The evil that men remember: German metal and Second World War memory

This article discusses the effect of Second World War memory on German metal music, based on lyrics, music and paratextual materials of the internationally successful bands Accept and Heaven Shall Burn. Second World War memory in Germany is highly politically charged and enduringly relevant, and German metal’s reflection of this relationship to the past therefore takes place at a discursive site of complex intersecting issues. Using narrative analysis, the article approaches the implication of Second World War memory in German metal music, focusing on how the memory of the war is portrayed in lyrics, music and paratextual material. It discusses the role of respectability politics and analyses how historical revisionism as well as memory activism play into lyrical and paratextual narratives. Ultimately, German metal mirrors broader trends within German memory culture, but may also serve as a factor for the increasing importance of respectability politics in global metal culture(s).