Heavy Metal does Not equal suicide
(Music Genre Comparison)
The Effect on Mice
In 1998 several mice were subjected to Anthrax music twenty-four hours a day to study how the music affects the ability to solve a maze. The mice killed each other. Another group of mice listened to heavy metal music ten hours a day and the results showed the mice having more difficulty solving the maze than without music (Copley). This study shows that music in general can be distracting to completing a task, but is unlikly to cause a killing spree because humans do not come close to listening to music twenty-four hours a day.
Heavy Metal vs Mainstream genres
In order to determine whether or not heavy metal music causes one to commit suicide it is important to look at other genres of music. When studying other genres Ballard, Dodson, and Bazzini found that every music genre is similar in terms of themes:
1) Heavy Metal has themes of sex, drugs, suicide, Satanism, and violence.
2) Rap can sometimes have objectionable language, like heavy metal music, and deals with the problems of urban
life such as sex, drugs, misogyny, and violence.
3) Pop lyrics reference sex, drugs, violence, and Satan with some objectionable language. The difference between
pop, rap, and heavy metal is that pop music is more accepted than the other two genres.
4) Country lyrics are antisocial and depressive with themes such as drugs, promiscuity, sex, and sadness (Ballard, Dodson,
and Bazzini 477).
As seen with these four genres, music is quite similar across the board when considering the themes, and not the sound. Since each genre of music is somehow similar it is therefore impossible to assume that heavy metal music alone cause one to resort to suicide.
Besides the similarity between genres, the effects of the lyrics and mood further prove that the music does not cause one to commit suicide.
1) Heavy Metal has themes of sex, drugs, suicide, Satanism, and violence.
2) Rap can sometimes have objectionable language, like heavy metal music, and deals with the problems of urban
life such as sex, drugs, misogyny, and violence.
3) Pop lyrics reference sex, drugs, violence, and Satan with some objectionable language. The difference between
pop, rap, and heavy metal is that pop music is more accepted than the other two genres.
4) Country lyrics are antisocial and depressive with themes such as drugs, promiscuity, sex, and sadness (Ballard, Dodson,
and Bazzini 477).
As seen with these four genres, music is quite similar across the board when considering the themes, and not the sound. Since each genre of music is somehow similar it is therefore impossible to assume that heavy metal music alone cause one to resort to suicide.
Besides the similarity between genres, the effects of the lyrics and mood further prove that the music does not cause one to commit suicide.
Lyrics and Mood
The lyrics of any song, not necessarily heavy metal, do not cause suicide. A study found that adolescents claimed that "lyrical content [is] the least important reason for liking a song" (Ballard, Dodson, and Bazzini 478). This fact makes sense because most people like a song for the beats and sound. Heavy metal music especially concentrates on the power of the sound. Most heavy metal fans reported being in a positive mood after listening metal music which is consistent with other music genres (Scheel and Westefeld 267). In fact, the top reasons to attend a heavy metal concert were to listen to music, party, and unwind (Recours, Aussaguel, and Trujillo 482). These reasons are a result of positive reactions to the music. There is no denying that music has many controversial themes that are not appropriate, yet musicians and fans argue that music listeners know the difference between fiction and reality (Recours, Aussaguel, and Trujillo 475). In the movie industry there are hundreds of films that are extremely graphic and inappropriate for younger audiences. However, teenagers never finish watching an R-rated movie and want to go on a killing spree or kill themselves. If anything, heavy metal lyrics are tame compared to what is in modern movies. Since the music does not cause one to commit suicide, it therefore makes sense that the increased risky behavior is a result of the heavy metal subculture.