Heavy Metal & Global Premodernity II online conference, hosted by Miami University, 15-17 March 2024
Full conference program:
sites.miamioh.edu/heavy-metal...
"'Pagan Warriors in Czech Pagan Black and Folk Metal"
-Miroslav Vrzal, Masarykova univerzita
Abstract:
The theme of warriors can be encountered quite often in metal bands´ discourse and is also related to the construction of masculinity in metal culture. An example can be the power metal band Manowar, which puts the theme of warriors into the fantasy discourse. In Pagan-oriented metal, the theme of warriors is transformed into the form of Pagan warriors of pre-Christian European cultures. The contribution will specifically focus on the way in which the theme of Pagan warriors was and is represented in Czech Pagan black and folk metal (arising from black metal). To answer this question, the method of discursive analysis of the lyrics of important representatives of Czech Pagan black and folk metal (Inferno, Trollech, Svardenvyrd, Žrec) was used. The paper will show how the Pagan warrior is constructed, for example, in the context of anti-Christianity or nationalism. The contribution will also reflect the development of Czech pagan black and folk metal and their specifics.
Biography:
Miroslav Vrzal earned his PhD at the Department for the Study of Religions at Masaryk University in Brno (Czechia) where he is still currently affiliated. He also worked as a researcher in the Department of Sociology at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague in 2019. His main field of interest is the sociology of religion with a specific focus on the religious situation in Czechia and new religious movements, especially Satanism and Paganism. Additionally, he is involved in the study of music subcultures/scenes, mainly metal. His main interest in this regard is the area of ‘metal and religion’. Vrzal is also the founder of Czech Metal Studies, an association of scholars interested in metal studies in Czechia; and founder of Metal Studies in Central and Eastern Europe, an international network of scholars. His most recent publications are, for example, the articles “Against the Devil’s Metal: Christian Public Discursive Strategies Against Metal Concerts and Festivals in Czechia and Slovakia” (2022) in the journal Metal Music Studies, and “Czech Metal Studies: 5 Years of the Study of Metal(and Religion)” in the journal Studia de Cultura.