A week ago, Calgary experienced a mass murder at a party involving university students. While this unexpected tragic event likely speaks to everyone on some level, it brings up a subject related to metal music yet again. It seems that the media likes to seek out any link to heavy metal that they can find in situations such as this. No matter how weak that link is. Whether this is an effort to create sensationalism or whether certain reporters truly believe that linking murder and metal is more important than any other factor is something that I struggle to figure out.
In this case, some media sources have made a point of linking Megadeth lyrics with the case. While the suspect, Matthew De Grood, did post Megadeth lyrics on his Facebook page before committing the crime, the media links seem weak at best. It appears as if they have sometimes thrown the lyrics to the Megadeth song in question, or mentioned the link to metal, as an afterthought. Perhaps they know full well that metal still exists on the fringes for most of society and attempting to create stronger links than what actually exist will draw in readers. This is probably due to the sensationalist coverage that any murder, suicide or crime involving, or supposedly caused by, heavy metal has traditionally received.
There is no doubt that several fairly high profile criminal acts have been linked to heavy metal. One only has to think of the black metal scene in Norway. For most of the world, Norwegian black metal probably brings to mind knowledge of murders and church burnings, rather than the music itself. There were the so-called “death metal” murders that took place in Italy in 1998. Both the music of Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest have been linked to suicides. Some of these connections are well established; others are quite dubious.
This particular case falls into the latter category. Any of the television news outlets that covered the story (that I happened to watch) did not try to make any connection between the posting of the Megadeth lyrics and the murder. The lyrics in question are “dread and the fugitive mind - the world needs a hero”. Megadeth is an accessible band, in terms of metal. They would be considered as falling into the popular end of the spectrum. They have been around for a long time and have a lot of fans, both die-hard metal heads and more casual listeners. It is not surprising that someone who listens to several genres of music would be exposed to Megadeth. Like many of the of the cases in which metal has been linked to crime, underlying causes need to be examined. Much of the reporting on this particular case has focused on other factors, mentioning that De Grood (the suspect) has suffered from mental illness. Honestly, most of the reports that I have read and watched do not mention anything about Megadeth. Because so little was initially known about the suspect, it may have been a grasp at creating a story that was not there in the initial reports. Perhaps that in itself makes it more frustrating that some media outlets have chosen to try to connect a few lyrics posted on Facebook to motivation for these stabbings.
In this situation, it is becoming more obvious that mental health issues are likely the underlying cause. (Not to mention that knife-crime is quite common in this province). It seems that many of the cases in which metal has been linked to crime or suicide, mental health issues are the underlying cause. While metal music might contribute in some form or another, attempting to prove causality is irresponsible reporting. Any of the studies that I have glanced at attempting to link depression or other mental illness to metal fans fail to prove anything statistically significant. The sample sizes have not been large enough and one has to question whether results are reliable or valid. Most of the studies have been self-report as well, which brings accuracy of results into question. When one considers the percentages of people who listen to all other genres of music, including more societally acceptable genres, statistics would probably say that these listeners commit as many, if not more, violent crimes than metal fans. Realistically, more violent crimes are likely committed by listeners of other genres than metal based on the fact that more people overall listen to other genres. It’s rare that you hear about rap music as being a suggested cause for violent crime. Yet if you were to follow the logic that metal music causes some individuals to commit violent crimes, logic should dictate that rap fans would as well. The lyrical content of that particular genre seems to deal with issues that are often just as maligned by society.
The point is that it is very difficult to create a case for causality. Metal does not cause any well-adjusted individual without underlying mental issues to commit crime, or commit suicide. Some of these crimes are committed by individuals with strong ideals (such as the crimes in Norway), but while these ideals spill over into the music, the music itself is not the primary cause. Human behaviour, while relatively predictable, is still not quantifiable. Psychology (and the general study of human behaviour) is a soft science, plagued by problems of its own. Metal is an easy scapegoat for media and for society to use. It makes it easy to forget about other issues that contribute to such acts. Other issues that are typically uncomfortable for the average person to think about or confront. Issues like mental illness that are typically swept under the rug. Issues which many genres of metal deal with in lyrical content. This automatically makes it inaccessible and maligned for many segments of society. Anything on the fringes is easy to blame; this has been proven time and time again throughout history. Perhaps this is what it makes so disappointing to see that it continues to happen when media outlets attempt to lay more blame on metal and metal fans than can be justified.
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