Heavy Metal and Disability: Crips, Crowds, and Cacophonies

The relationship between metal and disability is explored in this collection, which emphasizes the boundary between the body that has agency and the body that has none. Metal provides a space for the self-understanding of people with disabilities, validating them as different but not damaged. The collection challenges metal's power structures and seeks to open it up to a wider audience.

Format: Hardback
Length: 196 pages
Publication date: 29 April 2024
Publisher: Intellect Books

The relationship between metal and disability is a complex and multifaceted one that has been explored in various sub-genres of the metal genre. This preoccupation with the boundary that separates the body that has agency from the body that has none is a familiar theme for those who experience the agency of their bodies as a matter of survival.

In the realm of metal, the exploration and control of sensory overload serves as an analogue of neurodiversity, providing a space for individuals who are neurodivergent to understand and leverage their sensory capacities. Metal offers powerful resources for the self-understanding of people with disabilities, allowing them to explore and express their experiences in a unique and powerful way.

However, it is important to note that the potential of metal to be a disability-positive space is not always fully realized. While metal scholars who contribute to this collection see metal as a space of possibility, in which dis/ability and other intersectional identities can be validated and understood, the collection does not imply that the possibilities that metal affords are always actualized.

This collection situates itself within a broader struggle to open up metal, challenging its power structures and advocating for greater inclusivity and representation of people with disabilities. Metal studies has played a significant part in this struggle, as scholars have explored the ways in which metal music and culture can be used to challenge dominant narratives and promote social change.

Overall, the relationship between metal and disability is a rich and complex one that continues to evolve and grow. While metal offers powerful resources for the self-understanding and empowerment of people with disabilities, there is still much work to be done to ensure that the metal scene is truly inclusive and accessible to all.

Weight: 522g
Dimension: 176 x 252 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781789389456