Studies indicate that rock, grunge and heavy metal music, while they are often preferred by troubled teens, are not the cause of their problems.
The majority of research into the emotional and behavioral effects of popular music has focused on heavy metal, though a few studies have also included rock and grunge music. Overall, the popular belief that listening to certain musical styles causes a variety of behavioral problems is not supported.
Emotional Response
While a number of researchers have associated heavy metal music with depression or anger, these effects do not occur when heavy metal is the listener’s musical preference. A study of more than 1,000 gifted students aged 11-18 found that heavy metal music is used for cathartic release and to dissipate negative emotions, particularly among those with low self-esteem.
Grunge Music Effects
A study of the effects of different types of music found that after listening to grunge music, subjects reported increases in fatigue, tension, sadness and hostility, as well as decreased mental clarity, vigor, relaxation and compassion. However, grunge was likely not the musical preference of these subjects—a study of grunge fans may have produced different results.
Aggression
Some studies have found that individuals become more hostile, aggressive or angry after listening to heavy metal music, whereas others have found no aggressive response. Some researchers have even found that subjects who were angry to begin with become happier, calmer and more relaxed after listening to heavy metal when it is their preferred musical genre.
Suicide
Although the suicide rate is higher among rock and heavy metal fans (particularly the latter), a study of students with psychiatric disorders who were also heavy metal fans actually showed improved mood after listening to their music of choice. Other studies of depressed students have found similar results, suggesting that students may use this music to help treat their depression rather than becoming depressed as a result of listening to it.
Academic Performance
Some studies have found that adolescents of both genders who listen to heavy metal tend to have lower grades in school, but this is likely due to aspects of personality or environment (such as high stress) rather than any direct effects of the music itself.
Intelligence
Interestingly, college students whose musical preferences are alternative, rock or heavy metal actually obtain higher IQ test scores on average, particularly on questions where abstraction is required. Some studies have also found high intelligence among adolescent heavy metal listeners.
Risk Taking
Those who prefer rock or heavy metal music are more inclined to be reckless sensation seekers who take risks. This is a personality type rather than a direct effect of the music—sensation seekers have less reactive nervous systems and so it takes more intense stimuli to generate a sensation of happiness or excitement.
Risk takers are more likely to commit crimes because they are not as anxious about the consequences. This is not caused by the music however; the risk taker prefers more energetic music and more dangerous pastimes as a result of innate personality and physiology.
Drug Use
Studies regarding a link between heavy metal music and drug use have generated mixed results. One study found that teenagers who listened to heavy metal were more inclined to use drugs, though they were not more likely to use them excessively or become addicted. Other researchers have found no link between music preference and drug use or drug-related values. Overall, use of alcohol and/or drugs by parents has the greatest influence on adolescent drug use.
Attitudes Toward Women
A study of undergraduate men found that exposure to sexually violent heavy metal music increased the tendency to stereotype sex roles and hold more negative perceptions of women. However, this was likely the result of the sexually violent content rather than the heavy metal music itself.
Effect on Animals
A student named David Merrill subjected mice to the music of a heavy metal band called Anthrax 24-hours a day to discover how it would affect their ability to learn new things, but instead of completing Merrill’s maze, the heavy metal mice all killed one another.
In a subsequent experiment in which the mice listened to heavy metal music for 10 hours each day, they did not become homicidal, but they did grow worse at solving the maze than they had been when they first encountered it. But research indicates that reactions to music are shaped by whether or not it is the genre of choice, and it's highly unlikely that if the mice had a musical preference at all, it would have been Anthrax.
Effect on Plants
Dorothy Retallack tested the effects of various types of music on plants. She found that playing classic rock artists such as Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Vanilla Fudge caused the plants to grow in an unhealthy way, bend away from the speakers and die young. However, if we assume that plants can have musical preferences, it's possible that classic rock was not their music of choice.
Becknell, M.E.; Firmin, M.W.; Hwang, C.; Fleetwood, D.M.; Tate, K.L.; & Schwab, G.D. (2008). "Effects of listening to heavy metal music on college women: A pilot study." College Student Journal, 42(1), 24-35.
Kemper, K. J., & Danhauer, S. C. (2005). “Music as therapy.” Southern Medical Journal , 98(3), 282-288.
Lawrence, J.S., & Joyner, D.J. (1991). “The effects of sexually violent rock music on males' acceptance of violence against women.” Psychology of Women Quarterly, 15(1), 49-63.
McNamara, L., & Ballard, M.E. (1999). “Resting arousal, sensation seeking, and music preference” [HTML Version]. Genetic, Social & General Psychology Monographs, 125(3).
Robertson, D. (2000). “About Positive Music.” Dovesong.com.
Scheel, K.R., & Westefeld, J.S. (1999). “Heavy metal music and adolescent suicidality: An empirical investigation [HTML Version]. Adolescence, 34(134).
The Schiller Institute. (17 February 1998). "Towards a new renaissance in classical education."
ScienceDaily.com. (22 March 2007). “Gifted students beat the blues with heavy metal.”
Wanamaker, C.E., & Reznikoff, M. (1989). "Effects of aggressive and nonaggressive rock songs on projective and structured tests." Journal of Psychology, 123(6), 561.
The copyright of the article Psychology of Heavy Metal Music in Cognitive Psychology is owned by Jennifer Copley. Permission to republish Psychology of Heavy Metal Music in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Interesting article. I had heard of the Merrill study in graduate school.
This is a believable twist of cause and effect.
May 8, 2008 8:46 AM
Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen :
This is a great article -- I especially liked reading about how music
affects plants! And, "it's possible that classic rock was not their
music of choice," is very funny.
Aug 24, 2008 2:10 AM
Guest :
thanks for the information.actually I'm searching for an idea for my topic
in my thesis. its good that ive read this article!
Sep 7, 2008 4:26 PM
Guest :
i am a heavy metal listener: i have the best grades at school, i little
agressive and have 130 IQ score, but its not that i have had this after
listening to it, its morely that heavy metal is attractive for this kind of
peeps, "doctor House ones"
Sep 13, 2008 12:35 PM
Guest :
so, if I play reggae music to plants they become cannabis?
I'm
sorry but some researches are quite worthless, but funny nonetheless (as in
the case of the Merill)
Sep 16, 2008 10:51 AM
Guest :
I find this article very interesting. It really does work, this effect it
had over plants except I subjected my experiment to Metallica and i had a
classical music playing for a different group and really it does make a
huge difference.
Sep 18, 2008 2:36 PM
Colleen Boudreau :
I absolutely have to comment on the plant and mice themes. Just because I
tend to be somewhat contemplative of such things, I have to say that I
wonder what kind of music the plants and mice WOULD prefer, if given the
opportunity.
I've heard plants grow well to classical music.
Unfortunately I would not be able to test this out as even if I were able
to keep plants alive for more than 24 hours the classical music would
likely put me into such a deep sleep I wouldn't be able to witness the
results on the plants.
Just my two cents.
Nov 18, 2008 10:56 AM
Guest :
lol the mice killed each other
Nov 19, 2008 6:41 AM
Guest :
I listen to Heavy Metal and im just fine!
Nov 19, 2008 9:37 AM
Guest :
rock music is bad for animals but not humans. It acually is very good for
you and it is very good to listen to . some bands like rage against the
machines teach you important lessons in your life the government and its
power. Bands like system of a down made a new song on the war of iraq
called "boom" it is very educational and tells people to stop the
war on terror. Also, rock music just lets your body and soul go and its
like your meditating.
Nov 25, 2008 9:04 AM
Guest :
rock music is bad for animals but not humans. It acually is very good for
you and it is very good to listen to . some bands like rage against the
machines teach you important lessons in your life the government and its
power. Bands like system of a down made a new song on the war of iraq
called "boom" it is very educational and tells people to stop the
war on terror. Also, rock music just lets your body and soul go and its
like your meditating.
Dec 5, 2008 6:51 AM
Guest :
Listening to awesome like music like slipknot, dimmu borgir, judas priest
and children of bodom helps me study. We did variuos IQ tests (mine ranges
from 128-140 depending on the test) I normally ace my classes with little
or no effort.
Is this where I point out that listeners of
'music' such as hip-hop and rap tend to be less... able to construct
sentences or understand anything above what they want
Lol, the
HM mice :)
Dec 7, 2008 2:08 PM
Guest :
Thanks for the great article! It really helped me on my research paper
about the effects of music on the human brain!
Dec 12, 2008 10:03 AM
Guest :
on the effects of plants column i found it interesting. What if ypu played
a different genre of music? and was it brought into consideration that the
sound wave comeing out of the speakers may have warped the plant stems
away?
Dec 14, 2008 9:10 AM
Guest :
Huh. This is really interesting. This article actually makes me want to do
Effects of Music and preference from my Grad Project.
This is
quite hilarious though.
Its nice that they finally look on both
sides. I'm a heavy metaler myself and finally they look at women, high
intillect students, and the calming effect of it all. I mean when angry
listening to angry music calms (me at least) down. Its better than
listening to happy pop music
Dec 15, 2008 5:55 AM
Guest :
im gonna try the mouse thing!
Dec 21, 2008 3:40 PM
Guest :
This is a great article, thanks very much for posting it. I find the
studies concerning plants and mice amusing, I think if subjected to any
genre of music 24 hours a day the (probably sleep deprived) mice would turn
homicidal. Nor is it surprising that the mice found it harder to solve
problems, so do I if I'm forced to listen to music I don't like. The plants
thing just made me laugh.
I think the controversy associated
with heavy metal stems, largely, from a not unreasonable stereotype:
Violent music makes violent people. If you research this more closely
however, it is pretty clear that this just isn't the case. People hear of
bands like Mayhem and they think that we are all like that but anyone who
has had a proper investigation into the genre, can easily see that metal
fans are, by and large, intelligent, loving people.
Dec 22, 2008 2:58 PM
Guest :
WOW. Those mice killed each other because they were listening to heavy
metal? Guess I won't be listening to that stuff too much anymore :P
Jan 4, 2009 12:22 PM
Guest :
Mythbusters did the plant experiment with pea plants (or w/e) Metal
produced the biggest plants with the biggest peas
Jan 4, 2009 5:17 PM
Guest :
Yeah lol, I looked up this article because I am doing a research paper on
the subject and I am glad I found it because every other article seemed so
negative. It seemed like every article I found was saying that metal was
"bad" and caused "aggression." I thought this was odd
because I listen to metal and I am the happiest person I know, have a GPA
of 4.1 and have an IQ of 143. I found it hard to believe all those studies
that said metal caused negative behaviors because personally I listen to
melodic death metal religiously to make me feel happy--not aggressive. I
am relieved to finally find an article that challenged all the others and
pointed out lurking variables that all other research failed to consider.
Thank you, I am definitely using this article in my research paper.
Jan 4, 2009 5:24 PM
Guest :
Mythbusters did a plant experiment that measured plant growth in controlled
environments while listening to different genres of music. They found that
plants that were "listening" to death metal tended to grow the
best, even better than plants that grew in silence. :)
Jan 9, 2009 9:45 AM
Guest :
Chamara-Sri Lanka, Although Heavy Metal is not very popular in our
country, there are still youngsters that love Heavy Metal, I am also a huge
fan. I'm listening to heavy metal because it gives some kind of strength to
my mind. In any difficult situation it helps me, but never harms that I
know. I agree to some of the facts in this article but not all. However the
people around me think that Heavy Metal is worthless and they sometimes
give reasons to give this up, but I know what it is than all those.
I Love Heavy Metal, and I'm really fine
Jan 12, 2009 5:57 PM
Guest :
Heavy Metal doesen't CAUSE drug use, alcohol use, or violence. I love heavy
metal and probably listen to some of the worst bands you could name and I
have never done a drug, drank alcohol, or done violent things. I don't
really try in school but that was the case before I listened to ANY rock,
and the reason is lack of motivation to do more then passing.
Jan 13, 2009 12:07 AM
Guest :
I'm a proud heavy metal listener, my concentration increases while im
listening to it and doing school work. All my grades are above average, i
dont do drugs, i listen to screaming metal bands that sing about positive
outlooks on things, im one to greatly admire the talent of Metal musicians.
Being a Metal influenced guitarist myself, Dimmu Borgir, Arch Enemy,
goddamn idols. Yeah, it might be bad for animals and plants, but who
on this earth will sit next to a plant or a dog and say "Ah yeah mate,
Just put this headphone in your ear and stay there for about 24
hours." If your plant dies, get a new one and keep it away from the
goddamn stereo. My mate, complete genius at school, if there was such
thing as a talking dictionary, its 2 perfect words to describe his
intelligence, and he knows his metal bands from A to Z. Biggest metalhead i
know. Yeah i got alot to say, cause i dont believe in half of what's
stated up there. You would get different results from people who actually
have that respect for it, from the people who have no knowledge and
interest.
"listeners of 'music' such as hip-hop and rap
tend to be less... able to construct sentences or understand anything above
what they want." Agreed brother
Jan 13, 2009 12:23 AM
Guest :
Are you a Heavy Metal fan Jennifer? No.. What about Death
Metal? No! GRINDCORE!
Or Do you dispise that genre?
Well i think you should become a METAL FAN!
Find the
truth our for yourself, see how it makes you feel.
Jan 13, 2009 10:05 AM
Jennifer Copley :
Actually I am a heavy metal fan - it was all I listened to in high school,
and I was a high-achieving student. Although I've also developed a taste
for other musical genres, including classical, rap, and hip-hop, metal is
my favourite for working out, and I'll be listening to metal when I'm
90.
Metal and rap get a lot of bad press, but I know plenty of
very intelligent people who prefer them, so I became curious as to whether
any research had been done regarding music's effects on people. I found a
number of interesting studies - not as many as I would have liked, but
enough to do a little research roundup.
Jan 27, 2009 7:40 PM
Guest :
Then i have that respect for you :)
Jan 31, 2009 9:06 AM
Guest :
I'm a heavy metal listener, and I quite agree on some points. But I think
that instead of studying the whole genre itself, those guys should research
on the main subgenres (thrash, death metal, black metal, industrial,
grindcore, hardcore...) because I'm pretty sure the subgenres don't have
the same effect on people. Bands like Slayer, Deicide, Emperor, Cannibal
Corpse... are pretty much evil (which is not a criticism, I love those
bands), but bands like Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Airbourne have more
"violent-but-positive-vibrations"! And also, bands like Nine Inch
Nails, Tool are more oriented towards "sexual vibrations". And so
on... So I think it would be funny to see them push this study
further.
Feb 3, 2009 7:53 AM
Guest :
Being a fan of heavy metal I don't want to make a bias remark. Also being
in the age group of where the study was taken I think it really is all
listener preference.
Feb 10, 2009 10:40 PM
Guest :
Personally I love heavy metal, play in a metal band and all. despite this I
acheive above average grades in school, I am eloquent and have a much above
average IQ. Despite the music I play and listen to, I am generally calmer
and less aggressive than many of my peers who prefer rap or hiphop music.
It is my personal belief that metal music tends to release tension and
stress, rather than to build it up and cause violence.
Feb 12, 2009 5:49 AM
Guest :
Thank u for the info,i hope to be able to read this again. and it
helps my parnts understand me ^_^
Feb 20, 2009 10:58 AM
Guest :
It is concerning that most of you find mice killing each other funny.
(Apparently) you all have such high IQ scores but you don't recognize the
aggression in your own statements.
Feb 21, 2009 2:32 PM
Guest :
Nice post. Presents everything precisely.
I am doing write ups
on Indian Metal and psychological aspects for use over here in India. Can I
borrow some of your content if I liked to? Or are there any legal
repercussions?
Feb 22, 2009 7:31 AM
Jennifer Copley :
Sorry - my contract with Suite101 doesn't allow the use of content anywhere
else for the first year after an article is posted. You can legally quote a
paragraph or a few random lines, and you can paraphrase as much as you want
as long as the source is cited. You could also quote from the research
studies I've included in the reference list to round things out.
Feb 22, 2009 3:57 PM
Guest :
wow this is great ive read all your related posts would u mind
posting the links to your html references that you listed i cant seem
to find them online
Scheel, K.R., & Westefeld, J.S. (1999).
“Heavy metal music and adolescent suicidality: An empirical investigation
[HTML Version]. Adolescence, 34(134)
McNamara, L., &
Ballard, M.E. (1999). “Resting arousal, sensation seeking, and music
preference” [HTML Version]. Genetic, Social & General Psychology
Monographs, 125(3).
Feb 22, 2009 10:00 PM
Jennifer Copley :
Thanks! The HTML versions can only be accessed through academic databases.
Usually you can access a series of academic databases through libraries and
universities. I obtained these peer-reviewed journal articles by logging
onto EBSCO via my local library's website, selecting all databases, and
conducting a keyword search. If you do the same and enter the full titles,
they should pop right up.
Feb 23, 2009 1:20 PM
Guest :
Thanks! I shall abide.
Feb 24, 2009 8:12 AM
Guest :
im doing a project in my english class about how certain types of music
affect teenagers. im currently a teenager and a heavy metal fan along with
many other genres. i dont think it affects me. i have high grades, take AP
prep classes and still listen to heavy metal. some parts i will agree with
and others i dont.
Feb 24, 2009 1:43 PM
Guest :
Of course the mice all killed each other, I would too if I had to listen to
Antrax 24 hours a day.
Feb 25, 2009 6:57 AM
Guest :
This is highly interesting and very truthful, I agree with most of it
Feb 26, 2009 5:48 PM
Guest :
I do like this article, very informative and interesting at the same time.
However, Wouldn't you think that it would just be lack of common sense that
makes them act this way? And as for the mice thing, the mice's brain are a
lot smaller than the human's brain, so how can we know if the mice would
predict how a human acts?
Feb 27, 2009 8:58 AM
Jennifer Copley :
Good point about the poor mice - animal results are not always
generalizable to humans. I suspect any animal (or person for that matter)
would become extremely stressed if forced to listen to loud music that was
not freely chosen 24 hours a day. The results of the Merrill study are
interesting, but they don't simulate a realistic music-listening situation,
and I certainly don't condone that sort of animal research. Now if they
could adapt an entertainment system so that mice could choose their own
music somehow - that would be even more interesting.
Mar 23, 2009 6:47 AM
Guest :
im doing an 8th grade rpoject on the effects of rock music on plants, so
thnx 4 this article! (haha, the mice killed each other)
Mar 25, 2009 1:15 PM
Guest :
my favorite part is the mice being brutal. wish i could be studied for
24 hour metal pownage!!!!
Mar 30, 2009 5:34 AM
Guest :
ive found that if i have an emotion that i dont know how to handle metal is
my medicine! it calms me down and just puts me in a better mood. August
Burns Red owns!
Apr 2, 2009 8:02 AM
Guest :
I am the type of person who bottles in anger and my emotions, and music is
my release. I am a heavy metal fan (Protest the Hero <3) and what I find
is that it actually helps relax me. I also play guitar and my boyfriend
does as well, and there was something about his metal shows that were so
much fun. The Mosh Pit was killer...literally, but there is something about
rock 'n roll that does something to people --all genres of it. I honestly
do not think music, although it affects people, does not make them do
something.
If you honestly think that metal, or rock and roll
for that matter (and music) can not affect you in a positive way learn to
play guitar. They first time you can do a sweep or play a complex solo...I
dare you not to smile.
Peace
Apr 6, 2009 2:03 PM
Guest :
you could say i listen to the most heavist metal and i was inspired of your
research with heavy metal. haha metal beats plant metal beats
mouse
Apr 14, 2009 2:30 PM
Guest :
interesting article. i agree with the negative affects heavy metal can
have. and positive...i am a heavy metal fan. i have gotten into trouble
before, but i do become less angry when i get to listen to what i like.
Apr 19, 2009 11:34 PM
Guest :
Well done. I myself listen to heavy metal, grunge and rock and I am
one of the smartest people in my grade. one must realize that heavy
metal isn't the cause of the problem. It is simply associated with the
cause in that someone on drugs would have a tendency towards that type of
music. Also, one reason behind the counter-intuitive calming effect of
heavy music is what I call "counter emotional" (When I feel red
with unstoppable rage, I simply apply the strongest Slayer or Metallica
I've got
Apr 19, 2009 11:35 PM
Guest :
Well done. I myself listen to heavy metal, grunge and rock and I am
one of the smartest people in my grade. one must realize that heavy
metal isn't the cause of the problem. It is simply associated with the
cause in that someone on drugs would have a tendency towards that type of
music. Also, one reason behind the counter-intuitive calming effect of
heavy music is what I call "counter emotional" (When I feel red
with unstoppable rage, I simply apply the strongest Slayer or Metallica
I've got
Apr 20, 2009 4:18 PM
Jennifer Copley :
The following comment was made by a guest - I had to delete it because it's
against Suite101 policy to allow language that some might find offensive in
the comments. I've blocked out one word in order to repost it because I
hate having to delete an entire comment that someone has taken the time to
write over a single word. I like hearing from everyone, but please avoid
using offensive language so that your comments won't get deleted -
thanks!
Guest Comment: Hmm.. Weird. I'm practically the
exact opposite of how this article describes a metal listener, and I listen
to all kinds of metal. I have the best grades at school, I'm very much NOT
aggressive, I prefer not to take risks. My view on drugs - never gonna
happen. But as they say in the article "Some researchers have even
found that subjects who were angry to begin with become happier, calmer and
more relaxed after listening to heavy metal when it is their preferred
musical genre." This fits good on me.Actually, I'm listening to metal
at the moment, and I'm feeling very calm. Mainly, I think most people
listen to music, which they can connect to. Some people's behaviour can be
blamed on the music, but I don't think that this is only metal. In my
country, Denmark, the mainstream music is, mostly, rap and pop/techno, and
I think that our country's youth is rather, excuse me for my language,
rather xxxxx up. Now a days even 12-year old kids can do drugs and go
drinking, even though the age limit for alchohol is 16, which would be very
young for most countries. But it's a very interesting article. I'm having
about Music's affect on the youth as my exam topic, so this is very
helpfull. I think the effect depends on the person. One of the reasons some
people, who listen to metal, become like the this, is probably because of
the influence of theie company, not the music.
Apr 28, 2009 8:46 AM
Guest :
finaly a article that isnt negative to heavy metal, i listen to deathcore
all the time and it relieves stress. Im a very intelligent person i have
the ability to make good grades i just chose not to im lazy and think
homework is a load of crap :P, lol im gonna do the mice thing but i'm gonna
use carnifex, the faceless, born of osiris, and bring me the horizon. and
the plant thing, my plants are "special" so no zepplin for them
:P
May 4, 2009 12:06 PM
Guest :
this is cool. at least people can't say mean things now :)
May 5, 2009 6:32 AM
Guest :
Listening to heavy metal does not mean anything as to what you have
said...I know this from experience...
May 25, 2009 9:14 AM
Guest :
Thanks I was looking for a good health topic for my paper and this was the
best one.
May 27, 2009 9:34 AM
Guest :
this is interesting, thanks for the article, really helped (HAHAHAHA
THE MICE XD)
Jun 7, 2009 4:31 PM
Guest :
I've found that listening to lighter music tends to put me in a bad mood.
But metal lets me release any anger or aggression before I do something
bad. What's funny is that I hung out with a bunch of other metal heads in
high school, and they ended up peaceably ending a fight! We also tended to
joke more, laugh more, and we were a lot less worried about little things!
Jun 8, 2009 12:56 AM
Guest :
My cats will only come in my room if I play mushroomhead. I guess that
means it's their "musical preference". XD
Jun 10, 2009 6:18 AM
Guest :
Heavy metal does not have a link between drugs, maybe on the past when
Heavy metal started with the hippies influence, but not any more. I'm a
metalhead and I do not take drugs and I will never take them. Many other
people that hear other things take more drugs than metalheads.
Jun 24, 2009 4:23 AM
Guest :
Interesting article, it didn't seem as biased as other ones that I've read.
As someone else said, a study of the different metal subgenres would be
much more helpful, as metal is one of the most diverse musical genres.
I listen to progressive metal, progressive death metal, and doom
metal, and I must say that the range and intensity of emotional impact is
far, far greater than that of mainstream music. It's also much more
complex and intellectually stimulating.
I'm not aggressive
either, despite the fact that some of the music I listen to is the most
aggressive music mankind has ever known. I got top marks at school with
minimal effort and study. There's a lot of bad metal out there, but the
good metal is simply raw emotion and beauty. It's a great pity that the
wonder and diversity of metal is stereotyped, criticised without reason,
and simply avoided at all costs.
Aug 16, 2009 9:23 PM
Guest :
I'm a metal fan AND a critically acclaimed metal musician. My IQ is 150 and
I have a penchant for abstract thinking such as that for grasping some of
the mysteries of string theory. I can see why the mice killed did those
things while listening to Anthrax. The imbicilic song structures of that
band would make Steven Hawking into a moron after too much prolonged
exposure. And as for them killing each other, they were probably performing
mutual euthenasia. I would want someone to kill me too if Anthrax was all I
could ever hear. They should've played Black Sabbath for them instead.
Sep 7, 2009 2:55 AM
Guest :
The thing with the plants is easily explained. Sound, before it is
processed by your eardrums, is merely a series of blasts of pressure;
imagine if you will that you were strapped into a device of varying
metallic rods and being prodded in the same basic spot by each of them for
hours on end to match the beat and intensity of the music that was played
at the plants. After a few hours the extended maltreatment of your flesh
would cause it to wear away and become basically a large, probably
infected, sore. Eventually this would press through all of your tissues and
begin to work on your skeletal system. I imagine it would take a great deal
of time for it to do damage there, but eventually it would. Think of it as
'speed weathering'.
Since the plant's flesh ( and it is 'flesh'
) is much more fragile than your own, the pressure from sound alone is
enough to cause a similar effect.
Also, with the mice. 24 hour
exposure to anything likely to terrify and keep you awake will eventually
cause mental collapse, and even may cause death on it's own if you don't
get sleep in intermittent spurts of a coma-like state before then. From
that point, there is no recovery- you will have permanently caused damage
to your mind even if you resume normal sleep functions. Sleep is a
*required function* for your brain's health. This applies to... anything
with a brain. Including mice, no matter how "hard core" they may
be.
Wellp that's all for me. Oh, and I'm a rabid fan of Deicide,
Cannibal Corpse, Slayer, Iced Earth, a bunch of punk bands ( Dead
Kennedy's! ), and... Mozart.
Sep 7, 2009 12:32 PM
Guest :
i listen to hevey metal. Im the top student in my class for that matter. My
friend emailed me this artical, she says i have problems because i listen
to this kind of music but to me, heavy metal calms me down, its what makes
me happy. :]
Sep 10, 2009 6:11 PM
Guest :
aww poor mice :(. It was hilarious thoughh. I found this article very
useful and interesting for my debate on the media. I really enjoyed how it
included small doubts on how heavy metal effects certain groups. Thank you
for posting this :)
Sep 15, 2009 8:13 AM
Guest :
how about....are music genre affected social interaction? genre to
compare is classical and rock? got the theory? really needed
Sep 28, 2009 10:37 PM
Guest :
I don't believe a word of this. I'm one of those people who keeps
everything inside and everything about my life revolves around music. It
calms me down and makes me happy. Somehow screamo and heavy metal are more
passionate and meaningful than pop and rap and country. It may have that
affect of people who are unstable but every one of the kids i know and
that like over 2,000 listen to heavy metal and all of them are fine.
Sep 30, 2009 11:07 AM
Guest :
i listen to heavy metal and screamo every day but geuss what i dont kill
people and its not killing me in fact i make the highest grades in most of
my classes
Oct 12, 2009 11:16 AM
Guest :
I enjoy listening to heavy metal because it calms me. I can take all kinds
of abuse and feel great after I listen to a little Metallica. If I feel
angry I can listen to something soft like "Nothing Else Matters"
or "Fade To Black" or when I'm depressed I can listen to
"Creeping Death" or "Frantic". It's a calming
experience.
Oct 14, 2009 1:14 PM
Guest :
Its a really great article. Its so simple and understandable. It'll really
help out with my project :)
Oct 28, 2009 1:19 PM
Guest :
I am a Death Metal listener, and i'm well-above-average in my college. IQ
134 i don't take drugs and so on... My point is that I can't think/work in
an environment where there's pop/hip-hop/r&b being played. I guess
people who listen to the latter would feel the same way when they listen to
metal. so rather than saying that metal music makes you aggressive
emotionally unstable or whatever they can just face that metal music is
totally different than other kinds of music this is why metalheads can't
listen to commercial kind of music and the other way around.
Nov 2, 2009 7:34 AM
Guest :
I love christian metal music.Possotive message with amazing moshing. Bands such as "As I Lay Dying", "The Devil Wears
Prada", "Haste The Day", and much much more... :) Jesus loves you.
May 8, 2008
