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Półrocznik Językoznawczy Tertium. Tertium Linguistic Journal 5 (2) (2020)
www.journal.tertium.edu.pl
http://dx.doi.org/10.7592/Tertium2020.5.2.Nowakowski
“Horns Up!” The Horned Hand as the Emblematic
Gesture of the Metal Subculture
Adam E. Nowakowski
Carpathian State College in Krosno, Poland
adam.e.nowakowski@gmail.com
Abstract
The horned hand is a gesture completed by extending the forefinger and little finger, while
holding the middle two fingers down with the thumb. In years past it has been a subject of many
discussions, held by researchers working in various fields of science. However, to the best of
my knowledge, the role it plays in nonverbal communication between members of the metal
subculture still remains a rather uncharted area. This article is an attempt to shed some light
on this topic. It presents a definition of an emblematic gesture, based on the works of David
Efron, Paul Ekman, William Friesen and Lluís Payrató. It also gives an account of the semiotic
diversity of the horned hand (depending on a culture, the gesture can communicate very
different messages, ranging from insults and threats to protection from evil). It was established,
based on numerous discussions with the so-called metalheads, that they are able to convey five
different meanings using the gesture: 1) indicate affiliation with heavy metal music and/or
subculture, 2) display identity and/or community, 3) greet each other, 4) bid each other
farewell, 5) display appreciation/respect. Research survey showed that more than 70% of
respondents, who consider themselves knowledgeable about the metal subculture, were able to
derive a message matching exactly or almost exactly the message intended by the encoder,
which allows to declare the emblematic status of the horned hand. However, subjects not
familiar with the subculture were much less successful with this task. This shows that gesture’s
emblematic status is restricted to members of the metalhead community.
Keywords: nonverbal communication, metal subculture, the horned hand, emblematic
gestures, Metal Studies
Streszczenie
”Horns Up!” Dłoń rogata jako gest emblematyczny subkultury metalowej
Charakterystyczny gest dłoni rogatej wykonuje się dłonią prostując palec wskazujący i mały
przy równocześnie zwiniętych palcach środkowym i serdecznym oraz kciuku. Od dłuższego
czasu budzi on zainteresowanie badaczy reprezentujących szerokie spektrum dziedzin i
dyscyplin nauki. Wielostronna rola, jaką odgrywa w komunikacji niewerbalnej wśród członków
subkultury metalowej (uważającej go za swój symbol), pozostawała jednak do tej pory
względnie niezbadana. Niniejszy artykuł stanowi próbę wypełnienia tej luki. Przedstawiono w
Półrocznik Językoznawczy Tertium. Tertium Linguistic Journal 5 (2) (2020) 63
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nim definicję emblematu, bazując na ustaleniach Davida Efrona, Paula Ekmana, Williama
Friesena oraz Lluísa Payrató. Zasygnalizowano także niezwykłe zróżnicowanie semiotyczne
danego gestu, który, w zależności od kultury, może oznaczać między innymi obelgę, groźbę lub
ochronę przed złem. Na podstawie rozmów z licznymi członkami subkultury metalowej
określono sensy intencjonalne i kontekst występowania dłoni rogatej wśród nich. Ustalono, że
w ich środowisku przy pomocy gestu można: 1) implikować związek z heavy metalem lub
subkulturą metalową, 2) wyrażać tożsamość subkulturową, 3) sygnalizować powitanie, 4)
sygnalizować pożegnanie, 5) okazywać szacunek. Przy pomocy ankiety badawczej udało się
zdeterminować status emblematyczny dłoni rogatej wśród członków subkultury metalowej
(więcej niż 70% badanych było w stanie zdekodować wszystkie pięć znaczeń). Tymczasem
respondenci, którzy nie zadeklarowali przynależności do subkultury, poradzili sobie z
postawionym zadaniem znacznie gorzej. Pozwala to skonkludować, że status emblematyczny
dłoni rogatej ograniczony jest do subkultury metalowej.
Słowa kluczowe: komunikacja niewerbalna, subkultura metalowa, dłoń rogata, gesty
emblematyczne, Metal Studies
1. Introduction
The horned hand is distinct gesture known under many names: sign of the horns, the devil
horns, or mano cornuta in Italian, to name but a few. It is completed by extending the forefinger
and little finger, while holding the middle two fingers down with the thumb. In years past the
gesture has been a subject of numerous discussions, some focusing on its unclear etymology
and ancient cultural presence (ex. Krüger 2004; Mertzani 2018), others on its supposed occult
connotations (ex. Gajewski 2002). Naturally, many studies in the field of nonverbal
communication have also featured passages on the horned hand (ex. Morris 1994; Knapp, Hall
2000; Butovskaya 2004; Morris 2009; Ting-Toomey, Chung 2012; McNeill 2014). However,
the latter were almost exclusively devoted to the cultural specificity of gestures, since the
culturally dependent semiotic diversity of the horned hand is striking. Its meaning can vary
from ‘cuckold’ (in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Malta), or ‘symbol of the University of Texas’ (in
the USA), to ‘protection from the evil eye’ (in Italy and Malta), or ‘threat of removing one’s
eyes’ (in Russia).
1
That said, the horned hand is also a significant visual attribute of the music genre ‘metal’
subculture, a key element of its semiotic code and the subculture’s “most enduring symbol”
1
Quite interestingly, two major political figures of the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, President of the
United States George W. Bush and Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi, were at one point photographed
performing the horned hand. However, in the first case, the gesture was used respectfully, as the hand signal of
the University of Texas (the so-called Hook ‘em Horns), while in the second – as an insult aimed at Josep Piqué,
the foreign minister of Spain, implying that his wife is unfaithful to him (later Berlusconi explained that he was
“just joking”).
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(Dunn 2005). Moreover, through the lens of communication studies, the gesture is a potent
emblem used among ‘metalheads’ (i.e. members of metal subculture) to perform a variety of
illocutionary acts in various communication contexts. However, to the best of my knowledge,
this function has been largely omitted in previous studies.
2
The aim of this paper is to analyze the horned hand as an emblematic gesture of,
specifically, the metal subculture (i.e. used by metalheads differently than by non-metalheads),
describe its contexts of occurrence among metalheads and intentional senses that can be
conveyed by its symbolism.
2. Emblematic gestures
Scientific studies of ‘emblems’ or ‘emblematic gestures’ were established with David Efron’s
(1941) pioneering comparative work on gestural behavior of Southern Italian and East
European Jewish immigrants living in Manhattan. Efron’s study became a foundation for Paul
Ekman’s and Wallace Friesen’s ([1969] 1981) highly influential classification of gestures. In
order to avoid terminological chaos, they took some of Efron’s terms, even though often they
defined them differently. They named one particular category of nonverbal behavior
‘emblems’, whereas Efron talked about ‘emblematic gestures’.
Ekman’s and Friesen’s ([1969] 1981) classification included a number of necessary
conditions for gestures that need to be met in order to achieve emblematic status. Firstly, they
defined emblems as nonverbal acts, autonomous from verbal behavior, that have a direct verbal
equivalent, usually in a form of a word, or a phrase. Secondly, emblems are used intentionally
and consciously, often depending on a communication context, similarly to verbal behavior,
but unlike some other categories of gestures. Finally, they are highly conventionalized, they
can be coded arbitrarily or iconically and their decoded meaning must be shared across a group
of individuals, ranging from small conspiratorial organizations to whole cultures. Naturally,
their meaning is culturally determined and might vary.
2
Despite the emergence of so-called Metal Studies in the late 2000s, the metal subculture remains a rather
uncharted territory for academic studies. The situation is changing though, with the steadily rising number of
papers, books and even dissertations in this interdisciplinary field, and thanks to the existence of The
International Society for Metal Music Studies. In the words of Albert Bell (personal communication, June 24,
2016), a fellow academic and a musician whom I had a privilege to interview for Heavy Metal Pages magazine,
Metal Studies is “a field that invites researchers with a common interest in metal music to come together and
look at heavy metal from an academic perspective, not simply from a fan perspective. (…) They possess deep-
rooted experience in the music scene (as musicians, producers, or consumers), as well as research expertise.”
This approach allows them to achieve a unique perspective on issues regarding heavy metal. For a broader
overview, see: Baka 2018.
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Subsequent scholars often set aside the original terminology in favor of such terms, among
others, as ‘semiotic gestures’ (Barakat 1973), ‘symbolic gestures’ (Dul 1993),
‘conventionalized gestures’ (Jarząbek 1994), and, most famously, ‘autonomous gestures’ or
‘quotable gestures’ (Kendon 1981). The introduction of new terms reflects differences, often
minor, in how various scholars define this particular class of gestures. This is evocative of a
broader issue, which is that providing a firm and universally recognized Aristotelian-type
definition of an emblem has proven to be very difficult, if not impossible. The reason for that
is that emblems, their properties and even forms, cannot be described using absolutes, but rather
a scale. This is why Lluís Payrató has taken a cognitive approach in order to define emblems.
Drawing on the theory of prototypes, Payrató (Payrató, Clemente 2020) synthetized
recurring features of prior definitions of emblems and redefined the category with the following
list of five attributes:
1) Autonomy of speech,
2) Communicative goal (intentional and deliberate),
3) Illocutionary force,
4) Social nature,
5) Semantic core.
3. The horned hand
The semiotic journey, so to speak, of the horned hand is a rather intriguing one. The gesture
originated in the ancient times. One of its earliest depictions known is over 4000 years old and
can be seen in the Qar tomb, which dates back to the sixth Egyptian Dynasty. It was both a
solar and a lunar gesture. It represented the day and the night, the beginning and the end, which
explains its presence in burial chambers.
As a solar gesture, the horned hand was linked to the cow and the bull, which symbolized
the sun in Egyptian, Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. As a lunar gesture, in the
Mediterranean Region it was connected to the cult of fertility (Mertzani 2018). Even in present
times it is used as a protective gesture in most parts of Italy and on Malta (Morris 1994). When
performed (horizontally, not vertically), or worn as an amulet, the horned hand is believed to
provide protection from the evil eye, which can cause infertility, among other harms.
3
Quite
3
The horned had is used as a protective symbol also in Buddhism and Hinduism (Robrue, Poungplub 2014).
However, given Western provenance of metal subculture, in this section I am focusing on its meaning primarily
in the Western civilization.
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notably the gesture appears in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, when Jonathan Harker is about to leave
for the Count’s castle:
When we started, the crowd round the inn door, which had by this time swelled to a considerable
size, all made the sign of the cross and pointed two fingers towards me. With some difficulty I got
a fellow-passenger to tell me what they meant; he would not answer at first, but on learning that I
was English, he explained that it was a charm or guard against the evil eye.
(Stoker [1897] 1983 6–7)
Consecutively, in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome the horned hand was one of several
gestures used by professional orators in their delivery of speeches. Quintilian (1920: 295)
described it as “producing a still more forcible effect” than simply placing the middle finger
against the thumb and extending the remaining three, which was “one of the commonest of all
the gestures.” The oratory usage of the horned hand later re-emerged in the Byzantine Empire,
and was depicted on Eastern Orthodox Christian icons. In this context the gesture could be
verbally paraphrased as “Wise we shall listen!” (Renev 2016). In the same meaning the gesture
was later used on Russian icons as well. Surprisingly, in modern Russia, when presented
vertically, the horned hand was also used by criminals as a nonverbal threat. It was later adopted
by the so-called New Russians
4
, and used as a means of expressing one’s superiority
(Navasartova 2017).
Finally, by the early 1980s the horned hand was adopted and is still used across cultures
and borders as a symbol of the metal subculture. The gesture was introduced by Ronnie James
Dio, a famed American vocalist of Italian descent, who had learnt it from his grandmother.
5
He
would frequently see her use it as protection from the evil eye, as she was quite superstitious
(Dunn 2005). Dio was known for his powerful voice, fantasy-driven lyrics, and theatrical stage
presence. The horned hand became an intricate part of his stage repertoire and his trademark.
During a concert on Long Island in 1980 he explained it as a sign of unity and shared support
of rock music:
4
New Russians were a newly rich business class, often with ties to mafia, who made their fortune in the
1990s. They became a staple of Russian popular culture, being a popular topic of anecdotes, cabaret sketches,
stand-up routines and comedies (Sergeeva 2006).
5
Even though it is Dio who is most commonly regarded as the popularizer of the horned hand, Gene
Simmons (2001) of the group KISS claims that it was actually him who accidentally invented this gesture, as
exhibited on the cover of the 1977 album Love Gun. In 2017 Simmons even undertook a failed attempted to
trademark it. The gesture’s presence in rock music can actually be traced back even further, to American group
Coven and their 1969 debut album Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls, where it is prominently featured
on the back cover.
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You’ve obviously come to this place because you like rock music, is that right? [audience screams
‘yeah’ in agreement] And you will come back here to see whoever is a good rock and roll
organization, right? [audience once again agrees] Just so you remember, people think this [Dio
presents the horned hand] means something other than it really is. If you’ll all join us, I will tell
you what it really means. It means: long live rock and roll! Put them up! [Dio and audience
members present the horned hand].
(A Metalhead's Journey 2019)
Dio would in fact often use the gesture during live performances, especially during his time as
the vocalist of Black Sabbath (i.e. 1979–1982, 1991–1992)
6
– a group commonly regarded as
originators of heavy metal music genre. With time, other musicians and members of the metal
subculture adopted the horned hand, up to a point when it developed a new meaning – it became
the symbol of the community.
7
Meanwhile gradually the gesture also penetrated the
mainstream culture where it became associated with the meaning “to enjoy oneself”.
4. Symbol of the metal subculture
Despite various accusations against the metal subculture made in the past decades mostly by
people associated with conservative circles, the metal community as a whole was never
bounded by any ideology, or radical beliefs. It was and it still remains a music-based subculture.
To quote Albert Bell (personal communication, June 24, 2016) once again:
I don’t think we’re that different [from non-metalheads]. We might look different, we might act
differently, and we might enjoy different things – that’s what sets us apart from other people.
However, on most levels we’re just the same: we love, we hate, we get angry, we have children,
we get separated, we get divorced. We face the same life issues. The binding element of the
metalhead community is our passion for heavy metal – that’s what brings us together. Other than
that we are very different individuals, with different ideologies, different life experiences. Our
unity comes exclusively from music.
6
Dio later re-joined Black Sabbath for a short period in 1991–1992, and then formed Heaven & Hell (2006–
2010) with his fellow Black Sabbath musicians.
7
I strongly believe claims of metalheads misusing the horned hand as a result of being “unaware of its real
meaning” (Robrue, Poungplub 2016: 291) to be false. Their usage is generally intentional, but the gesture’s well
established status within metal circles does not seem to be widely recognized outside of the subculture.
Therefore their illocutionary acts might be misunderstood by outsiders, or invite claims of ignorance and/or
misusage.
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Attending metal concerts is generally seen as an activity central to the subculture. That is where
it thrives and metalheads forge and affirm their identity, values and norms. Unsurprisingly, the
horned hand as a symbol of the metal subculture originated namely in such circumstances.
Deena Weinstein (1991: 218) calls metal concerts a “semiotic thicket” that in order to be read,
requires “decoding a complex array of communicative acts by using the heavy metal
codebook.” One of these acts involves presenting the horned hand (“throwing up the horns”)
upon a request by musicians performing on stage. As Weinstein (1991: 224) notices, “getting
the audience to behave in harmony with one another is the basic way of forming the concert
community.” Indeed, as shown by Jolanta Antas and Izabela Kraśnicka-Wilk (2003),
synchronic repetition of emblematic gestures brings interlocutors mentally closer together.
Such an act of unity refers them to shared cultural scripts, which helps to establish
understanding between them. In the case of metalheads, the knowledge of how to use the
gesture properly indicates the degree of one’s involvement in the subculture.
Metal concerts seem to create the most natural environment for usage of the horned hand,
however, the gesture is not restricted only to such events. It is commonly featured in
promotional materials (photos, posters etc.), on album covers, in music journals and on
merchandise. What began as a secret symbol known only to members of the subculture, with
time was introduced to mainstream culture, to metal community’s deepest dissatisfaction.
However, while outside the metal community the horned hand serves simply as a symbol
of the metal subculture, among metalheads its role is significantly more diverse and subtle.
Even though emblematic gestures are said to have a stable semantic core, its meaning is still
liable to changes. Such can be caused by communication context, addition of an accompanying
verbal message or other nonverbal cues (Knapp, Hall 2000). For example, depending on
aforementioned factors, hand-waving can be decoded as ‘greeting’, ‘drawing attention’ or
‘farewell’.
5. Research methodology
In order to characterize extensively the use of the horned hand among metalheads, I
implemented a method inspired by Harold G. Johnson, Paul Ekman and Wallace V. Friesen
(1975). My research was divided into three phases and conducted via Internet (partly because
this paper was written during the COVID-19 pandemic).
The goal of phase one was to identify the largest number of potential communication
contexts and intentional senses. This was possible thanks to discussions with participants (N =
Półrocznik Językoznawczy Tertium. Tertium Linguistic Journal 5 (2) (2020) 69
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35), who consider themselves involved members of the metalhead community; conducted
using social media (Facebook, Discord), as well as my personal experience as a life-long
member of the metal subculture. At this point I did not differentiate between metalheads of
different nationalities, as I was focused on achieving the quantitative result. That being said, I
was able to gather data from, among others, Americans, Poles, Russians, and Swedes. They
were asked in their native languages to describe situations in which they perform the horned
hand and what kind of messages they mean to convey with it. As a result, I was able to identify
a variety of five different communication contexts and intentional senses possibly exclusive to
metalheads:
a) Indication of affiliation with heavy metal music and/or subculture
b) Display of identity and/or community
c) Sign of greeting
d) Sign of farewell
e) Display of appreciation/respect
With gathered data, I was able to move to phase two and create an Internet survey. It
consisted of pictures and short video clips (no longer than 10 seconds) arranged in random
order, depicting communication contexts suggested by my interlocutors, augmented by short
descriptions of presented situations. Then the survey was sent to a group of random Polish
participants (N = 50), highly devoted to the metal subculture.
8
This group will be later referred
to as M. Their task was to determine the meaning behind every presented usage of the horned
hand in a written form (in no more than two sentences). Finally, in order to determine whether
given examples of the gesture’s usage are indeed restricted to metalheads, in phase three I asked
a different group of random Polish participants (N = 50), who had previously declared no
affiliation with the metal subculture, to take the survey conducted in phase two of my research.
This group will be later referred to as NM. All answers given by participants in phase two and
three were thematically grouped and will be presented in forthcoming tables 1–5.
Measurements used by Johnson, Ekman and Friesen (1975) show that in order to verify an
emblematic status of an action pattern, a message derived by at least 70% of the decoders needs
to match exactly or almost exactly the message given by the encoder. In my research I applied
the same percentage threshold.
8
I believe, that since the metal subculture is a global phenomenon, the results would not have been
affected by including members of different nationalities in the research group. However, not being absolutely
certain, I decided to focus on a homogeneous group nevertheless.
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6. Results and discussion
In the result of an extensive analysis of fundamental themes of relational communication, Judee
K. Burgoon and Jerold L. Hale (1984) concluded that interactants exchange messages along
twelve nonorthogonal communication dimensions. Subsequent research indicated that these
dimensions could be combined into fewer, interrelated message clusters: 1) intimacy, 2)
emotional arousal/activation, 3) composure, 4) dominance, 5) similarity, 6) formality, 7) task
or social orientation (Burgoon, Guerrero, Manusov 2011). Of these, the analyzed messages
conveyed using the horned hand should be referred to the first and fifth group.
The intimacy dimension (which encompasses several subthemes related to affection,
involvement, inclusion, trust, and depth) concerns expression of affection, as well as efforts to
initiate close personal relations with others and to be included in social groups. Nonverbal cues
that communicate intimacy include, among others, affectionate touch, soft voices, postural
openness, moto mimicry and mirroring. Members of the metal subculture signal a relationship
between each other using a variety of nonverbal cues, including mirroring of the horned hand.
Signaling similarity is an essential relational message theme. This dimension (also labeled
as identification, or interpersonal solidarity) concerns the degree to which people share similar
values, norms, personal characteristics, experiences, as well as specific displays that are unique
to a given class of communicators and that help to set that class apart from others. In the case
of metalheads, nonverbal cues that communicate similarity often include physical appearance
(ex. growing hair long, wearing T-shirts with the emblem of musical groups), and specific
communication practices during dyadic and group interactions, some of which involve the
horned hand.
6.1. Indication of affiliation with heavy metal music and/or subculture
In its most basic sense, the horned hand is a symbol which simply refers to heavy metal music
and/or subculture. This meaning transcends the metal subculture, since the gesture is now an
integral part of global culture, sometimes used with meaning of “to enjoy oneself
enthusiastically.” It can be seen in a variety of visual media, often not affiliated with heavy
metal. The overexposure of the horned hand in mass media, and especially its embracement by
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pop singers (ex. Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, Miley Cyrus) has led to some members of the
community refraining themselves from using the gesture entirely or using it in an ironic way.
9
The research survey included the following album cover. It prominently features the
horned hand as an indicator of affiliation with heavy metal. Participants were asked to speculate
on the genre of music on the album, judging exclusively by the image.
Figure 1. Magic: A Tribute to Ronnie James Dio. Source: Kelly 2010.
The presented artwork by Ken Kelly was used on the inside cover of Magic: A Tribute to
Ronnie James Dio, which is a compilation album commemorating Dio’s music. It features
interpretations of several songs originally sung by him. The image is a play on the cover
artwork used on Rising by Rainbow, but it shows a horned hand, whereas the original version
(also painted by Kelly) featured a clenched fist. The artwork is rather unusual for hard rock or
heavy metal conventions, thus guaranteeing that the featured gesture was the only clue for
participants, something that they all focused on.
The conducted survey seems to confirm the universal recognition of the horned hand as
the symbol of heavy metal. Not only 100% of participants of Group M were able to decipher
9
There are also initiatives among the metalhead community (rather destined to fail) aimed at “taking the
horned hand back.” As one group on Facebook, which has almost 9000 likes, states: “If you don't know why
you're using Devil Horns, STOP using them. If you're a fan of Nickleback, Blink 182, Linkin Park or Hannah
Montana – STOP using Devil Horns. If you've never heard of Ronnie James Dio – STOP using Devil Horns.”
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the meaning, but so did 74% of participants of Group NM. They agreed that the gesture on the
cover art indicates that the album probably contains heavy metal music.
Table 1. Judging by the cover, what genre of music does this album fall under? Source: author.
Group M
Group NM
100%
metal / heavy metal
74%
metal / heavy metal
20%
Rock
6%
I don’t know
6.2. Display of identity and/or community
Being a prevalent symbol of the metal subculture, the horned hand is often used as a means of
displaying group identity and/or community. The verbal equivalent of this act could be
summarized in a simple but powerful assertion: “This is/I am/We are metal!” It seems that the
most common context, in which such a declaration is made, is either during a live event (such
as festival or concert), or when posing for photograph.
10
In fact, these circumstances naturally
coincide quite often. Large gatherings are a perfect occasion to celebrate and demonstrate
group identity as metalheads. Musicians play an integral part in this, using the horned hand to
express solidarity with audience members, by performing the gesture on stage. Audience
members then mirror it as a sign of confirmation: “Yes, all of us here are metal.”
When the horned hand is used for display of identity, some variety in the way how the
gesture is performed is allowed. Consequently, horns can be aimed horizontally or vertically.
If vertically, the palm might be facing either the sender or the receiver. The gesture is also able
to convey different levels of intensity. Accompanying facial expressions play an integral part
in this act, as spectrum of emotions displayed through this channel of nonverbal
communication ranges from anger to euphoria. The gesture can be reinforced when performed
using both hands and/or when accompanied by a paraverbal or verbal cue, such as shouting. Is
can also be performed while flexing biceps, which seems to result in higher intensity of the
delivered statement.
10
One of my interlocutors, Didier Goossens, mentioned to me in conversation that in the past he would
often perform the horned hand in family or high school photographs in order to “delineate his own identity in
relation to his family and members of high school communities.” (personal communication, June 29, 2020)
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Figure 2. “We’re heavy metal.” Source: Dunn and McFadyen 2011.
The survey included a short video clip catching a metalhead using the horned hand to display
his identity. It features singer Rob Halford elaborating on how Judas Priest was the first group
to establish the distinctive look of heavy metal culture, and why simply playing the music is
one issue, while having a look that represents the sound is a separate one. For them it was a
manifest: “We are what we are, we believe in what we do.” Then Halford adds: “We’re Judas
Priest. We’re heavy metal” and follows his statement with a dual horned hand.
My discussions with metalheads revealed that they consciously diversify usage of the
horned hand depending on whether they interact with other members of the community, or with
outsiders. In the former case, the gesture is more meaningful and is able to convey more types
of messages, which otherwise remain hidden to non-metalheads. The results of the survey
reflect this quite well, because 82% of participants of Group M interpreted the presented video
as display of metal identity/community/solidarity, while only 34% of participants of Group
NM came to the same conclusion. It is also rather telling that many answers given by the former
included rather emotional vocabulary: “He’s one of us”, “He’s a member of the metal family”,
“Metal runs through his blood” etc.
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Table 2. What is Rob Halford communicating with this gesture? Source: author.
Group M
Group NM
82%
He identifies as a metalhead
44%
I don’t know
16%
He plays metal
34%
He identifies as a metalhead
2%
I don’t know
14%
He plays rock
8%
He worships Satan
6.3. Sign of greeting
Among metalheads, the horned hand is also used in accordance with their informal code of
politeness as a sign of welcome or recognition, prior to an interaction, or to greet in passing.
Since this usage is limited to members of the metal community, it automatically indicates the
membership as well. Similarly, as with other gestures of greeting, the sender directs the horned
hand at the receiver as a means to make his or her presence known, and to suggest a cordial
relationship. The gesture is then reciprocated by the receiver for the sake of symmetrical
interaction. This act of greeting is fully sufficient and does not need to be accompanied by any
further nonverbal behavior, or a verbal message.
Figure 3. The concert is about to begin. Source: Opeth 2007.
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The research survey included a short video footage presenting Mikael Åkerfeldt of the Swedish
group Opeth using the horned hand (without any accompanying verbal messages) to welcome
audience members to the concert, as the group prepares on the stage to start their performance.
As with most gestures of greeting, the context of usage of the horned hand with a given
intention is rather telling. Thus, a perceptive individual should be able to construe this meaning
even without prior knowledge of how metalheads may greet each other. Especially since survey
participants were informed that the presented scene is happening prior to concert beginning.
According to the survey, 86% of participants of Group M and 44% participants of Group NM
interpreted the presented material as depiction of greeting.
Table 3. What is Mikael Åkerfeldt communicating with this gesture? Source: author.
Group M
Group NM
86%
Welcome to the concert
44%
Welcome to the concert
14%
Let’s enjoy ourselves
26%
Let’s enjoy ourselves
20%
He identifies as a metalhead
6%
Hail Satan
4%
I don’t know
6.4. Sign of farewell
Just like numerous greeting gestures (e.g. hand wave, or hand shake), the horned hand serves
a double function and can also be used to mark one's departure and thus end an interaction. In
this case the rules of usage are the same as the ones stated above, however the communication
context obviously differs. The survey included a short video showing members of German
thrash metal group Kreator leaving the stage after the concert has concluded, and signifying
their departure by performing the horned hand, instead of such universally understood
nonverbal cues as a raised hand or a hand wave.
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Figure 4. The group is leaving the stage. Source: Kreator 2020.
According to the survey, message of farewell conveyed with the horned hand was clear to 80%
of participants of Group M and 30% participants of Group NM. As with previous example,
also here the communication context is quite revealing, so the task of deciphering the intended
message was rather easy even to participants unaccustomed to the metal subculture.
Table 4. What is Mille Petrozza communicating with this gesture? Source: author.
Group M
Group NM
80%
Goodbye
38%
He identifies as a metalhead
16%
That was great
30%
Goodbye
4%
He identifies as a metalhead
24%
I don’t know
8%
Hail Satan
6.5. Display of appreciation/respect
Finally, the horned hand can also be used to express positive evaluation, particularly towards
a musical group performing on stage. In this context the gesture is a nonverbal communication
act of politeness equivalent to applauding.
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The heavy metal concert milieu equips audience members with a particular repertoire of
actions which allow them to express their satisfaction with performance. That is slightly
different than the one available, for instance, to spectators of an opera. Possibly the one most
commonly used is raising a hand high in the air (vertically, or in a circa forty degree angle),
and showing the horned hand towards musicians (“throwing up the horns”). This act can be
additionally reinforced, if necessary, by performing the gesture with both hands, and/or
cheering loudly.
This usage is, however, not restricted exclusively to concerts. The horned hand can also
be used to express respect towards another member of community, although in such cases a
complementary verbal message is often required for clear and precise communication. An
anonymous Discord user shared this example with me: “I’m a young metalhead who wears
metal gear. Sometimes older people walk by me and go: ‘Nice vest dude’, or ‘I saw them back
in ‘87’, or ‘Fun to see younger metal folks’. And show the devil horns as a proper sign of
respect.” (personal communication, May 20, 2020)
The research survey included a short video showing concert audience members praising a
musical group between songs. The frame presented below was taken from a tracking shot on
metalheads reacting to a performance by the American death metal group Obituary. Most of
them are presenting the horned hand while others are applauding.
Figure 5. The concert is going well. Source: Obituary 2015.
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The survey conducted shows that 92% of participants of Group M were able to match the
intended message exactly, which is understandable, since this particular usage of the horned
hand is very common, and attending even one heavy metal concert allows an individual to
introduce this behavior to their repertoire. Meanwhile only 18% of participants of Group MN
succeeded in deciphering the message. This small percentage of correct answers could probably
be explained by the fact that metal concerts rarely gather audience that is not already affiliated
with the metal subculture. Because of this, non-metalheads are not often exposed to such acts
of internal community communication.
Table 5. What is the audience communicating with this gesture? Source: author.
Group M
Group NM
92%
Well done / You’re great
34%
I don’t know / Nothing
8%
We’re all metalheads
32%
We’re all metalheads
18%
Well done / You’re great
16%
Hail Satan
7. Conclusions and further research
As established, the horned hand is a symbol of the metal subculture. It is widely recognized as
such not only among its members, but also individuals not highly familiar with customs of
metalheads. However, while the latter see it simply as a reference to heavy metal music and
the community developed around it, in certain communication contexts metalheads are able to
use the gesture to convey more meaningful and detailed information, i.e. to display their
identity and/or community, greet and bid each other farewell, show appreciation and/or respect.
Research shows that more than 70% of respondents who consider themselves
knowledgeable about the subculture, were able to derive a message matching exactly or almost
exactly the message intended by the encoder, which allows to declare the emblematic status of
the horned hand. Consecutively, subjects who do not believe themselves to be familiar with the
subculture were much less successful with this task. This shows that gesture’s emblematic
status is restricted to members of the metalhead community.
It should be addressed that while not a single participant of Group M claimed the horned
hand to be a sign of allegiance to the devil, such answer did occur among participants of Group
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NM. This issue is well deserving of a separate study – one of auto- and hetero-images of
metalheads. The brief explanation is that there is a striking discrepancy between how members
of the subculture perceive themselves and how they are perceived by outsiders. Only a fraction
of metalheads treat satanic elements, present in lyrics and the image of selected musical groups,
as more than an act, a purely stylistic choice, or an element of the metal aesthetics. However,
outsiders lack this understanding and therefore might believe them to be actual Satanists.
Although unintended, the survey does show this perceptional divide.
Finally, the process of developing this paper has revealed several additional topics related
to communication in the metal subculture. I would like to propose them for future research and
discussion. These are as follows:
− What other nonverbal behaviors establish the repertoire of ritualistic actions that take
place during a heavy metal concert?
11
− What acts of verbal communication partake in forming the concert community?
12
− To what degree is concert behavior of metalheads culturally determined?
13
− How much can the horned hand differ in performance until it is no longer
recognizable?
14
− Lastly, written communication is not usually considered a domain of nonverbal
communication, therefore I did not study the usage of the horned hand emoticon. It is,
however, a goal worth pursuing.
15
11
There are many rituals particular to heavy metal concerts in general, as well as to live performances of
specific musical groups. A rather unique concert practice, which can be observed among devoted supporters of
German power metal group Blind Guardian, is sitting down cross-legged when the iconic The Bard’s Song is
played. Interestingly, audience members are not verbally invited to do so. To them this behavior is a common
knowledge.
12
One of better known examples, that has been repeated at numerous concerts, is Bruce Dickinson’s
catchphrase “scream for me” followed by the name of a city or country.
13
To give an example of a behavior deeply rooted in local culture, Kobi Farhi of Israeli progressive metal
group Orphaned Land mentions that during their concerts in Turkey audience members often sing along with
them, with hands placed slightly in front and to the sides of the head, which is a gesture that Muslims perform
during a prayer (Dunn, McFadyen 2007).
14
As mentioned earlier, the horned hand can be performed vertically or horizontally, the palm may be
facing the sender or the receiver, the handshape may resemble letter H or Y. However, it is unclear when it
becomes an entirely different gesture.
15
There even seems to be a difference in perlocutionary effect between written and graphic form, i.e.
typing \m/ and using a pre-formatted emoticon. The former is considered to be more authentic, more in
agreement with the subculture's ethos.
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Acknowledgements
I wish to express my deepest gratitude to:
JOLANTA ANTAS (Jagiellonian University, Poland) for leading me on a journey to write
this paper.
GERARD MCCANN (St Mary's University College Belfast, Northern Ireland) for insightful
comments on the first version of this paper.
Participants of my research survey and discussions on issues concerning the metal
subculture. Especially JÁNOS FEJES (Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Hungary) and DIDIER
GOOSSENS (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands).
Tertium Linguistic Journal reviewers for a close reading of my paper and their
inspirational comments and invaluable suggestions.
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