Anthropology researcher studies metal fans
Corentin Charbonnier knows his subject. This anthropology researcher has been studying fans of metal music, strange music lovers dressed all in black, who meet every year at Hellfest, the biggest French festival of extreme music. He observes them, questions them and analyzes them. He even wrote a thesis The Hellfest – A pilgrimage for metalheads ”) from which he drew a (self-published) book. It must be said that he has his way into this environment, being himself a metal head assumed.
Since 2019, this researcher has been working in collaboration with the Hellfest team to better understand who these devotees of brutal sound are. He conducted two surveys, one before and the other after the 2022 double edition of the festival, which brought together more than 400,000 people over six days. With nearly 30,000 responses collected in total, he was able to produce a study, the results of which he unveiled last Tuesday, June 13, in Clisson, the city which has hosted Hellfest since 2006.
He thus delivers an astonishing portrait, far from prejudice, of fans of Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden or The Hu (subjective selection 🤘).
A majority of Bac+5 among Hellfest spectators
His conclusion: metalheads are rather respectable people. Far from the clichés of outsized marginals or thick brutes:
- 48% of respondents consider themselves to be executives (but we do not know in which trades).
- more than a third of them have a diploma higher than bac + 5 (but we do not know if they have done Les Mines or Efap).
The Hellfest audience is made up of senior executives with a rather comfortable lifestyle. that’s good because you have to have the means to afford the 4-day pass (all the same at 339 euros), not to mention the extras: a festival-goer spends on average 100 to 300 euros in accommodation, catering and merchandising (3 out of 4 festival-goers leave with an official T-shirt). Despite these prices, the Hellfest ticket office sold out in less than an hour.
The festival public is aging, the researcher also observes: the average age of festival-goers was 27 10 years ago, it was close to 40 years end of 2022. And the 18-25 year olds who arrive remain very much in the minority.
On the other hand, the public is feminized : they were about 15% 10 years ago, they are 30 to 35% today.
At Hellfest, I rediscover my adolescence. I find a theatricality there. In metal, there is a cathartic side: our anxieties, our fears, our anger are found in this music. That’s why metalheads are so nice. They let off steam with this music and after everything is better.
Aldebert, singer, interviewed on France Inter on June 17, 2023.
But why does metal music particularly appeal to executives?
How to explain this penchant among executives for this very particular musical genre? Metal, super executive music, but why? Several possible explanations gleaned here and there:
Metal, a de-stressing music: metal, by its intensity and its wild rhythms, is music to let off steam. Pile what executives and managers need to evacuate pressure and stress.
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Metal, a complex music: varied sounds, dissonant for the uninitiated, complex structures of the pieces, mysterious lyrics… Metal also appeals to the elite for its demanding character and not within the reach of the first comer.
Metal, a carnivalesque music: Stuck in a tight system, executives find in metal a means of expressing their rebellion, without throwing everything off. Challenging the established order during a festival or a song feels good and it’s less risky than going to protest. In the continuity of the carnival tradition, no doubt.
Metal, community music : it is an antidote against the feeling of isolation because metal allows executives to get out of the very competitive environment of the company and find a camaraderie thanks to a common passion.
Metal, cathartic music: listening to metal when you spend your day in an executive suit would allow you to explore a more raw facet of your personality.
Hellfest atmosphere during the day
🥐 MORNING IN HELL 🥐
🎬@leCLACK #Hellfest #hellfest2023 pic.twitter.com/vxEL2wgJiO
— Hellfest Open Air Festival (@hellfestopenair) June 16, 2023