Abstract
Since its rise to popularity in the 1980s, heavy metal music has met with misunderstanding and controversy, culminating in “moral panics” that accused the genre and its culture of corrupting the youth and inspiring people to worship Satan, do drugs, and commit murder and suicide. Today, metal is now a much more respected genre produced and consumed by millions of people of every color, class, and creed worldwide. While heavy metal originated as an outlet for socially alienated white, working-class young men in the UK, Europe, and the US, its core, Dionysiac ethos of transgression, sensuality, and rejection of the status quo appeals to millions worldwide.