Contents: Introduction: doing cultural studies with earplugs, Gerd Bayer; Part 1 Metal Commodities: The empowering masculinity of British heavy metal, Deena Weinstein; Metal goes 'pop': the explosion of heavy metal into the mainstream, Benjamin Earl; The brutal truth: Grindcore as the extreme realism of British heavy metal, Liam Dee. Part 2 The Literary and Mythological Heritage: Demons, devils and witches: the occult in heavy metal music, Helen Farley; Images of human-wrought despair and destruction: social critique in British apocalyptic and dystopian metal, Laura Wiebe Taylor; From Achilles to Alexander: the classical world and the world of metal, Iain Campbell; Elements of gothic literature in heavy metal: a match made in Hell, Bryan A. Bardine. Part 3 Heavy Metal Societies: The unmaking of the English working class: deindustrialization, reification, and the origins of heavy metal, Ryan M. Moore; No class? Class and class politics in British heavy metal, Magnus Nilsson; Rocking the nation: one global audience, one flag?, Gerd Bayer; Index.