This is the first extensive scholarly study of drone metal music and its religious associations, drawing on five years of ethnographic participant observation from more than 300 performances and 74 interviews, plus surveys, analyses of sound recordings, artwork, and extensive online discourse about music. Owen Coggins shows that while many drone metal listeners identify as non-religious, their ways of engaging with and talking about drone metal are richly informed by mysticism, ritual and religion. He explores why language relating to mysticism and spiritual experience is so prevalent in drone metal culture and in discussion of musical experiences and practices of the genre. The author develops the work of Michel de Certeau to provide an empirically grounded theory of mysticism in popular culture. He argues that the marginality of the genre culture, together with the extremely abstract sound produces a focus on the listeners' engagement with sound, and that this in turn creates a space for the open-ended exploration of religiosity in extreme states of bodily consciousness.

Sounds of Glory Volume One is packed with brilliant stories from the biggest names in rock and metal.The New Wave of British Heavy Metal erupted in the late 70s. Iron Maiden conquered the world, Def Leppard conquered the USA...and alongside them rock gods like Ozzy Osbourne and Ritchie Blackmore enjoyed unexpected revivals.At the heart of this rock 'n' roll tsunami was Britain's SOUNDS magazine. And at the heart of SOUNDS was Garry Bushell. Like his idols, Garry lived every day as if it was his last. Which it nearly was. Fed heroin in India by Hanoi Rocks, being raided by the C.I.D. in a Motorhead related incident, getting his eyebrows shaved off by Ozzy...Garry recalls it all in this funny, fast-moving memoir which also takes in Thin Lizzy, UFO, Gary Moore, Status Quo, Twisted Sister, Rose Tattoo, ZZ Top and more.All raw, exciting, world-beating talents whose heritage endures to this day.This is a laugh-out-loud road trip through the glory years of Sounds and the golden years of rock music...when Rock Gods ruled the earth.

This book is a timely examination of the tension between being a rock music fan and being a woman. From the media representation of women rock fans as groupies to the widely held belief that hard rock and metal is masculine music, being a music fan is an experience shaped by gender. Through a lively discussion of the idealised imaginary community created in the media and interviews with women fans in the UK, Rosemary Lucy Hill grapples with the controversial topics of groupies, sexism and male dominance in metal. She challenges the claim that the genre is inherently masculine, arguing that musical pleasure is much more sophisticated than simplistic enjoyments of aggression, violence and virtuosity. Listening to women's experiences, she maintains, enables new thinking about hard rock and metal music, and about what it is like to be a women fan in a sexist environment.