# Why do we like "dark" things?



## frogman81 (Mar 28, 2015)

Just wondering what you guys think it is that attracts us metal heads to all things macabre. Why are skulls everywhere, why do Stage theatrics like Slipknot, Ghost BC, Rob Zombie, Gwar, etc... seem to work so well? Those are even tame compared to say, lyrics from almost any Cannibal Corpse/Thy Art is Murder song. I would say that I'm a pretty happy person, yet I certainly eat up the dark/spooky/horror imagery and themes. What gives??


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## col (Mar 28, 2015)

Because it's exciting and let's the imagination fly? You can't really make a song with melodies that evoke images of horror, then make the lyrics about accounting or used car sales.


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## pink freud (Mar 28, 2015)

Sadness is more memorable than happiness. Really quickly, name some of the most famous movies or plays you can think of. How many of them are tragedies? How many have conflict? It is no stranger for a happy person to listen to dark music than it is for a happy person to like Macbeth or Lovecraft.


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## TheWarAgainstTime (Mar 28, 2015)

pink freud said:


> Sadness is more memorable than happiness.



This. the lyrics "Let the blood of all humanity spill" (TAIM) has far more impact than "Uptown Funk gon' give it to ya" (Bruno Mars) even if it isn't from as catchy of a song. Heavy music generally paints a more vivid/original picture in my mind about what the song is about or what's going on than something more mainstream/happy/party/yolo/whatever. 

As for skulls, blood, and Slipkot or GWAR-esque theatrics, I'm not really sure what the appeal is since I've never been into it  I guess there's the aspect of it all being so over-the-top or extreme visually that draws people in, you know?


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## Djdnxgdj3983jrjd8udb3bcns (Mar 28, 2015)

When I was younger, it seemed super edgy and that was a big draw. Since I've become acclimatised to metal and the surrounding scene, it's less interesting to me, although I will admit all the intrigue around the Norwegian black metal scene drew me in out of morbid curiosity. 


I tend to find that this ultimately ends up being divided two ways:

1) Hilarious
Bands that try super hard to be very scary and end up sounding like they were named by a 15 year old with a thesaurus

2) Cathartic
When I come across genuinely dark/angry etc music I personally find it something of a release when in the sort of mood where it seems relevant.


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## Djdnxgdj3983jrjd8udb3bcns (Mar 28, 2015)

EDIT Double post, my ISP is terrible.


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## DredFul (Mar 28, 2015)

Interesting topic!

Certainly there are lots of factors to take in count. Some enjoy it for the shock factor, some just like gruesome art. I mean Pewdiepie has said that he likes his art melancholy and kind of scary. I personally also enjoy darker topics on art. Gets me thinking and I just find some weird fascination in Slipknot lyrics, certain type of horror films etc.
Also I think Vsauce or someone made a video about the topic. I'll see if I can find when I get out of bed  but the main point was that scary things give us a sort of adrenaline boost which feels good. That's why you feel tempted to read creepypasta or watch The Grudge, because if you manage to do it, you can consider yourself brave.

A bit offtopic here but:

I see music genres as kind of movies. Pop being some romantic comedy and metal being horror movies. And in horror movies we have those slasher films and then the films that focus more on the psychologic horror which kind of represent the spectrum of metal lyrics, Cannibal Corpse on the other end and Slipknot on the other end.


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## Floppystrings (Mar 28, 2015)

Everyone is obsessed with death, but in metal since lots of people aren't religious they kind of mock the idea of death.

The shock factor was just like a horror movie, you image something gross, and laugh and think it is creative. If you are a square with no sense of humor, than you would be offended.

In the genre though a lot of bands have done a really poor job at this, and it stopped being cool in the early 90's. Unless you are Cannibal Corpse, I usually view gore lyrics as immature. 

I'm not about to show some cute girl I know that has never heard death metal some Infant Annihilator.


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## acrcmb (Mar 28, 2015)

Most that stuff listed isn't dark to me it's just some try hard attempt to be edgy, a truly dark person to me isn't someone whole likes skulls and sings about horror and gore it's someone like Ian Curtis who was on the edge of suicide and channelling that it to some pretty dark songs.

I just think there's an obvious difference between the music of someone who finds the macabre cool and outwardly expresses it and someone who quietly contemplates death on a serious level. One is a lot more genuine and more relatable because it taps into the universal things we as humans contemplate when we're left to our own thoughts during a dark time, things like how pointless our existence is or who would care if we died, the other is just theatre.


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## McKay (Mar 28, 2015)

lol speak for yourself



heavy =! dark


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## JohnIce (Mar 28, 2015)

Humans are designed to handle life-threatening danger on a daily basis. But ever since getting civilized we haven't really been getting that anymore, so via public executions and corporal punishments in the town square we've ended up with heavy metal and MMA tv instead.

We've basically gone too soft for our own hormones.


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## Aion (Mar 28, 2015)

I like dramatic music which tends to have bolder shifts between dark/morbid and uplifting/powerful. Aside from that my music tastes tend to go slightly ambiguous. It's hard to say whether what is being played is, "happy," or "sad," and seems to move between the two in a way that is unsettling. I personally find that more interesting then the pure, "dark death decapitates diligently," (after all, words that start with D are the best for metal), and pop stuff.


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## gorthul (Mar 28, 2015)

To me, darkness in music has nothing to do with the lyrics. It's all about the mood the music evokes in me. When music gives me a feeling of being lost and isolated, it surely is pretty dark.

This is what I consider as dark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEMpI2PjNQ0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu-ihs4BkAs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu-WBW6Ww_k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNEyJoh5nbo


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## AdamMaz (Mar 28, 2015)

JohnIce said:


> Humans are designed to handle life-threatening danger on a daily basis. But ever since getting civilized we haven't really been getting that anymore, so via public executions and corporal punishments in the town square we've ended up with heavy metal and MMA tv instead.


I would re-word some of this, but this argument is essentially in line with what I would have responded, based on much philosophical/ethical/existential/erotic reading.


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## odibrom (Mar 28, 2015)

... because when we look up at night we see spots of light in the dark, this to say that darkness is all around us, darkness is the void and where imagination begins. Darkness is where all things are born. Evefy little thing we do is to confront darkness, therefore, we metalheads, are simply looking at the origin of things, all things. The rest is just superficial...

... or maybe not...


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## Overtone (Mar 28, 2015)

Because of the last world in SMB 3


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## Edika (Mar 28, 2015)

Honestly though most death and extreme bands could be singing about cookie recipes, instruction manuals, being silly and non would be the wiser.


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## chickenxnuggetz91 (Mar 28, 2015)

Wow, I have thought of this question, but I'm glad we are going in depth into it.


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## yingmin (Mar 28, 2015)

Because people like different things. I listen to more metal than anything else, and I'm definitely not attracted to macabre things, I find the lyrics and presentation of most extreme metal ridiculous, hate horror movies, etc. I just like the music.


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## Demiurge (Mar 28, 2015)

Mortality and the inevitability of loss are things that everybody has to face. "Dark" art- music, movies, photos, paintings, etc. can be a way of confronting or processing those realities in a constructive way. For me, it's therapeutic- the more comfortable I am with some of the darker parts of reality, the more I value what the "lighter" things.


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## frogman81 (Mar 28, 2015)

Wow some great replies. I had thought that maybe it was because Halloweens for me as a kid were some of my earliest and best memories. But I think some of your points are mostly better! Will post more later...


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## bigswifty (Mar 28, 2015)

Love this thread!

Personally, I think it is because all people strive for fulfillment and happiness in life, and life without balance would have a lot less meaning to it. I substitute this by listening to dark music. It puts me in a very cool place, and often makes me happy in a weird way. It brings me to a dark place, but also a place filled with beauty and emotion. Also, as stated a few times above, we tend to place higher emphasis on tragedy than euphoria.

Another point was nicely summed up by Steven Wilson in an interview (cant remember which one), where he replied to the question of why his music had a recurring theme of sadness by saying that in general he is a positive person and his music is an outlet for letting his darker emotions out in a civil/artistic way. 

I feel for that same reason, my music also tends to pull toward the darker side of things. That is not to say that there shouldn't be contrast though. There always has to be some light to make the dark seem darker 

Opeth is my favourite band, and I have always drawn connections between their music and the early fall season (september-november). Year after year I come to listen to them heavily around this time, and sometimes in spring. To me it provides a harmony of whats occurring in nature and what I hear in the music, which is amazing. 

Besides, if we all went around striving for happiness and listening to happy music 24/7, then I think there would be a lot less prisons and a lot more asylums


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## JPhoenix19 (Mar 28, 2015)

I think some deep part of us acknowledges that while most modern societies have it pretty good, there still exists a very dark and twisted reality we aren't often exposed to.



JohnIce said:


> Humans are designed to handle life-threatening danger on a daily basis. But ever since getting civilized we haven't really been getting that anymore, so via public executions and corporal punishments in the town square we've ended up with heavy metal and MMA tv instead.
> 
> We've basically gone too soft for our own hormones.




Also this. Don't forget gladiatorial games and other shows of violence that were popular media throughout human history.


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## redstone (Mar 28, 2015)

Why do people work the day and party at night ? Because it was forbidden when they were kids... It was "dangerous". If you're not dangerous you're a kid. If you stay a kid you're a loser. That's what we teach the kids.


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## scottro202 (Mar 28, 2015)

One could argue that the world is an inherently bleak place, and it's an act of rebellion against most people's obliviousness to it as they blissfully listen to their Bruno Mars in their Range Rovers sipping on a Starbucks driving to work. 

Whereas we accept this and express it through our art and our tastes. 

I listened to a lot of punk before getting into metal when I was younger as you may be able to tell


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## lucasreis (Mar 28, 2015)

I don't know why but I really enjoy dark music and subjects. I love my dog and my daughter and I'm generally a sweet person but I love me some songs about gore and dismemberments and stuff like that. It's just fun. Hehehe

I listen to a lot of metal from extreme stuff to silly stuff like hair metal and Nu metal. I don't care. Lol. But I despise most happy music like Pharrel's Happy. I feel like punching him in the face everytime I hear it. lol


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## DistinguishedPapyrus (Mar 28, 2015)

I used to seek out "dark" things all the time, but I became a Christian, turned my world upside down and now I'm doing something I never thought I'd be doing. I'm walking in the light. I like positive things. I look for goodness and strength in the world. I do still like "heavy" music sometimes but never if it's about gore and hate. I used to listen to bands like cradle of filth, the faceless and such but now it's more like alethian, for today and demon hunter.


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## MYGFH (Mar 29, 2015)

I'm listening to Rwake as I'm writing this. But, I don't see the connection to dark or macabre. I love metal because it challenges you. My view is that people who like Katy Perry don't like music. They don't want to have to think or be challenged to form a thought. Listening to metal makes me think of good things; sunny days, the beach, or short skirts on windy days!


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## metaljon (Mar 29, 2015)

DistinguishedPapyrus said:


> I used to seek out "dark" things all the time, but I became a Christian, turned my world upside down and now I'm doing something I never thought I'd be doing. I'm walking in the light. I like positive things. I look for goodness and strength in the world. I do still like "heavy" music sometimes but never if it's about gore and hate. I used to listen to bands like cradle of filth, the faceless and such but now it's more like alethian, for today and demon hunter.


I grew up in the church and have been a believer pretty much my whole life. I like listening to extreme metal--especially tech death--but I do despise the lyrical content for the most part. You mentioned The Faceless. The Autotheist album was extremely offensive, lyrically speaking, but musically, I liked it quite a bit.

The aggression and intensity of extreme metal appeals to me, even though I'm neither of those things as a person. The fact that the vocals are growled instead of sung comprehensibly actually makes it easier to ignore whatever it is they're saying. From my perspective, that's a good thing, because I'm sure if I knew what they were saying, I'd find it objectionable and offensive. Honestly, I think that's why I can't listen to Autotheist.


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## 7stg (Mar 29, 2015)

I would prefer things be esoterical, philosophical, mystical, focused on life and its journey, and other positive deeper subjects.
vs 
the typical death, murder, gore, disrepair, hopelessness, and other macabre common with metal.


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## Necris (Mar 29, 2015)

^
When a band attempts to be esoteric or cobbles together some halfbaked philosophy I appreciate it because it gives me something to mock mercilessly. When they try to work death into it it's even funnier.


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## I Shot JR (Mar 29, 2015)

TheWarAgainstTime said:


> far more impact than "Uptown Funk gon' give it to ya" (Bruno Mars)



You have to admit that tracks slicker than motor oil though.


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## octatoan (Mar 29, 2015)

Gore? Meh, not into it. 
Darkness? Yes please. Emperor, Krallice . . . most any black metal that's not trying to make you kill yourself.


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## Don Vito (Mar 29, 2015)

I Shot JR said:


> You have to admit that tracks slicker than motor oil though.


I don't dance.

I _fvckin'_ *DANCE* when Uptown Funk is playing. It's mandatory.

I don't like dark music. I've had a enough of it in my teen years.


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## poopyalligator (Mar 29, 2015)

So I tend to think that when I see bands that have dark stage shows and gore lyrics are really gimmicky to me, and i don't buy that stuff at all. I see bands like slipknot and think "what a bunch of douchers". I mean don't get me wrong I like some music that has some dark notions, but by no means it isn't even a factor that pulls me in. It is mostly the music and the sound that they put out and not their stage show or personas.


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## bigswifty (Mar 29, 2015)

I just wanted to say that gore was not one of the things that came to mind when the OP mentioned dark. 
To me, gore is very gimmicky and one dimensional. Dark is a whole encompassing blanket with a plethora of topics that fall underneath.


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## octatoan (Mar 30, 2015)

Cannibal Corpse is gore.


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## wat (Mar 30, 2015)

I think it's because we evolved to not only be able to cope with, but to _thrive on_ stress, fear, conflict and mortal threats like the elements, predators, and other humans.

Since most of us don't have to deal with mortal threats on a daily basis, and haven't for a long time thanks to the protection society offers, we fulfill those urges with various forms of sports and art.

IMO, "dark" music and art is kind of a way for us to acknowledge our biologically ingrained violent or morbid urges in a way that's not really risky or destructive.


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## vilk (Mar 30, 2015)

Humans are naturally obsessed with death? is my best guess. I've thought skulls were cool ever since I was very young. I know it's corny, but its neat to think that we have those things inside us and they come out after we die.

I've also always thought Satanic imagery was cool, even before I was atheist and I was moderately worried that evil spirits might actually exist. But when you think about it, a lot of satanic imagery is just rehashed pagan imagery, and in that sense would even still technically be "dark"?


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## Blasphemer (Mar 30, 2015)

Floppystrings said:


> I'm not about to show some cute girl I know that has never heard death metal some Infant Annihilator.



You and I are very different people 

Anybody who says Individual Thought Patterns isn't 1st date music is wrong


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## superash (Mar 30, 2015)

Human nature + mainstream media + growing up with Western ideals/stereotypes pushed in your face maybe?


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## aprilia4life (Mar 31, 2015)

I couldn't care less about the lyrics, I don't think I could sing along to one metal song I know. I love the power of the low down chugs, the grind and meaty drums and would be just as happy with no singer at all. For all I know, Randy from Lamb of God is growling out a shopping list.


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## vilk (Mar 31, 2015)

^See who gives a MILK!


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## Konfyouzd (Mar 31, 2015)

I read the title and I'm so triggered right now... 

I'm not necessarily drawn to any of these "dark" things. I simply accept them as part of the territory if I'm going to be into certain things.


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