A conversation with Jeremy Swist (Brandeis University) on why some heavy metal bands write music about Roman and Byzantine history. Expect "good" and "bad" emperors to be reversed here! Jeremy has published much on this, including 'Satan's Empire: Ancient Rome's Anti-Christian Appeal in Extreme Metal,' Metal Music Studies 5 (2019) 35-51; 'Headbanging to Byzantium: The Reception of the Byzantine Empire in Metal Music,' in "What Byzantinism is this in Istanbul!" Byzantium in Popular Culture (Istanbul 2021) 200-231; and online, 'Enjoy My Flames' (Lapham's Quarterly) and 'Dawn of a Dark Age: Constantine the Great in Heavy Metal Music.'
