Professor Eugene Volokh: headbanger
Via a surprising source, Volokh Conspiracy ringleader and UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh, comes this taxonomic representation of heavy-metal band names. It's a valiant anthropological effort that seeks to impose order on a forest of i.d.'s that range from the grisly (Carcass) to the bestial (Black Widow) to the goofy-satanic (Baal's Balls). There is much to quibble about -- for example, as one Volokh commenter notes, why are extinct animals (Mastodon) considered a subset of imaginary animals (Goat Snake)? And the creators hardly bolster their credibility when they misspell "Led Zeppelin," one of the founts of all that is heavy. As in all structuralist approaches, some specimens straddle scholarly categories: Where does Pig Destroyer fit?
Just as fervently as he adheres to the view that the Second Amendment confers an individual right to gun ownership, Volokh believes that umlauts in metal-band names ought to be pronounced as they would be in German.
UPDATE: I thought it would be clear that Volokh didn't create this himself. In any case, he credits GeekPress, which tips the hat to BBspot. BoingBoing says the ultimate creator was "graphic designer and comedian Doogie Horner."
