Death metal's not violence, but joy

Science Who long for music with aggressive themes are listening, is not impervious to violent images than those who have such a music like to hear. This is evident from a study at the Macquarie University in Australia, published in the journal Open Science, the British Royal Society. The music leads especially to joy, is the conclusion.

For the research was the song 'Eaten' by the death metal band Bloodbath used in a psychological test which the unconscious reactions of people studied. The song has cannibalism as a theme. “I would be really horrified if someone to the song listen and then feel a desire to be a cannibal to be eaten,” said Nick Holmes, singer of Bloodbath, commented to the British broadcaster BBC. the

The study is part of a long-term research of professor Bill Thompson of the university and his colleagues to the emotional effects of music. "A lot of people enjoy hollow music, and that is a bit paradoxical. Why should we make ourselves sad?", according to the professor. "The same goes for music with aggressive or violent themes."

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Participants in the study were 32 self-identified fans of death metal or heavy metal (including 24 males) and 48 people (24 men) who is not a fan of the genre. It comes to university students of the age group 18 to 35 years. The fans listened to metal with violent themes. The participants were unpleasant images, while they are either 'Eaten' by Bloodbath, or "Happy" of Pharrell Williams were told, a song with a happy theme.

From the research showed that the fans in the same way, the threatening, violent images, like if they who are of the metal genre don't like to hear. The lovers are thus not unaffected become for violent images. “The fans of death metal are pleasant people," said Thompson. "They don't go out to hurt people.” On the contrary: according to professor Thompson, his joy, and ‘empowerment’ of the dominant emotional reactions to that music genre. “That is fantastic.”