'Highway to hell or Stairway to heaven?' : Heavy metal : a sociological analysis of the relationship between the Maltese heavy metal community to different religious ideologies & attitudes.

Abstract

This study analyses the dynamic of the Maltese heavy metal subculture and examines the values held by the individuals who constitute this subculture. It investigates the identity formation of individuals within the heavy metal subculture and provides a critique of postmodern notions of subcultural formation. The religious and ideological aspect of the subculture is revealed, and the shift from a more traditional, symbol-based identity to a modern ideology-based heavy metal identity is noted in certain sub-genres. It is argued that the heavy metal identity is essentially an anti-Christian identity that stems from a belief in a cultural alternative to what is perceived to be the dominant hegemony within society. Therefore, the heavy metal movement may be seen as having the potential to lead to a form of new religious movement that propagates its beliefs with which it combats this cultural dominance.