Extreme music genres like metal actually have a calming effect on angry listeners, helping them process their feelings.<\/p>\n
The study, which was published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, was conducted by honors student Leah Sharman and Dr. Genevieve Dingle from the University of Queensland. They observed 39 people aged 18 to 34 who regularly listened to extreme music for the study.<\/p>\n
![\"woman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/people-who-listen-metal-music-usually-good-processing-anger-extreme-music-genres-like-metal-actually.jpeg\" "\\"people")
cottonbro studio | Pexels<\/p>\n
Sharman and Dingle defined extreme music as being “characterized by chaotic, loud, heavy,\u00a0and powerful sounds, with emotional vocals,\u00a0often containing lyrical themes of anxiety, depression, social isolation,\u00a0and loneliness.” Previous theories suggested that this kind of music encourages listeners to become angrier and, sometimes, even engage in dangerous behavior.<\/p>\n
The researchers put participants through something they called an “anger induction,” where they asked them to talk about something that upset them, like a bad relationship, for 16 minutes. Then, they listened to songs they had picked themselves for 10 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of silence.<\/p>\n
RELATED: You Can Usually Tell How Smart Someone Is By Their Favorite Type Of Music, Says Study<\/a><\/p>\n They proved that metal music does not cause anger, as previously believed.<\/p>\n Instead, the participants felt calmer because, as they hypothesized, “extreme music matches and helps to process anger.” Sharman told The Guardian<\/a>. “We found the music regulated sadness and enhanced positive emotions. When experiencing anger, extreme music fans liked to listen to music that could match their anger.”<\/p>\n It turns out that just because some music sort of sounds angry doesn’t mean it makes people feel that way themselves. She continued, “Results showed levels of hostility, irritability, and stress decreased after music was introduced, and the most significant change reported was the level of inspiration they felt.”<\/p>\n Sharman and Dingle felt that their study proved that people who listen to metal and other kinds of extreme music find inspiration and positivity in it, the same way a fan of more sedate music might find comfort in an acoustic track.<\/p>\n![\"teens](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/people-who-listen-metal-music-usually-good-processing-anger-they-proved-metal-music-does-not-cause-a.jpeg\" "\\"people")
Ron Lach | Pexels<\/p>\n