Moshing is an extreme style of dancing in which participants push or slam into each other. Taking place in an area called the mosh pit, it is typically performed to aggressive styles of live music such as punk rock and heavy metal.

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a thick, monumental sound characterized by distorted guitars, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats and loudness.