Death metal sparks joy, not violence

Listening to death metal music inspires joy, and not violence - a new study by the music lab at Sydney, Australia’s Macquarie University shows. The study involved asking 32 death meal fans and 48 non-fans to listen to death metal (Bloodbath's cannibalism-inspired track 'Eaten'), or pop while viewing unpleasant images (Pharrell Wiliams' 'Happy'). It revealed that death metal fans are not "desensitised" to violent imagery. "[Death metal] fans are nice people," said Prof Bill Thompson, from the Australian university, "They're not going to go out and hurt someone." This latest study is part of a decades-long investigation by Prof Thompson and his colleagues into the emotional effects of music. These effects, he explained, are complex. "Many people enjoy sad music, and that's a bit of a paradox - why would we want to make ourselves sad?" he asked. "The same can be said of music with aggressive or violent themes. For us, it's a psychological paradox - so [as scientists] we're curious, and at the same time we recognise that violence in the media is a socially significant issue." BBC...