page_title: Heavy metal subculture
section_title: Gestures and movements
hierarchical_section_title: Heavy metal subculture / Social aspects / Gestures and movements
caption_attribution_description: English: Asphyx, during a concert in 2007 in London. I (en:User:Hervegirod) made this picture myself. The original is on my flickr home page, which states this image is my own work
context_page_description: Fans of heavy metal music have created their own subculture which encompasses more than just appreciation of the style of music. Fans affirm their membership in the subculture or scene by attending metal concerts – an activity seen as central to the subculture –, buying albums, in some cases growing their hair long, wearing jackets or vests most often denim adorned with band patches and often studs and most recently, by contributing to metal publications.
  Some critics and musicians have suggested that the subculture is largely intolerant to other musical genres. The metal scene, like the rock scene in general, is associated with alcohol, tobacco and drug use as well as riding motorcycles and having many tattoos. While there are songs that celebrate drinking, smoking/dipping, drug use, gambling, having tattoos and partying, there are also many songs that warn about the dangers of alcohol, tobacco, gambling, tattoo and drug addictions. The metal fan base was traditionally white and male in the 1970s, but since the 1980s, more female fans have developed an interest in the style, also the popularity and interest has grown among African Americans and other groups recently.
context_section_description: At concerts, in place of typical dancing, metal fans are more likely to mosh and headbang ⁠(a movement in which the head is shaken up and down in time with the music).
  Fans from the heavy metal culture often make the corna hand gesture formed by a fist with the index and little fingers extended, known as the “devil’s horns”, the "metal fist" and other similar descriptors. This gesture was popularised by Black Sabbath and Dio's vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who died in 2010.
caption: Death metal band Asphyx headbanging during a performance.
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