Paper short abstract:

Black metal, the most extreme subgenres of metal, have been a part of Turkish underground culture since the early 1990’s. Despite this, it was not until the mid 2000’s that references to Islam started to emerge within the Turkish black metal scene cultural production. This paper will explore why.

Paper long abstract:

Black metal, one of the most extreme subgenres of metal, have been a part of Turkish underground culture since the early 1990’s. Since the genre’s inception in Europe during the 1980’s and particularly the 1990’s in Norway, it’s esthetical and lyrical focus have revolved around blasphemy, satanism, violence, and a critical stance towards Abrahamitic faiths. Despite this, it was not until the mid 2000’s that references to Islam started to emerge within the Turkish black metal scene cultural production.

Based on years of fieldwork in the Turkish black metal scene, this paper aims to answer questions such as; which references to Islam are utilized by the Turkish black metal scene, how are these composed in lyrics, artworks, or audio? It further aims to shed light on why these references to Islam have only just started to occur in the scene by paying particular attention to the national context of Turkey. Since 2002 the Justice and Development Party (AKP) have been in power and although their early years in government was marked by increased liberalization and democratization, they have become increasingly autocratic during the last decade. Their politics, marked by a program of pious conservatism, have resulted in religion, and particularly Islam, taking a bigger part in the social and political climate. This paper will investigate this change through the lens of the Turkish black metal subculture. In doing so, the paper also aims to broader our understandings of religious identity in Turkey as well as to complicate our understandings of how people in Muslim majority societies relate to Islam.