Investigating the Australian sound in Australian Extreme Metal

As a genre of music, extreme metal tends towards localised characteristic sounds based on local scenes, such as the Norwegian black metal sound and the Gothenburg melodic death metal sound. While previous studies have explored elements of Australian metal and individual bands, there has not been a musicological study that explores the Australian metal scene, the history of its development, or the unique aspects of the bands and music in the scene.
Prompted by this gap in the literature, this thesis answers the question “is there, or has there ever been, a unique, identifiable Australian sound in Australian extreme metal music?” Drawing on the context of similar questions being asked about Australian classical music, and the developing field of metal musicology, this thesis explores the texts and paratexts of Australian extreme metal bands to ascertain what elements, if any, may constitute a distinctive and identifiable sound in Australian extreme metal. A range of case studies of key bands across the history of Australian metal have been used to inform this study, including Buffalo, Mortal Sin, Sadistik Exekution, Alchemist, Psycroptic, King Parrot, and Ne Obliviscaris. Musical excerpts have been transcribed and analysed employing a range of methods, and a novel model of metal genres has been designed, to assist in determination of the uniqueness of particular aspects of songwriting in Australian metal. These analyses are structured according to the historical developments of the Australian metal scene, exploring how the sound and aesthetics of the scene have changed from 1970 to 2022.
The musical analyses are supported by a range of interviews with key participants in the Australian metal scene, contextualising this musicological study with an ethnomusicological investigation of how the sound and identity of Australian metal is perceived by those who make it and consume it. The thesis concludes by drawing together the themes of the historical overview alongside the analyses of texts, paratexts, and interviews, to respond to the potential candidates for a unique Australian sound considered across the thesis and expounding the reasons why there is not, and has not been, a unique Australian sound in Australian extreme metal, but that there are defining elements of Australian culture and geography that give rise to a distinct aesthetic and scenic practices that characterise Australian metal.