PING: Death Metal Fans

[DeToxRox]

On DSC (Discovery I think) at 10 PM Est is a show about Death Metal and the links between murders/crimes from California/Italy.

I'm not a big death metal fan but the culture has always interested me so it should be good.

Just giving the heads up.

[Lathum]

I have a feeling this show would annoy me more then anything.

[DaddyTorgo]

my lil brother was watching that documentary on metal the other day and they had on the guys from that norwegian death metal band mayham who made necklaces out of the skull fragments of the lead singer after he blew his brains out.

crazy shit.

metal ain't for me

[DeToxRox]

I know this is a common fact but this reinforces that the Death Metal group is an ugly bunch.

[Ksyrup]

What a propaganda piece that was. It took 40 minutes before they allowed an opposing viewpoint - the voice of reason from a Stanford professor - and that was for all of 14 seconds. There's no doubt that the music influenced these people, but they were susceptible to it because of things happening in their lives unrelated to the music. You can't ban or restrict something - on place blame on its producers - because a tiny fraction of the population is so fucked up that they will act on things that normal people wouldn't even consider.

What I really didn't like was how they twisted the main story of that Fabio kid to make it look like his involvement with the occult/Satanism lead to his death, and then in the final segment, you find out he was killed because he had mocked the Satanic beliefs of his other band members. He didn't buy into it! He was exactly what 99.5% of all metal listeners are - dedicated to the music, heavily into it - but not so far into it that the fantasy became the reality. If anything, that little fact that they so conveniently withheld until the end completely disproved everything they tried to sell in the first 50 minutes.

Also, I don't know many metal fans who consider Slayer to be death metal. Thrash, speed, plain heavy metal, sure. Not death metal. That made me laugh (and then get pissed). They're just an act. And they're far more mainstream than any death/black metal bands.

That band Mayhem was beyond the music - suicide, murder of other band members, etc. Completely despicable humans. The black metal scene is by and large awful.

Anyway, I'd have liked the show better if it didn't have such an obvious agenda and wasn't so full of misinformation.

[Lathum]

which is why I wouldn't watch it

[sabotai]

Also, I don't know many metal fans who consider Slayer to be death metal.

Hahahahaha, Slayer a death metal band....haha, thanks for the laugh. Doesn't sound like I missed anything important.

[Ksyrup]

What was even better is that they focused on the death metal bands, and in the main story, the father of the kid who was killed started reading the lyrics of his son's CDs, and they named several bands, including Pantera and Iron Maiden, and lumped them in with the death/black metal bands. It was hilarious. But then again, someone watching that who doesn't know better has a pretty warped idea of what segment of the metal community is death metal and what is not. It was amusing and frustrating at the same time.

[Lathum]

The whole concept that music could influence someone to murder is so idiotic. If someone is driven to commit murder there is something inherently wrong with their personality. It makes me crazy that people use the music they listen to as an excuse.

[Ksyrup]

I buy into the idea that someone who is depressed, has family problems, has other mental issues, is a social outcast, etc., can be susceptible to things they are exposed to in their environment. That's how cults are formed. So it makes sense that someone could have issues and come into contact with this type of music, form a connection, and turn the fantasy of the music into a Satanic/murderous reality.

But that risk exists in our society with a bunch of things, not just music. Someone in that state could read Stephen King novels and be moved to murder. Doesn't mean we should blame King or not allow people to read his books because 5 kids in Italy became Satanists (they showed pictures of their rooms, and it was clear that the parents should have picked up on the, like, upside down crosses and pentagrams on the walls...!) and murdered two kids.

The main point of the show, that heavy metal and Satanism are linked, is just preposterous.

[Ksyrup]

This was actually pretty topical given the info coming out about the Montreal killer. I'm sure that will be more fodder for the propaganda mill.

[Lathum]

ksyrup. My point is that these people/kids/animals/ had problems before the music.

[Ksyrup]

I completely agree. That's what was so preposterous about this show. They just glossed over that - gave it lip service, really.