Abstract

Scholarship on death metal tends to emphasise its grotesque and provocative aspects, and to define it in terms of transgression. Like many other forms of extreme music, death metal playfully infringes the principles of morality and decency by representing topics that usually remain inexpressible. In this paper, I propose to draw on the methodology of Comparative Religion to reframe and complement this approach. I relate death metal to Buddhist meditation techniques that involve bodily decay and sickness, and suggest that underneath its grotesque appearance, death metal reveals a meditative element that likens it to religious practice. In the light of this comparative and religious approach, I draw some conclusions for the future of Metal Studies.