Black metal | part 3

  - How is the scientific study of this culture progressing and with the help of what methods is it investigated?

- In short, the scheme is traditional and looks something like this: grope the problem, find material, describe, typologize and, referring to visual, oral and written sources, try to explain why what was found looks the way it looks.

As part of my graduate studies, I try to stick to the rules of the game and use typical art history methods. But since my research is interdisciplinary and, in principle, I have a craving for sociological methods, I resort to qualitative research and quantitative surveys of the target audience that are usual for a product designer, during which you can test your hypotheses, find out the internal motivation of musicians, artists and fans, for example , find out what the groups are guided by when choosing a particular image for the cover.

- Is the study of extreme music still exceptions and oddities in Russian science, or is some tradition already being formed?

- The field of metal music studies has emerged from an older and more developed field - popular music research (which in turn lies at the intersection of music sociology, musicology and cultural studies) and over the past 30 years has acquired its classics like Dina Weinstein, Robert Walser, Keith Kahn. Harris, a peer-reviewed journal and conference, the largest of which is the International Society for Metal Music Studies Biennial Research Conference. But in the Russian academic environment, it seems that there are not so many researchers who are interested in various aspects of extreme music. I felt it well when I needed to find a scientific advisor. The task turned out to be difficult, because in addition to the fact that this person should at least understand my topic a little, he needed to meet the formal requirements: to have a scientific degree in art history, cultural studies or another more or less close humanitarian discipline, as well as relevant publications. As a result, my supervisor is a candidate of historical sciences, she is mainly engaged in the study of British music, but it was she who told me about the conferences and magazines, helped to determine the conceptual framework and methods.

I’m sure I’m missing some of the researchers (and I’m ashamed to meet someone, to be honest), and I really hope that I will soon be able to correct these omissions. A couple of months ago, I started a telegram channel "Circus with goats", I publish there short notes on the topic (but not entirely, because I find it difficult to refrain from commenting on the foreign scene). Recently, I received all of a sudden positive feedback from the reputable channels for the Russian metal community Docuch and its metals and Blackwall, it was very encouraging for me and suggested that perhaps the public has a need for more academic texts. Now, of course, I'm not talking about "Circus", because I'm at the very beginning of the journey, but about the fact that it would be great to develop the study of extreme music in our country, to hold local conferences, and to form a scientific community.

- Why study this at all?

- Black metal is part of the culture. Through the study of how musicians use and rethink different images and themes, how they choose expressive means, we begin to understand this culture better.

- Back to black metal. How important is the role of the visual component for this genre? Is this really part of the idea or is it just bright packaging?

- I really liked the idea from the article Baptism or death. Black metal in contemporary art, birth of a new aesthetic category (Elodie Lesourd, 2013) that black metal is a gesamtkunstwerk. I don't think that such music would have worked without its “bright visual packaging”, performances, lyrics, political, social gestures and history of the genre's formation. But you can land a little and speculate that the design adds value to the product, makes it recognizable and sometimes works as a criterion for choosing new music: when you go to a thematic public and turn on the album because you were attracted by the cover. Also, merch groups are not only a way to thank and support your favorite groups, but also a way to broadcast your views, and an opportunity to recognize your own in the crowd. Of course, I really want the merch to be aesthetic.