Abstract:

This article is an account of how one metal festival—the Hellfest organized in western France—struggled with legitimacy under pressure of condemnation from representatives of the Catholic Church, but managed to win the hearts of the local community despite initial reservations. The authors use the case to discuss how the ‘controversiality’ of metal is dependent on the social and cultural context and the interpretations that that context allows and enables.

Author: Gérôme Guibert, Jedediah Sklower