'Extreme Healing: The Catharsis of Heavy Metal' | Michael LaRocco | TEDxBellarmineU

[isayne]

i'm glad someone understands :)..."corpse grinder screams so i dont have to" is exactly how i feel

[derekkabhishek]

Man give this guy a 🏅, he explained the feeling of being a metalhead and how they are not violent and are always nicer

[cd]

When I hear people say, “there’s no good music these days”, I know that they are not metal fans. There has never been a wider range of well written metal than there is today.

[misfit_kev]

"Corpsegrinder screams so that I don’t have to"

Something I’ve been trying to explain for years - put into words so easily. So well spoken.

[LauraCordes]

"Comfort doesn't always come in a hug. Sometimes, it comes in a scream". I felt that deep inside. A couple of weeks ago, my husband traveled across the country for a battery of tests to determine whether or not the mass in his lungs were cancerous or benign. I drove home from the airport with loud heavy metal blasting from the car audio system, shouting along with the lyrics giving a voice to my fear, anger at the circumstances that might be taking my love of 16 years away from me so unfairly, the chaos whirling within me, threatening my once peaceful life and the future I hoped and dreamed we would share together for more decades to come, driving safely, responsibly, and lawfully, of course. Then, I came home and watched Star Trek until I fell asleep in my chair. I felt like my fandoms were giving me the shelter and comfort I desperately needed after his doctors' potential diagnosis and recommendations. Music, of any genre or style that resonates with us, is like a good friend who always takes us in and gives us solace in times of trouble and suffering. I thank metal for taking me in on that dark night, when I had nowhere else to turn. The mass was benign, so I'm damn thankful for that, too.

[captainblythe]

This person is extremely well spoken and funny. I was shocked that the crowd didn't even make a sound when he tried joking at certain points.

[sisterhoney]

I'm 61 and have been a metalhead since I was 10 years old. I've heard it all from people coming down on me for my choice in music; especially since I'm a woman and an "older" one at that. I feel the same way: metal calms me down when my emotions are in turmoil. Metal says what I can't, when words from me don't come forth. I'll be a metalhead until the day I die.

[comeflynextome]

I had an English teacher in middle school who was the stereotypical "nice, happy, saccharine" teacher you'd see in cartoons: she was ALWAYS smiling, and she wore dresses with youthful costume jewelry and often kept her long, blonde hair in pigtail braids. She earned a new level of respect with the metalheads when she said after a stressful day she drives home with metal music playing so loud you can hear it from the other side of the street even when she's got her windows up. Metal unites us all! \m/ <3

[therealMrGrey]

Metal is so passionate and unfiltered.

[Lieutenant-E]

I have a great deal of depression and anxiety. Metal soothes my soul and gives me peace. I believe it expresses my feelings in a positive way and not a destructive way.
I can release my aggression in a non violent way.
Going to a metal concert gives me a catharsis and I leave feeling an emotional high without using any kind of chemical substance.
Metal has virtually saved my life.
This guy really explains it well.

[retrodaze]

I got me through my pre-teen misery of living in a broke home... It got me through the brutal trenches of high school melodrama... It got me through every breakup and every death of a loved one... It got me through back surgery and an opiate addiction... It got me through the pandemic... And it still gets me through every single day... Long live Metal. 🤘

[brenndala]

Metal has always been very soothing to me. Coming from a scholarly and scientific background, I appreciate hearing a scientific argument about metal and catharsis.

[tyytsejam]

March 2020. I had a heart and kidney transplant, and if it wasn’t for listening to Slayer, Tool, Cannibal Corpse and others I would have lost it. The metal community is the most inclusive group of people I’ve ever been around. I have no problem going to a metal concert by myself because the crowd isn’t strangers, they are just friends I haven’t met yet.

[erikgutierrez]

"comfort doesn't always come in a hug. Sometimes it comes in a scream". That's metal AF!

[craigzilla]

Tuff crowd.. he did a good job explaining it though. It definitely uplifts me and gets me through hard times.

[chelleb]

As a metalhead myself, nothing came close to helping me through this crazy world than music. Especially Iron Maiden and Rammstein for me. Till Lindemann in particular is the artist I never knew I needed but there he is. Love my metal!!

[Defensive_Wounds]

I have been saying this all my life to deaf ears of pop/rap fans who think I am crazy and Metal is just noise, imagine if I told them that Metal is closer to Classical music than any other genre plus learning to growl without damaging your vocal chords and sounding good is as difficult as an Opera singer doing her entire skillset!

[travismiles]

I've always said when it comes to metal you either like it or you don't. You can explain to somebody how it makes you feel but you cannot make them feel it. I bought Quiet Riot Metal Health in 1983 when I was 9 years old with my birthday money and I never looked back. I'm 48 now and wouldn't change a thing.
A few weeks ago I took a friend of mine to see my other friends Metallica tribute band. It was her first metal show ever. And she was surprised how cool and nice everybody was and how they pick people up when they fell down in the pit. She had believed all the propaganda through the years and didn't know what to expect and ended up having a great time

[gkbike]

I've been into metal for 40 years. I grew up on rainbow, saxon, maiden. 84, Metallica, then slayer. I was an outcast growing up in an English town but I knew it was me, later came morbid angel. Today I'm 53, I love napalm, avenged, slayer, slipknot and I'm treated as normal. Metal got me picked on as a kid, but its was in my soul and still is. Metal is my escape, and I'm proud to be metal.

[jasminer.]

Very well said. 6 months ago now, my dog died. I've been a metalhead for years now. I ran across an In Flames song a few months before she died and slowly became a fan, going through their discography. Little did I know that "A Sense of Purpose" would turn out to be the soundtrack of me taking care of my dying dog after we found out about her liver failure. Staying up all night to care for her and make sure she didn't have anymore seizures.
She died in my arms at midnight. We buried her the next evening and afterwards I drove on the highway listening to "im the highway" "Stay with me" "sleepless again" "delights and anger" and more. Strong and smart, only for the weak ....so many more. I thank in flames for being there for me and putting a voice to my emotions. I found the song "stay with me" a few hours before my dog died and it will always have a special place in my heart. As well as "Alias" as it was the last song I serenaded my dog with a few hours before she died.
I miss her so much.