to create interdisciplinary dialogue between those working on the interaction between popular culture and traditional/historical narratives and culture by using heavy metal music as a central focus.  Our program includes musicians, journalists, and scholars from over a dozen countries such as Brazil, Denmark, Mexico, and Greece, discussing such topics as ancient Egypt, medieval Mongolia, Byzantium viewed by Vikings, and the precolonial Americas. 

We are concerned to make the conference as accessible as possible to disabled people and those for whom English is not their first language. We will be providing closed captions through Zoom but if you have other access requirements please do get in touch with Jeremy or Charlotte at the contact details below to discuss how we can help you take part. 

Please register online - the Zoom link for the conference will be sent out shortly before the conference.

Please remember to inform us about any accommodations or accessibility requirements in the registration form or contact us at metalpremodernity@gmail.com

Please see the below pdf for the Code of Conduct

Conference Code of Conduct

Program for Thursday, February 24th

9:30-10:00 ET | 2:30-3:00 GMT - Opening Remarks

Charlotte Naylor Davis (Independent Scholar) [bio]

Jeremy Swist (Brandeis University) [bio]

10:00-11:30 ET | 15:00-16:30 GMT  - Panel 1: Receptions Outside the Box

Chair: Amanda DiGioia (University College London) [bio]

1. ‘Claws up, asses down, that's the way we breakdown’: The Reception and Presentation of Classical Themes in Metalcore [abstract] | Evan Schultheis (Winthrop University) [bio]

2. Collect the Blood of Kingu: Mesopotamian Myths in Metal [abstract] | Anna-Katharina Höpflinger (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) [bio]

3. The Hu: Metal, Medievalism, and the Mongols [abstract] | Jacqueline Jung (Yale University) [bio]

11:30-12:30 ET | 16:30-17:30 GMT - Social Hour

12:30-14:00 ET | 17:30-19:00 GMT - Panel 2: Metal in Mesoamerica

Chair: Miguel Reyes Contreras (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Iztapalapa) [bio]

1. The Long(ing) View: An Exploration of Modern Tensions and Premodern Longings in Latin American Decolonial Metal [abstract] | Nelson Varas-Díaz (Florida International University) [bio], Daniel Nevárez Araújo (University of Massachusetts) [bio]

2. Aryan Aztlán: The Bizarre World of Aztec Nazi Black Metal [abstract] | Alex Gendler (Independent Scholar) [bio] 

3. Spectral Qualities of Sound: Prehispanic Resonances in the Metal of Cemican [abstract] | Marisol Perez Pelayo (Museo Universitario del Chopo) [bio]

14:00-15:00 ET | 19:00-20:00 GMT - Break

15:00-16:00 ET | 20:00-21:00 GMT - Roundtable 1: From Powerslave to Senjutsu: Heavy Metal & Orientalism

Moderators: Leire Olabarria (University of Birmingham) [bio], Lauro Meller (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte) [bio] - Roundtable Abstract

16:00-17:00 ET | 21:00-22:00 GMT - Happy Hour

Program for Friday, February 25th

10:00-11:30 ET | 15:00-16:30 GMT - Panel 3: Premodernity Unbound: Metal’s Mythistory of Greece

Chair: Christian Djurslev (Aarhus University) [bio]

1. Satan, Savior, Muse, Messiah: Prometheus’ Many Afterlives in Metal Music [abstract] | Peter G. Miller (University of Iowa) [bio]

2. The Rivers of the Greek Underworld in Metal: Sociocultural Contexts, Emotions, and Political Agendas [abstract] | Cristian Criste (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) [bio]

3. Headbanging to History: Disseminating Premodernity through Extreme Metal Genres [abstract] | Marios Koutsoukos (University of Liverpool) [bio]

11:30-12:30 ET | 16:30-17:30 GMT - Social Hour

12:30-14:00 ET | 17:30-19:00 GMT - Panel 4: A Brutal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Engagements with Ancient Rome

Chair: Helena González-Vaquerizo (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) [bio]

1. Hesperia: Roman History and Myth as a Source for Heavy Metal: The Case Study of Stormlord [abstract] | Antonino Pittà (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) [bio], Francesco Ciancio (St. Louis College of Music) [bio]

2. Imperial Whore, Seductress, Villain: Messalina in Heavy Metal Music [abstract] | Christina Hotalen (Independent Scholar) [bio]

3. Feminist Anthems and Iron Age Queens: Heavy Metal’s Obsession with Boudica [abstract] | Caitlin Gillespie (Brandeis University) [bio], Dan Moffat (Allston Pudding) [bio]

14:00-15:00 ET | 19:00-20:00 GMT - Break

15:00-16:00 ET | 20:00-21:00 GMT  - Roundtable 2: “Open the Gates, It’s Belisarius!” Judicator’s Let There Be Nothing & Byzantine Studies

Moderators: David Parnell (Indiana University Northwest) [bio], Federico Landini (Università di Bologna) [bio] - Roundtable Abstract

16:00-17:00 ET | 21:00-22:00 GMT - Happy Hour

Program for Saturday, February 26th

10:00-11:30 ET | 15:00-16:30 GMT - Panel 5: “This is my church...it has no walls”: Reclaiming Pre-Abrahamic Heritage

Chair: Ralph Moore (Trinity College Dublin) [bio]

1. Trebaruna pagão é teu ventre (Trebaruna pagan is your womb): The Reinvention of the Luso-Pagan Past in the Music of Moonspell [abstract] | Giordano Calvi (Universidade NOVA de Lisboa) [bio]

2. Forbidden Heritage: The Defiance of Persian Black Metal and the Struggle to Not Forget [abstract] | Pasqualina Eckerström (University of Helskini) [bio]

3. ‘Sing the dark song of Érenn to me’: Irish Saga and Metal Music [abstract] | Gregory R. Darwin (Uppsala University) [bio]

11:30-12:30 ET | 16:30-17:30 GMT - Multilingual Social Hour

Breakout rooms for informal conversation. Rooms for other languages can be created upon request. 
1. Español
2. Português
3. Deutsch
4. Italiano
5. Français
6. Ελληνικά

12:30-14:00 ET | 17:30-19:00 GMT - Panel 6: Wild Knights, Hot, Crazy Days: Recreating Medieval Spaces

Chair: Shamma Boyarin (University of Victoria) [bio]

1. The Perception of Constantinople in Heavy Metal [abstract] | Antje Bosselmann-Ruickbie (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen) [bio]

2. Heavy Metal Holy Land: Premodernity as a Place at the Wacken Open Air Metal Festival [abstract] | Sean Munger (Independent Scholar) [bio]

3. ‘Templars, Fight or Fall!’: Remembering the Knights Templar in Power Metal [abstract] | Brian Egede-Pedersen (Nykøbing Katedralskole) [bio]

14:00-15:00 ET | 19:00-20:00 GMT - Break

15:00-16:00 ET | 20:00-21:00 GMT - Roundtable 3: “My heroes, they all died so long ago”: Metal & The Politics of Premodernity

Moderators: Owen Coggins (Brunel University London) [bio], Guilherme A. Klausner (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro) [bio] - Roundtable Abstract

16:00-16:30 ET | 21:00-21:30 GMT - Concluding Remarks

Charlotte Naylor Davis (Independent Scholar) [bio]

Jeremy Swist (Brandeis University) [bio]

16:30-18:00 ET | 21:30-23:00 GMT - Happy Hour

Antje Bosselmann-Ruickbie

• Abstract
• Bio

Shamma Boyarin

• Bio

Giordano Calvi

• Abstract
• Bio

Francesco Ciancio

• Abstract
• Bio

Owen Coggins

• Abstract
• Bio

Miguel Reyes Contreras

• Bio

Cristian Criste

• Abstract
• Bio

Gregory Darwin

• Abstract
• Bio

Amanda DiGioia

• Bio

Pasqualina Eckerström

• Abstract
• Bio

Brian Egede-Pedersen

• Abstract
• Bio

Alex Gendler

• Abstract
• Bio

Caitlin Gillespie

• Abstract
• Bio

Helena González-Vaquerizo

• Bio

Anna-Katharina Höpflinger

• Abstract
• Bio

Christina Hotalen

• Abstract
• Bio

Jacqueline Jung

• Abstract
• Bio

Guilherme Klausner

• Abstract
• Bio

Marios Koutsoukos

• Abstract
• Bio

Federico Landini

• Abstract
• Bio

Lauro Meller

• Abstract
• Bio

Peter Miller

• Abstract
• Bio

Dan Moffat

• Abstract
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Ralph Moore

• Bio

Sean Munger

• Abstract
• Bio

Charlotte Naylor Davis

• Bio

Daniel Nevárez Araújo

• Abstract
• Bio

Leire Olabarria

• Abstract
• Bio

David Parnell

• Abstract
• Bio

Marisol Perez Pelayo

• Abstract
• Bio

Antonino Pittà

• Abstract
• Bio

Evan Schultheis

• Abstract
• Bio

Jeremy J. Swist

• Bio

Christian Thrue Djurslev

• Bio

Nelson Varas-Díaz

• Abstract
• Bio

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0173xFeABCpQvcGmurKFu6

This is a Spotify playlist curated to accompany the conference, including selections of songs and artists discussed in each of the presentations and roundtables. Songs are catalogued in chronological order of the conference program. We encourage all attendees to listen to this playlist before attending the conference in order to optimize the experience. It's about the music, after all!

Please use the link below for the conference Google Drive to access any handouts or conference files:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SOeQfJn4B3D0ooQpdv3ti6t8Gg_MZSHT?usp=sharing

Please email metalpremodernity@gmail.com

Or tweet us at @MetalClassicist @NaylorDavis

With any questions, concerns, or curiosities about the conference!