Metal and Goth Leisure

Metal and goth are forms of popular music, and popular culture, that continue to dominate leisure in action today. Alternativity and sub-culture are used to control, construct and create various forms of subaltern, hegemonic and counter-hegemonic identities and communities. Metal and goth challenge the mainstream, the culture industry of Adorno (1991), but they are also part of the mainstream. Metal and goth worldwide are seen by outsiders as exotic forms of dark leisure, but metalheads and goths just want to be seen as normal people who just like to dress in black. Many goths want to be seen as distinct from metal, and many extreme metal fans do not want to be mixed up with the mainstream metal industry. The aim of this book is to understand the tension between metal and goth, sub-culture and popular culture, performativity and leisure spaces, from the histories of the two forms to their futures. Building on Karl Spracklen's extensive research and his insider status as a fan, the book is aimed at researchers and students interested in metal and goth in leisure, sociology and popular culture.