Almafuerte: Metal pesado argento and its construction of Argentinian nationalism

Abstract

This article analyses the tension between the local and the global in metal pesado argento of Almafuerte, the most massive band in the metal scene of Argentina. This group reinforces their local identity through their dialogue with tango and folklore, the emblematic music genres of this country. Metal pesado argento, as a bricolage of genres and metal, can be seen as contradictory and controversial. Here these aspects are studied in relation to a particular type of nationalism and its historical context, and as a feature of global metal code. Three dimensions of Almafuerte’s production – sonic, visual and verbal – are analysed and discussed against the theoretical framework that accounts for the production of music and culture in the context of globalization, with particular emphasis on processes of mundialization as well as on the semiotic of culture and the notion of semiosphere. Both theories make it possible to engage in a dialogue without hierarchical levels.