ok i have to write a persuasion paper on how metal is not related to violence.....anybody have any information or cites about this???

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You are going to have a hard time convencing others, but I would start with the depiction of how there is a differace between violent and aggressive behavior. Also include that some people use aggresive music as means to channel violent behavior in either a positive or negitive way. Music can never accually hurt anything because violance is generated from within a individual and some people need to believe that violent behavior is linked to something that they may dislike; metal music.

Of course, we all know that metal music by nature is in fact, most times, violent and does insight those feelings in those of us that like it. We are addicted to the feelings and adrinaline it brings us. We may not all be violent people but I would say most metalheads are aggressive.

Good luck on the paper there is going to be a lot of BS. It will be a hard one write.

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The simple fact that there have never been any serial killers who were death metal fans is enough evidence for me. You would think that if violent music encouraged violent behavior, a type of music that specializes in rape, torture, grotesque medical anomalies, murder, and serial murder might bring about some serious serial killer action. Yet, it hasn't. Just like how porn doesn't bring about rape and violent video games don't bring about school shootings. Japan has lots of rape porn, yet their rape problem is nothing compared to ours. You'd think that if porn had anything to do with rape, a country with a penchant for especially violent pornography would have a huge rape problem. Yet it doesn't. You'd also think that if violent video games had anything to do with teenage violence, Japan would have a humongous problem with school shootings and the like. Yet, it does not. Why? It's pretty fucking simple, actually. Japan has a much more civilized culture than ours. It's simply a matter of society. I hope that helps somewhat.

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Excellent

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I beat up some dicksnot kid back in the day. does that count?

Just so you know what cases would likely be cited against you:

"Richard Ramirez, one of the more recent killers, terrorized Los Angeles during 1985. He was into heavy metal, mainly AC/DC and is an avid Satanist. The press dubbed him the nickname "The Night Stalker" because he would stalk peoples houses at night, break in, murder, rape, sodomize, and burglarize the people that lived there. "

"Elyse Pahler, a high-school freshman, was lured by three teenage boys near her home in San Luis Obispo, California on a summer night in 1996 with the promise of marijuana. She was then choked and stabbed in a ritualistic murder and later her killers had sex with her corpse in what was claimed to be an offering to Satan. The killers -- Royce Casey, Joseph Fiorella and Jacob Delashmutt -- all self-professed Slayer fans, told investigators that they needed to commit a "sacrifice to the Devil" to give their own death metal band, Hatred, the "craziness" to "go professional." Now five years later, with the former teenagers behind bars for long prison sentences (twenty-six years to life), the Pahler family is suing the band and its record label for wrongful death."

"Another young incarcerated killer, Pete Roland, was interviewed by Rivera in prison, who quoted some lyrics from a Slayer song {"...ripping apart, severing flesh, gouging eyes, tearing limb from limb...!"}, & blaming Heavy Metal music & 'the Devil' with influencing him & his cohorts into killing Steve Newberry, the school fool, by coaxing him into the woods, then ganging up on him with baseball bats. When the victim asked "Why?" The answer was, "Because it's fun, Steve." Some of Roland's notebook scribbles were shown, including a dualistic depiction of "good" & "evil" / "God" & "the Devil" / "Heaven" & "Hell". The typical christian mythological portrayals."


Of course this is all bullshit. You can cite many "music related" cases such as the murder of Selena and point out that the true motives are always personal and a result of some major trauma, abuse, neglect, or just plain ignorance.

Good luck.

Supposedly heavy metal fans are like 5 times more likely to be involved in illegal drug activity and underage drinking......sorry im not helping

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This is true too. I wasn't going to mention the Slayer and Night Stalker things either, but it looks like this paper will be a near lost cause.

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This really depends on what you are arguing. Metal lyrics and imagery are often based on violence from a historical or fictional slant. Metal music often incites violence like the time I was knocked down in a most pit at a Rigor Mortis concert and broke my wrist. These things are not exclusive to metal and can be found in many types of music, films, books, art, etc...

Maybe you should write the paper indicating that metal music about violence is simply a reflection of society. Make a direct comparison with christianity's relation to violence (Just keep it a simple comparison of christianity versus metal to avoid writing a book about it). Show a list of all the wars and major atrocities that have resulted from christianity and then show a list of all the wars and major atrocities that have resulted from metal (a blank piece of paper).

Title the paper something like "Christianity versus Heavy Metal. Which one is more destructive to society?"

This is a guaranteed win for metal. It doesn't matter how much B.S. people respond with to an argument like this. The simple fact of the matter is that history can not be denied. Since the major detractors of metal are almost always christian fanatics, this paper would properly address the correct audiences that should be involved. There is no need to even mention christian metal bands because they generally suck and are of no importance.

Too EASY......
Violence is a mainstay of humanity.
Violence is as common as breathing and reproducing....therefore Music of ANY kind has nothing to do with a propencity towards violence......I would suggest worshiping "god/gods" is one of the main causes of violence.

And of course Jesus....Allah....and all those other fucktards!
heh heh

violence is natural, we just dont accept violence for what it is. what causes a wild dog to be violent. why does a bear maul someone to death. why does a tornado wipe half of texas of the map. FUCKING NATURE. not heavy metal. nature, IMO, is derived on the concept of balance, there has to be a balance of good and evil, peace and violence, some people are naturally violent, some people arent, just like some people listen to punk, or rap, or metal. violence is part of life. even peace fanatics are violent, they threw eggs at soldiers returning from Nam, they throw blood on people in fur coats, hell, fucking buddhist monks set themselves on fire as a form of "peaceful" protest to their government. there is no real cause to violence, it just is.

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That is an Excellent responce MoonRaven

danke

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You have to also look at TV and the shit they show about metal. When the average non listener thinks about metal, they think about pentagrams and the devil and shit. So usually when you see something about Heavy Metal on TV, like if there's some non-metal guys trying to act "Metal" as a joke or something, then it usually always has the satanic shit with pentagrams and all along with crazy violent music. So what I'm saying is that a lot of the metal image shown and very stereotypical.

Hasn't the violence crime rate decreased since the 80's. Where as the quantity of metal in general has increased.
As was stated, I don't believe that something like music or television (or a book for that matter) can influence a grown adult to do anything, nor anybody whom has a moral code (i.e. children above about 10 ..... and dont argue about the age cocksnaps). Close the browser now. If you are continuing to read this, then that is proof that you have choice, and it would be because if the individual's choices that voilence occured. It may be suggested that 'metalheads' have a predisposition to violence because they expose themselves to it, however this is bulshit, well here it is anyway, I have been to gigs for gore metal bands, and strangely enough I have never seen anybody beating the shit out of eachouter. I have also seen a couple of night clubs and shit where they play pop music and dance and such typical things that you might be exposed to if you listen to the radio, It is in these locations that I believe more violence occurs.
Another point that I think is important to make is that this feeling of violence being groupd with metal is a generalisation. NOT all metal is violent, see power metal & thrash as examples. Alot of this music is about dragons and self empowerment. Music to make you feel better about who you are. How does this inspire people to hurt eachother? There are many other sorts of genralisations that could be made, such as "all school teachers are old and boaring" but this doesn't mean that it is true, some teachers may in fact be this, but on the whole most would not fit into this category. So why would we impose such a genralisation onto any culture/race/ or group of people? For a country that is supposed to be tollerant of people of all races and creeds they don't respect social groups too well.

And I think that will do, im getting flashbacks.

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if youre feeling aggressive, put on some suffocation and your negative energy kind of goes into the music. then again, it may make you want to beat holy hell out of the guy next to you

you should have chosen a different topic

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I think of it as a release of energy. If you are made about something, listen to some metal and you feel better. If I couldnt listen to metal when I was angry, then I think i would be more likely to do somethin 'violent'.

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http://www.imhotepzine.com/heavyviolence/

Heres a good fact, there are more people killed in one day due to religion than heavy metal music has since its inception.

Does that mean we should get rid of religion?

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You've picked a shitty topic. You've got alot of evidence against it, and not really enough to support your opinion. It sounds like a great topic, but its not going to hold much water.

Yeah, i've gotta write a paper to pass 11th grade. I picked the JFK assasination and Lee Harvey Oswald. I don't think he was the mythical "lone gunman" and I've gotta try to prove that with evidence.

Good luck on it, though.

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well heres the thing... i wanted to do a paper on metal and what not, and i found some articles and clippings and such of some random things, and a lot was favored that violence does relate to metal. i dont want to give metal a bad rap so i figured i would work my ass of to find shit on how its really not that "pentagram, eat cow udders, and stick pins in to my penis while stroking off a goat".

well thanks for the help so far...

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This paper isn't even close to being a lost cause. Out of hundreds of serial killers that have been in this country (and many more worldwide), the only one with a link to metal was Richard Ramirez, and as Kylito has already pointed out, his favorite band was AC/DC. Not exactly death metal. He also listened to lots of non-metal, as well as the obvious fact that when he started his frenzy, death metal didn't even exist, and thrash metal was in it's infancy. Richard wasn't into thrash, by the way.

Now, if you are looking for mentally and emotionally disturbed teenagers who have raped, robbed, or murdered, and then passed the blame onto video games, movies, TV, and music, you'd have lots of examples. This is only further evidence that society is the problem, because we live in a society where violence has pretty much been condoned for hundreds of years, as well as living in a society where people are discouraged from taking responsibility for their own actions.

You've chosen a good paper to do, the only problem you'll have is looking up actually statistics. My first post in this thread was mostly to steer you in the right direction, so you'd know what to look up more specifically. Hopefully you have luck with that.

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exactly. rap.

i know that's not what you meant in the sentence, but that's what i'd do. quote a rap song and a metal song. show them how metal is soulful and speaks the sad truth about the world. then go to most rap songs, and see how the idiots behind rap speak non-stop of violence against women, running gangs, homophobia, promotes rioting against the police and all that other garbage. if you pick an eminem song that includes one or more of the topics i mentioned above, and DON'T pick an anal cunt song for your metal one, that can only be in your favour. plus you'll get to piss off a bunch of westy kids while you're at it as well

SHIFT THE BLAME OF VIOLENCE ON TO RAP MUSIC.

shit man....i knew that as soon as i wrote "rap" that somebody would say something....luckly it was you and not a stupid ghetto blastin MOFO!!!!

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but whaddaya think of my point?

i was thinkin of doin somethin like that...like taking the heat off metal and puttin it on somethin else....like playing the game monopoly

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Blame it on EMO and pop. That will get a reaction. EMO and pop "people/members/inpressionable suckers" are repressed being so pressured to love everything all the time that eventually they snap and lash out in violence.

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erm there was a case in NZ about a Death metal nutcase, I will try and find it:

oh well no luck but basically a Neo Nazi death metal fan, kidanapped and raped over a period of days a youngish girl (I dunno the exact age) he held her as his personal sex slave, until she managed to escape.

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Well, if you take a psychological approach, you could argue that metal is a form of catharsis, and by providing a potentially "violent fantasy," anger and violence can be exercised without physical force. On the other hand, catharsis has been agued as something that increses violent behavior. There's enough evidence for both sides though, so you could compare and contrast, or just pretend the negative side doesn't exist. You've got a solid point, just back it up solidly.

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Yes, instead of allowing people to ignorantly and falsely blame metal for society's problems, let's expose our own ignorance by shifting the blame onto an equally innocent entity. If you really want to argue violence, the violence in rap isn't even close to the violence in metal. You are also completely ignoring the fact that there exists a world of rap other than the gangsta rap you are trying to wrongly shift the blame on. Why the hell would you feel the need to promote this society's failure to take responsibility for any of it's problems? You'd promote one of the worst problems that exists in this so-called civilization just for a lameass chance at making rap look bad? Think about it.

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why the fuck not?

Yeah, thats what i was talking about. Fucking generalisation!
There is pro-jesus rap and stuff out ther, i have listened to some since i have some friends whom are devout cristians. But there is also christian metal, and semi good metal too, in which they sing about bits out of the bible and what not. (see here.)

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There are a lot of serial killers inspired by the bible and christianity to commit their atrocities. Some wacko's got inspired by metal.
What does this mean? That if your fucked up in the head, it doesn't matter if you listen to metal or not, the beany babies might inspire you to murder and rape.

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Jack the Ripper didn't have Cannibal Corpse booming out of his stereo when he killed those prostitutes at the end of the 19th Century, did he? In fact he was probably a fan of classical music if the speculation of him possibly being a doctor is to be believed.

Chris has hit the nail square on the head and driven it to bolster an excellent point of attack to be used in the paper. Society needs reasons and explanations of the actions of it's inhabitants in order to gain an understanding of what humanity is all about.

Many people can't accept that other people commit murder because they want to, because they like it or because they are pissed off with somebody. People are violent because they want to be not because they are compelled to do so by some other external influence. The rest of society can't accept this and concludes erroneously that metal made him do it or that video games made him do it.

Unfortunately, obtaining statistics pertaining to the preferred choice of music of violent criminals will be nigh on impossible. I suppose you could argue the frequency of reported 'metal influenced murders' in the media is a considerably lower proportion of murders than the proportion of metalheads in society.

As an educated guess I'd say that the majority of violent people simply listen to popular radio and chart music. Does that mean that chart music is to blame for societies ills? Religion is another point in question: analyse the violence that has occured over the past two millennia and compare and contrast, although I suspect the comparison of atrocities as a result of metal and religion will be exceptionally lightweight. But this is a good thing.

You should have the crux of your argument near enough defined by all that has been said in this thread. Highlight the fact that there are violent people who listen to heavy music, but also highlight that 6 or 7 cases in over 20 years is a meagre and below expectation (statistically) return.

Also, discuss prejudices amongst juries involved in trials that nonchalantly dismiss metal music as a bad influence before even hearing the case. The West Memphis Three were convicted on circumstancial evidence and I believe the reason was because the good Christians on the jury were 'afraid' of the style of music that the three boys listened to.

There is plenty of ammunition for you to use. Do us proud!

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i used to get a lot of shit from my mom about this. im not really nice to my family or other certain people. My mom figured it was music, which at the time (8th grade), was korn, tool, etc. I dont even remember what i used to tell her. Anyway, i even had to hide cds from korn! I guess she didnt know what else to blame my anger on. I dont blame it on anything other than the things that make me mad. I think i would usually use examples to convince her. Personally, music has never made me angry or entergetic(unless im playing with my band). It just doesnt effect me like that.

I think I'd have a good time writing this paper.

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i really hope so...i got till next wed.

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Alright, my nigga, I'm at work getting paid to do nothing and I kind of like you... don't ask me why. So here we go...

First, we have to consider the point of causality. Is violent behaviour a consequence of listening to evil music? Or are people with a predisposition to violent behaviour attracted to evil music? This is the perennial first question in ANY scientific investigation. A good example is 'steroid rage' - do steroids cause violent rage, or are violent raging people attracted to steroid use?

In this case, the evidence seems to indicate fairly clearly it's mostly the second case. In other words, a big violent asshole who takes steroids becomes a bigger violent asshole. When they administer steroids to people in controlled clinical trials (which they have done thousands upon thousands of times), they hardly ever report any 'mood effects' between steroid and placebo groups.

Unfortunately, there is no 'controlled' way of administering metal to people to see if it causes any kind of violent behaviour. It's unethical to cause violent behaviour in people, although it might be both funny and interesting. So we're left with extrapolating from the existing evidence.

People have been talking a lot about serial killers. Pish and tush. Unfortunately, for your approach, concering violence specifically I think these people are irrelevant. We establish they exist separately of evil music, end of story. Serial killers show certain telltale signs of being incredibly mentally horsefucked at very early pre-metal-listening ages (e.g. bedwetting, lighting fires) and display sociopathic behaviour similarly - saw a documentary the other day about a fucked-up looking red-headed kid who battered a toddler to death at age 13, with the crime showing all classic hallmarks of a 'ritualised' murder.

Lots more points!

Other sources of violence: Let's deal with things more generally. I would cite a half-dozen similar example of 'sources of violence':

* first-person shooter video games
* cop shows of the 'infinite justice' variety
* fucked up cartoons
* fucked up comics (you thought Cannibal Corpse was evil?)
* ultimate fighting/pitfighting
* other types of music (plenty of violence and horriblitude in country music, in rap, in rock and roll)

These things are much more pernicious than metal ever will be. Continual exposure to the sordid and violent, especially through the news-media, is a far, far greater source of violent behaviour. Consider the size and influence of both. Metal is a tiny genre, a mere whisper really. If you have time, look for a book called "On Killing" by Dave Grossman. In the last chapters, he provides a simple explanation of the links between societal violence and media violence. It's very concise, and he doesn't mention metal at all.

Thematic content: Here's a thing to try - pick ten heavy or heavy-ish bands at random, as quickly as you can. Read the lyrics off their best albums. Now, what kind of themes emerge? Certainly violence is a component, but we're left with a ton of stuff else.

I did the below table in about 90 seconds. It's not hard.

* Political (Misery Index, Bad Religion, Dying Fetus)
* Personal/overcoming (Pantera, Hatebreed, Biohazard)
* Loss/abandonment (Evergrey, Opeth, Katatonia)
* Insanity (Children of Bodom, Strapping Young Lad,
* Epic (Manowar, Hammerfall, Grave Digger)
* Rejection/disgust (Exodus, Overkill, Hypocrisy)

Now, subtracting all the above stuff, we're left with the strictly violent stuff. Gore stuff. The most unintelligible and unpleasant stuff. An important distinction - this kind of stuff is highly stylised rather than directive. When was the last time that a song actually directed you to do something? The very stylistic nature of this violence as a genre does something precisely different to asking you to cut someone's face off and wear it as a loincloth. The more gruesome it gets, the more ridiculous. And it's music. It's not a visual aid, and it's not a personalised role to aspire to. When metal becomes a role, it becomes evil and stupid. Cite what most metalheads think of Varg! The usual comment is "What a fucking tool." He's the biggest joke since the guys in Manowar started wearing loincloths again.

Metal exposure: The most metalised countries have very very low crime rates. Northern Europe anyone? Some of the most peaceful countries in the world have some of the hardest music.

Convenient targets: Metal is one hell of a convenient target, really.

* no large-scale representation - there is no Metal Defamation League
* sounds very evil on a purely descriptive basis - hulking teenagers with poor skin listening to music about eating virgin entrails, anyone?
* idiotic, petty criminal stupid fans - admit it, there's a lot of them
* extreme culture - correlation with other 'bad' things, like booze and drug use

Conclusion: If we're talking about violence at large, metal in its current form will never be anything more than a scapegoat for delinquency. If it has any kind of violent effect, it is miniscule in comparison to similar effects from other sources.

If you're really keen, I'll send you something I wrote a while ago about metal as a metaphor for destroying a post-human. It's long and complicated, and took a lot longer than most of my stuff which is just burned out and thrown into cyberspace. If I can get my IntraWeb working at home.

Lastly, I want you to read this excellent, excellent article by Karen Spaink, it's called Infernal Din and Serial Killers. It's just brilliant, and exactly what you need.

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well here i am at work and i got nothin to do so.....uh.....thanks

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You better fucking use all that information, you gimboid. I want to see the finished product now. You will submit it for marking and ridicule, after which I will introduce hungry rodents into the egestion passage of your digestive system.

MORE FUR HATS!!!!!!!!!11111111

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i´m surprized that no one mensioned Varg Vikernes,who stabbed euronymos several times

Shuddup, turkey.

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He's a fucking tool... he doesn't count

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