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Death metal music inspires joy not violence

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Re: Death metal music inspires joy not violence

#61
post #30

So here's a thought that just occurred to me. For context, I've never understood death metal or anything in that realm. The screaming in particular... but I realize that's just my personal preference. No judgment intended. Just opinion, not objective fact. So only recently I discovered the ASMR phenomenon. And it seems like ~10% of the population (estimated) get a particular response to those sounds. Other commenters…

I'd be surprised if it's that simple. If you'd not raised the point, I think I'd have guessed most had to grow on you with exposure like appreciating spirits or strong foods. Hang around with bikers or metal heads and you'll learn to love it whether you intend to or not... Or find something else to do fast. :)

After growing up with Sabbath, Lemmy, Maiden, ACDC, UFO etc, when I first heard death metal and growl vocals I just thought it sounded a bit naff. Yet somewhere along the way to middle age I grew to love them and also stopped noticing genres. There's now plenty of Ensiferum, Arch Enemy and so on in among bands of all kinds, classical and jazz I listen to these days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFYVcz7h3o0

Re: Death metal music inspires joy not violence

#62
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Black metal is way sillier than death metal. In the early days, sure, there were a group of people who took the imagery of metal seriously or at least tried to. But black metal is so theatric and cartoonish these days. It'd be like being afraid Count Chocula will inspire a generation of cannibals.

What's silly about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varg_Vikernes ?

[deleted]

Re: Death metal music inspires joy not violence

#63
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember reading about some study ages ago about an inverse relationship between violence in music and violence in daily life. Basically they found that gangsters who were doing horrible things every day listened to much 'nicer' music than people living essentially nonviolent lives.

Makes me really wonder about those who listen to New Age or other really chill music. (This includes me, at times.)

Ultraviolence and Beethoven?

Re: Death metal music inspires joy not violence

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'd be like being afraid Count Chocula will inspire a generation of cannibals. Years ago, there were the fundamentalist types who would've thought that the vampire/occult theme was a cutesy backdoor into pulling kids into satanic occult stuff. Same sort of people who tried to stigmatize D&D and video games. Same sort of people who wanted to censor books, music, movies, etc. In 2019, we have a new kind of fundamental…

Oh hey, as someone who's been on the "wrong" side of both the "Right's" 80s/90s family values moral panic (D&D, Marilyn Manson, violent videogames etc.) and the "Left's" progressive moral panic, I also can relate to that connection. The pendulum keeps swinging, yet either way we are being preached to as being immoral and in need of repenting. Either for sinfulness or privilege, which serve the same purpose in their i…

Oh yeah! Lots of people note that "privilege" is basically "original sin" except there's no chance of forgiveness or redemption. Also, since it seems to be attached to ethnicity, it's more specifically like the fundamentalist variations involving racial arrows of morality. (The idea that inspired the "Children of Hamm" from the Handmaid's Tale.)

Re: Death metal music inspires joy not violence

#65
post #4

Great to see research coming to a conclusion I think most metalheads intuitively know. I love walls of sound, I love intensity that feels like it takes a surplus of cognitive bandwidth (ADHD) and gives it a little bit of resistance to tug against, almost like those various rubber stress toys. I think most metal fans hear lyrical gruesomeness as something between fantasy and a cause for more empathy than anything else…

A great deal of metal is prima facie ugly, and I find that most of the people attracted to this aesthetic have emotional issues, abuse drugs, or self-harm, etc. I enjoy hanging out with some of these people, but it's an observation I can't ignore. As you point out, there are a number of subcultures, some of which are generally wholesome and aesthetically sound. For example, Manowar fans are usually intelligent, drive…

The way that you phrased the part about 'emotional issues, abuse drugs or self-harm' are you meaning to imply that this somehow makes them lesser people? Bearing in mind that these traits all tend to be a direct sequelae of childhood trauma?

Re: Death metal music inspires joy not violence

#66
post #4

Great to see research coming to a conclusion I think most metalheads intuitively know. I love walls of sound, I love intensity that feels like it takes a surplus of cognitive bandwidth (ADHD) and gives it a little bit of resistance to tug against, almost like those various rubber stress toys. I think most metal fans hear lyrical gruesomeness as something between fantasy and a cause for more empathy than anything else…

AFAIK church burning is typically more black metal than deathmetal, which as a genre has somewhat of an ideological bent. See: the whole recent fiasco surrounding the band Deafheaven

I recently started listening to Deafheaven and haven't heard of this fiasco? Do you happen to have any links to news related to it?

Re: Death metal music inspires joy not violence

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A great deal of metal is prima facie ugly, and I find that most of the people attracted to this aesthetic have emotional issues, abuse drugs, or self-harm, etc. I enjoy hanging out with some of these people, but it's an observation I can't ignore. As you point out, there are a number of subcultures, some of which are generally wholesome and aesthetically sound. For example, Manowar fans are usually intelligent, drive…

The way that you phrased the part about 'emotional issues, abuse drugs or self-harm' are you meaning to imply that this somehow makes them lesser people? Bearing in mind that these traits all tend to be a direct sequelae of childhood trauma?

Absolutely not. I'm just speaking plainly, and I'm glad you made that point.

They are my friends for a reason.

Re: Death metal music inspires joy not violence

#68

That's death metal though. Other forms of extreme metal can have lyrics that, far from toying with splatter-gore themes for the shock value, express terminally anti-social politics. I'm thinking of black. Sometimes I'm just happy that a few of the bands I listen to sing in Swedish or Norwegian etc that I don't understand, so that I can't tell what they're singing about. Although the imagery can often give a bit of a…

I'd just like to point out that, as someone who mainly listens to black metal, I do not share these opinions. Concerning the lyrics, I generally categorize them into two groups (with non-empty cut set): * Intellectual lyrics, which criticize some part of society or human behaviour, or they deal with personal issues (e.g. http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/todtgelichter/angst.html#1 ) * Theme lyrics, which try to fit a…

Endorsing Satanism isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you read The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey it can represent a logical construct that rejects blind theology.
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