In popular culture, the stereotype of a metalhead is less than flattering - whether it’s headbanging, satanism, mosh pits or the decapitation of small animals - thank you, Ozzy Osbourne! Even within medical institutions, metal has been associated with depression, aggression and antisocial behaviour. But recent studies seem to be telling a different story, that metal music could, in fact, help us emotionally regulate. Can metal really make you calmer? I wanted to take a look…

Most of you will have an idea on what metal music is but for the purposes of this, I am going to give you the definition used in one the studies I will be citing.

“Metal music and anything that is generally categorised in the extreme music genre is characterised by chaotic, loud, heavy sounds with emotional vocals. The lyrics often explore themes of anxiety, depression, anger, social isolation and loneliness.”

So, is it possible that a genre with all these negative themes could have a positive impact on someone's life?

Well, first of all, it turns out that scientists, like the rest of us, can be led along by stereotypes too! Let’s look at a 1991 study that claims that if you listen to metal music, you’re more likely to get admitted to psychiatric hospital. This study was based on scientists contacting clinicians at 12 psychiatric hospitals posing as a worried parent of John, a fictitious adolescent male who listened to heavy metal, wore skull t-shirts and didn’t clean his room. Although concern was expressed when contacting the hospital, it was also clearly stated that John did not do drugs, have any symptoms of mental illness and was even doing well in school. Without having met John or conducting a proper psychiatric assessment, 10 of the 12 services recommended admitting John to hospital. ‘John’ was not advised to be admitted because of actual mental illness symptoms, but because of biased clinical judgement, part of which definitely appears to have come from his association with heavy metal. Of course, psychiatric care has moved on a lot since 1991, and I am sure this wouldn’t happen today!

But, what could have led them to believe this? Let’s have a closer look at the stereotypes; Anger and aggressive behaviour are the first that pop to mind and are perhaps the most pervasive in society.

In 1987, Gowensmith and Bloom ran an experiment and found metal did, pretty uniformly, cause increased heart rate and brain activity, which can be signs of anger. And indeed, some people reported feeling angry. But crucially, it was only those who weren’t originally metal fans. It’s unclear whether the non-fans were driven to anger because of something in the music, or just because they were being asked to listen to something they did not enjoy.

A more recent study by the University of Queensland found that actually, rather than extreme music causing anger, it can help you process it. It was a small sample, but thirty-nine extreme music listeners were asked to recall an event that made them angry. They then either listened to extreme music of their choice or sat in silence. All the people showed decreased levels of hostility, irritability, and stress, including the metal listeners some of which even reported feeling inspired after listening. The interesting part to me is that participants were asked what effect extreme music had in their wider life. 69% reported that they listen to extreme music to calm themselves down when feeling angry. 87% reported that even if the music had sad themes, it enhanced their happiness. For those that are drawn to it, it actually seems that metal music often has a cathartic effect.

The next stereotype - depression. In 2013, a study of over 500 university students found that heavy music fans showed significantly higher symptoms of depression and anxiety than non-fans. Although again, it’s important to note that this was self-reported in a questionnaire. I was really interested in this so looked a bit further and found a more recent study on personality types and music preference that tells us a bit more. It showed that metal fans tend to be more open to new experiences, need uniqueness and have lower self-esteem. So, although there does seem to be a link between metal and depression, it is also unclear whether metal music causes depression, or are depressed people more drawn to metal music? Perhaps this further strengthens the idea that it is a cathartic experience?

If metal is linked to depression, surely we will see long term effects? Well, another study from Humboldt State University followed the life experiences of people who were musicians and fans in the 80s, to see if the music had a negative effect on their lives as they got older. They looked at some stereotypical reckless behaviour to see if there was a difference in heavy music lovers and non fans. Turns out, they were no more likely to have attempted suicide, have sex earlier or experience physical or mental problems as an adult. In fact, the “metalhead” identity and social support from the tight-knit community served as a protective factor against psychological and physical ill-health. This meant they were significantly happier in their youth and sometimes better adjusted than their middle-aged counterparts.

So as you can see, I have found some contrasting studies. But, what if you just don’t like metal? Well, as I said earlier, it’s all about preference.

Musical preference really does influence the music that people find stimulating, relaxing, or soothing. If your preference is for rock music, then despite common thought, listening to classical music might not relax you at all, and it might even frustrate you. Equally, if you love classical music, then something heavy might not be your cup tea! It’s all down to our own musical taste and individual and changing emotional needs. In fact, our music tastes affect us so much research showed that listening to music you dislike, compared to music that you like can weirdly impair the ability to mentally rotate objects in your mind. Yes, bizarre.

So, what have I learned from all this research? Well, first, we need to consider how we are susceptible to stereotypes and quick judgement. Given everything we’ve heard, I totally understand that some parents, teachers, and health practitioners have been concerned about their clients or students listening to extreme music and what this might mean. If you are not naturally drawn to it, the aggressive content might make it difficult to understand how it could help someone. And it is almost traditional for us to be suspicious of new genres that are different than our own preferences! So much so that it has become a stereotype in itself, that older generations see contemporary music as a potential danger to our moral compass. It is rather amusing to realise the criticisms of metal are closely akin to those made of the jitterbug and earlier, the Viennese Waltz.

Metal music, although being widely regarded as something that causes emotional volatility, actually seems to be really helpful in regulating emotions for those people who like it. So much so, that music-based interventions are now being used in psychiatric care. These music intervention found to be useful in the treatment of lots of disorders that commonly involve emotional volatility, including post-traumatic stress disorder and substance misuse. These days things would go very differently for John from the first study I mentioned!

But this isn’t just relevant for people already getting psychiatric care. Traditionally, we ask people to suppress their negative emotions and then punish people for aggressive outbursts. Perhaps there is another way that focuses more on prevention than punishment. What if we turn our focus to helping people process in ways that don’t impact other people. Allowing people to regulate their emotions via music could be an excellent tool for all sorts of situations and institutions.

Music tastes are wide and varied because we have wide and varied personalities with wide and varied needs. Perhaps, it is time we cater to those individual needs. We might not always understand another person’s choices or tastes, whether it be in music or broader life, but in most cases, all people want is the freedom to choose what is right for them.