ABSTRACT
Niall W.R. Scott and Tom O'Boyle look forward to the continuing reproduction of metal's transgressive power into the future, without grasping the ways that this metallic transgression has always been embedded in and nurtured within metal scenes. They offer a paean of praise to the agency of individual metal fans and the possibilities of curating one's own journey through the metal firmament, without fully recognizing the sociality of taste. It is important to acknowledge how central music has been for those who grew up in the post-World War II period in much of the world. Not only has music provided a generational marker and a potent force for social transformation, the production, consumption, and dissemination of music has created new and innovative social practices. One of the most valuable things that metal scholarship can do is to denaturalize some of the assumptions that are entrenched in metal culture.
