Metal Music and the Aesthetics of Heaviness: Sonic, Structural, and Affective Perspectives

This article examines heaviness in metal, drawing on interviews with 36 music professionals. Findings indicate that heaviness is shaped by acoustic, structural, and affective factors rather than representing a fixed sonic property. While performance and production extremes contribute to heaviness, perception is equally influenced by atmosphere, emotion, and listener expectations. Participants identified heaviness in other genres, challenging stylistic boundaries. Heaviness has not followed a linear trajectory of increasing sonic extremity; instead, its expressions have diversified. Future interpretations of heaviness might develop through novel combinations of musical features inherent to metal while expanding the sonic and stylistic palette beyond the genre.