HOW DEATH METAL IS THE SOUNDTRACK OF CHILD PRODIGIES
Jonathan Brown
The Independent – United Kingdom
Published: Mar 21, 2007
Heavy metal has long been saddled with a reputation for attracting
admirers more interested in decibels than Descartes. New research,
however, promises to rescue the genre from the mosh pit of intellectual
obscurity.
A study has revealed that death metal and thrash bands such as
Slayer and Slipknot produce the music of choice for today’s brightest
youngsters.
A survey which was carried out among students at the National Academy
for Gifted and Talented Youth, a cohort drawn from the top 5 per
cent of the nation’s youngsters, drew praise for metal’s "visceral
brutality" with more than a third rating it among their favourite
styles. Researchers admitted they were surprised to find that
"intelligent" genres traditionally associated with the precociously
bright, such as classical and jazz, were the least popular.
What they discovered instead was that youngsters liked to let off
steam to hardcore sounds, particularly if it had an emotionally
charged or overtly political message behind it. One respondent said:
"You can’t really jump your anger into the floor and listen to music
at the same time with other types of music."
Stuart Cadwallader of the University of Warwick, which conducted the
survey, said heavy metal was found to provide a form of "catharsis",
particularly for those with low self-esteem.
They found the aggressive music a useful conduit for their
frustrations and anger, according to the findings revealed at the
British Psychological Society conference in York yesterday.
Mr Cadwallader said this intellectual elite often found themselves
facing situations and issues not encountered by less able students.
"Perhaps the pressure associated with being gifted and talented can
be temporarily forgotten with the aid of music," he said.
While other musical forms such as rock, pop and R& B were rated as the
most popular, students said they felt particularly attracted to the
"thrashiness" of heavy metal.
Answering questions in an online survey, one student said Systems
of a Down’s anti-war track, "Bring Your Own Bombs" particularly
appealed. Another track, "Aenima" by Tool, was praised for its subject
matter – "the stupidity of the celebrity culture".
Another praised "the visceral brutality offered by metal bands like
Slipknot and Machine Head." The student added: "The cathartic release
offered by heavy music played loud, either by my hi-fi or myself on
guitar, is a wonderful thing when it’s needed."
However, many of the students disagreed over what constituted a heavy
metal fan and argued that they liked to pick and choose from different
styles according to the way they were feeling.
One student concluded: "As with most music, it depends heavily on the
person’s mood at the time. So while there probably is your ‘average
metalhead fan’, there will also be a lot of other fans who just feel
‘met-alheady’ every so often. Which I guess goes some way to justify
my playlists being named ’emotions’."
School of rock
System Of A Down: Los Angeles-based four-piece whose
politically-charged output has much to do with the fact they are
descended from Armenian genocide victims.
Machinehead, far right: Boasting albums entitled Burn My Eyes and
Hellsalive, the Oakland-based nu-metallers were banned by MTV for
lyrical insensitivity after the Waco siege.
Slipknot, left: Once compared to a "threshing machine devouring a
military drum corps" this Des Moines nine-piece achieved notoriety
with their first album, Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat.
Slayer, right: Recently celebrated 25 years of exploring the delights
of satanism and serial killers.
Finntroll: Finnish folk-death metal band that sings in Swedish and
draws on Norse legend.