Description
Part of a two-year project on extreme metal vocals, my talk reveals links between multiple subgenres and bestial sound-sources. After showing how the inharmonic cries of red deer and hawks relate to deathcore and black metal, I connect acoustical findings on death metal to zoological research on koala bellows. Koalas evolved acoustical impressions of maximal size via a “permanently descended larynx,” “a deeply anchored sternothyroid muscle that [allows] male koalas to retract their larynx into the thorax,” and near body-length vocal tracts (Charlton et al 2011, 3414). Koalas treat mate competitors differently depending on sound cues about size (Jiang et al 2022). Considering that YouTube videos of koala bellows provoke comparisons to metal vocals, their similar acoustic cues about monstrous size seem central to death metal aesthetics. This impacts metal research on gender—both with prejudices around visual impressions of power and with vocalists’ adaptations to discrimination.| Period | 29 Oct 2024 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Days of Animal Studies: Metal Animals |
| Event type | Conference |
| Conference number | 6th |
| Location | Split, CroatiaShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |
Related content
-
Projects