Cases of metal music associated with violence
Metal music has been blamed for a lot of violence and social disorder, especially within today’s youth society. While there is no denying that the majority of metal music has a hard-edged, violent sound to it and the lyrics are often brutal or graphic, there is not generally an explicit incitement to violence within these sounds and words.
Indeed, compared to much of the rap music around today, metal music is far less explicit in its promotion of violence. Sure, there are bands which do go too far and are perhaps preaching messages of their own agenda that are not appropriate.
For instance, many of the Black Metal bands who were involved in the church burnings in Scandinavia over the years often preached violence against religion. However, these extremists should be separated from the metal community as a whole, just as those rappers who commit murder are separated from their good-natured counterparts. Even the critics of metal would admit that to tarnish the whole genre with the actions of a few would be extremely harsh.
However, the real issues of controversy lie in the incidents where metal music has been blamed for violence or tragedy caused by those listening to metal. The first of these to look at is the tragic death of Dimebag Darrell, who as a member of Damageplan was shot and killed on stage by a crazed ‘fan’ in 2004. Others were also killed that day, but the focus was on the death of a metal music icon. Whilst fans mourned his death, others tried to put the blame for the incident on the metal community, and hence Dimebag Darrell. They claimed the violent lyrics and nature of the music and lifestyle led by Dimebag Darrell meant he was susceptible to such a death, in a sort of ‘you reap what you sow’ attitude.
It seems slightly strange to blame a man who was killed so violently for his own death, when in all likelihood the death was caused by a violent and mentally ill individual who lived in the violent society of America projecting his problems on to the problems he saw in his favourite band, Pantera. He blamed Dimebag Darrell for their split, and so wanted to enact revenge. This, coupled with poor security at the venue, led to the tragic event. In truth, no-one will really know the reasons behind the incident as the shooter was killed on scene, but blaming metal seems to be an easy way out.
This incident is perhaps inconclusive simply because there is not enough evidence either way to suggest whether the music promoted the violence caused directly. However, one case that went to trial and showed that metal music was not the direct cause of a violent incident was the Judas Priest suicide death case. A lawsuit was brought against the classic metal band Judas Priest in 1985 alleging that on their album ‘Stained Class’ there were subliminal lyrics telling people that killing themselves was good and fun and to ‘do it now’. Two youths, Raymond Belknap and James Vance, spent 6 hours listening to the album whilst smoking marijuana and drinking and then shot themselves with a shotgun.
Belknap died whilst Vance lived for around 3 years in serious pain before dying. It was alleged that the lyrics had caused these two ‘normal’ boys to commit suicide. However, after a 17 day trial where more than 40 witnesses were called it was ruled that the band had not intentionally put any subliminal messages that would have been the cause of the suicides. Whilst it may be easy to associate their deaths with the music, it is clear that the music was not a direct cause of their violence. Instead, child abuse, psychological problems and substance abuse were eventually seen as more likely candidates for the tragic incident. This is a case that shows the metal music was not responsible for their violence, but rather they were drawn to the music because of their feelings of violence.
This is a view shared by Arnett, who surmised that although male heavy metal fans were more reckless than non-metal fans, it was more the fact that the reckless males were drawn to the music than that the music was the cause of their recklessness. So, rather than music being the cause of the problems, it is in fact the similarity of the feelings in the music that draw people of this nature towards it. This is further supported by Roberts et al, who points out that while those who are perhaps troubled or at risk gravitate towards metal music; there are many metal music fans who simply listen to the music.
If you look at it one way, there are millions of metal fans who do not take drugs, are not overly violent and who are not depressed or behaving badly. However, many of those who are depressed and troubled listen to heavy metal music, because it gives them the support they need and identifies with their feelings of isolation and frustration. That is to say, the music is not the cause of their troubles, but rather something that troubled people identify with.
However, there are many studies that go even further and show that no causal connection between listening to metal music and levels of violence or aggression. For instance, a study conducted in 2000 looked at the relationship between heavy metal music and aggression levels. Two groups of sixteen students were each given an aggression levels survey to complete, one whilst listening to no music and the other listened to the song ‘Jerk Off’ by Tool. It was hypothesised that there would be higher aggression levels shown in the participants listening to the metal music. However, the results showed no statistical difference between the two groups, with pretty similar results in both survey groups. Although the researcher here was looking and hoping for a causal relationship between metal music and aggression, one could not be found. Although the sample size was small, this is a positive result for the idea that metal does not promote violence.
The final case to be looked at regarding the purported effect of metal music on violent behaviour is the infamous Columbine Massacre. It was known that the too young killers were obsessed with metal music bands like Rammstein and Marilyn Manson, and many religious and parent’s groups blamed the music for the horrible and tragic incident. However, it seems highly unlikely that the music alone would cause such terrible destruction. Whilst it cannot be denied that these boys listened to metal music and that it probably had an influence on them, the metal music was not the cause of their violent acts. It is far more likely that feelings of alienation, poor family background and the ease of which guns were available in America were the reasons why this incident occurred.
In fact, many of those who believed that such metal music was harmful and violent are also those who preached more violence as a way of stopping the incident in the future. Senator Frank Shurden responded to the shooting by proposing a bill to let parents commit more violence or ‘ordinary force’ against their children to discipline them. The bill was in fact passed, of which Shurden said:”I feel like the lack of discipline has led to what we are into now, total chaos and disrespect. Back when I grew up, we got our tails whipped at school, then got it again when we got home. We didn’t have shootings.” As you can see, those who are often saying that violence is caused by music are the same people who then believe more violence is the key to stopping the problems. These sorts of issues give a far more convincing argument that societal problems are the cause of violence rather than something as trivial as metal music.
Tags: aggression, metal music, violence, violent behaviour
