“News that heavy metal is to receive serious scholarly attention in Salzburg has raised some eyebrows elsewhere in these pages. So is it heretical that the city of Mozart should be putting Metallica and Slayer centre stage? Not a bit of it. Heavy metal is probably the only other musical discipline that fetishises technical virtuosity as much as classical music: Edward Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen are the Horowitz and Kissin of their genre.”