ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Robert Walser of Running with the Devil. His discussion relates to concepts described as aesthetics, the forces that drive heavy metal. More specifically, he cites three strategies that dominated the aesthetics of heavy metal up until the mid-1980s, misogyny, androgyny and excription and, from the mid-1980s onwards, a fourth strategy that softens heavy metal with songs about romance. In terms of rock music common examples of misogyny seem to be grounded in male sexual dominance. Walser conflates androgyny with male domination, cock rock and the need to control the woman. This phenomenon synchronises with the patriarchal centred normalisation and traditionalising of male and female roles in that the hijack of female identity, seen in androgynous male displays. It considers appropriate as Walser continues to include Black Sabbath bands and Led Zeppelin bands as progenitors of metal in his identification of the underlying aesthetics of androgyny, misogyny and excription.
