ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns what might usefully be referred to as the 'regionalisation of metal'. In order to explore the relationship between heavy metal music and the construction of regional identity, the chapter explores the development of the 'region' as an object of analysis and the shifting role of culture within these debates. Advocating the existence of 'musical milieus' combining musical practises and the dynamics of contemporary political and economic forces, Cope characterises the Midlands of the 1960s and 1970s as holding a unique synthesis of elements necessary for the birth of heavy metal music. If the relationship between the political climate, economic transitions, social movements and musicality has been discussed in some depth within media studies, sociology and human geography, a somewhat limited amount of work has been undertaken which focuses on the connection between music, spatial formations and identity within regional studies.
