Why I Enjoy Listening to Aggressive Music

May 10, 2021

For many people, the thought that enjoying listening to highly aggressive music may seem like an alien concept. Art in the form of screaming vocals, highly distorted guitars, and drums that sound like a machine gun typically isn't what comes to mind when people think of beautiful music.

I am one of those strange people that deeply enjoy this kind of music...

For the next few minutes, I hope to share with you some of the reasons I enjoy it, and some of the reasons others do as well.

Who knows, perhaps you may acquire a taste for it as well...

Intense Emotional Expression

The emotions typically expressed in this intense variety of music are anger, frustration, despair, and grief. However, some more positive emotions can be intensified using these kinds of styles of music as well like longing, love, and excitement.

The ability to express these emotions with such force, I believe, is the unique characteristic of these styles of music. The capacity to delve deep into the dark corners of human emotion is the primary reason I find so much enjoyment in dark music.

It makes me feel the complete range of human emotion instead of just a small part of it.

Listening to any kind of music provides an outlet for emotions to express themselves through something tangible: Sound. Listening to Metalcore and Deathcore gives me the capability to empathize with my own emotions in such a way that they evaporate in my mind. Metal music allows me to deal with negative feelings that often are just simmering in the back of my mind, just waiting to bubble up explosively towards others. Aggressive music gives my emotion an outlet to be expressed in a controlled and freeing way.

In my own experience, I have noticed that after listening to a very intense angry song, I will often feel happy. Sometimes even laughing and smiling as the rageful music puts words and sounds to the wide range of emotions that reside in my being.

I'm not alone in this assessment.

A study from the University of Queensland demonstrated that extreme music enthusiasts use their preferred styles of music to process anger, regulate feelings of sadness and induce positive emotions. This seems paradoxical to the assumption that aggressive music will make you angry. But instead, studies have shown that aggressive music allows the listener an outlet to express these feelings in a healthy way. This is not to say that all people have this reaction, as those who are not fans of extreme music will often feel anxious, angry, or upset listening to it. It is certainly an acquired taste. However, I don't think just because you don't have a taste for something now, doesn't mean you won't later.

The Beauty and the Beast Effect

There is a principle that is found throughout all kinds of artwork, and across all disciplines. It is what makes something stand out. It draws the eye to a unique spot on the canvas. It draws our attention to the eccentric character among a cast full of monotony. It's the light shining down on a dark stage, or the shimmering solo of a violin piercing the silence of a concert hall.

Each of these things highlights the artistic principle of Contrast.

Music is just the same. Contrast is everywhere in music, It appears in chord structure and is foundational to the concept of rhythm. It also appears in a higher-order form, that of Emotional contrast. This happens when music presents two opposite emotions throughout the course of a piece. A chorus may have a majestic refrain, while the verse has an ominous undertone. Just like a story, the elements of music can portray characters, events, and tension. Each of these elements interacts with and contrasts with each other to tell a story.

Since music is able to bring out emotions within us, it is also able to contrast these emotions. Happiness and sadness. Anger and peace. Joy and terror. These contrasts make our minds focus on the difference between them. When we direct our conscious minds to dwell on emotions, we are able to better empathize with them.

I find that music that is characterized as dark, tends to have some of the most magnificent contrasts. While the assumption may be that aggressive music is just noise and screaming, the reality is that metal music also tells a story. When you hear the chaos of noise turn into beauty, it deeply affects you. When you hear a hauntingly beautiful melody become a massive wall of sound it touches something deep in your soul. The contrasts that exist in metal music are often stark because the darks are so deep.

When the darkness is deep, that is when the light shines so much brighter.

Expression of the chaos and complexity of existence.

To look at it this from a more philosophical perspective, I believe that there is a kind of Realism that is often expressed in dark music.

One of my personal goals in life is to pursue knowledge and understanding of the Truth. Often, this pursuit of Truth leads me down trails of thought that are dark and disturbing. I think that contemplating the pain and suffering in the world is a good thing. I am not removed from that hardship and affliction that each of us experiences. Contemplating these things allows me to look at the world and see what's really there. It allows me to pursue Truth with the kind of realism that seeks to push aside my own desires that seek to shape the world into my own image. Dark music reminds me to accept it all. We as humans make a grave error when we try to interpret existence as painless, and without suffering or darkness.

Discovery only happens when you actually look to see what is there instead of assuming what should be there.

At the same time, we also make a mistake if we believe that suffering is a way for us to somehow be more enlightened, holy, or pure. Asceticism would propose that we look for opportunities to suffer. self-inflict pain on ourselves so that our soul may live less reliant on our broken physical body afflicted by existence. I am convinced that there is plenty enough suffering in the world without our needing to add to it willingly. What I mean by Realism is something different. I'm suggesting that it is healthy and beneficial that we have a conscious awareness that there are things in life that are dark, as well as light. Life is hard, and the difficult and painful aspects of our experiences are parts of life that we should not be afraid or fearful to portray in artistic ways.

A constant stream of happy music is like interpreting the world as ideologically simplistic. Call me weird, but when I hear music that is happy, with simple melodies that lack depth, it's like trying to talk to someone who doesn't acknowledge the brokenness of the world. It feels trite. It doesn't feel genuine. It feels like someone painting a smile on their face trying to drown the pain and suffering of existence.

While happy music with a happy simplicity has a place - I think of bouncy kids songs talking about sea creatures... My personal opinion is that too much happiness without the contrast of darkness is an expression of interpreting the world with rose-colored glasses. It's an idealization of the world. Not what is really there.

While maybe inspiring at times, too much of it can become a hindrance to our consciousness, and pursuit of the Truth. It is particularly dangerous if we begin to believe that somehow this utopia can exist in the confines of a broken world.

Life is complex. There are rarely easy answers to things. Our emotions have the ability to express this complexity and art is the means to bring out these emotions in tangible ways. To limit art and the emotional expression it produces is - in my opinion - to shut out an entire aspect of existence.

Dark music reminds us that there are moments of life that exist that are unpleasant. painful suffering is real. It's hard. But it's okay because are not alone in it. Don't run from it. instead, look at it in the eyes. Become aware of it. Turn on the music and let the artistic expression speak. Let it empathize with you. Let the music express the emotions that you can only feel and watch how peace and joy and happiness may manifest themselves from a place where you never thought it could.

For some examples of music that I enjoy listening to, see the links below: