This study examined characteristics, orientations, and actions. The characteristics investigated were at the demographic, economic, political, and social levels. With respect to orientations, a number of political, ethical, and philosophical traits were examined, including apathy, sociability, relativism, subjectivism, rationalism, existentialism, and optimism-pessimism. The analysis includes a look at perceived chances of success in the contemporary American system. The behavioral aspect of the research focused on social interactions and violent tendencies. The primary unit of analysis was the individual fan of Death Metal. Further analysis was undertaken with social artifacts that are pertinent to the scene, such as metal music CDs, lyrics, and magazines. At the Death Metal shows themselves, informal group interactions were observed and analyzed. Some aggregate data was utilized in the overall comparison of the American Death Metal population with the normal American population of non-fans.
This was to be a cross-sectional study of the current Death Metal scene. Most of the data collection itself took place during a period of approximately three months. Although the theoretical population consists of all fans of Death Metal in America, it was impossible to draw a truly random and representative sample of this population, because there are no records of the identities of members or even the number of members. Convenience sampling thus had to replace random sampling. It was not possible, due to restraints of time and finance, to attend Death Metal shows throughout the United States. Fortunately, interviews with band members have consistently revealed a consensus that New York City possesses one of the most thriving and largest scenes, and the vast majority of data collected at shows was collected in or near New York City. Some data was gathered from other areas throughout the United States in order to make the sample more representative. Participants who were not from the New York area were found with the assistance of the editor/publisher of a prominent Death Metal magazine, the Grimoire, through Death Metal “chat rooms” on the Internet, and through member profile searches on America Online.17
The basic means of data collection involved surveys of demographics, philosophy, and behavior. The surveys consisted of sixty-four items and were ten pages in length. They were both anonymous and confidential. Most were distributed to persons met at shows, to be completed at their convenience and returned to myself or one of the research assistants who helped with the survey distribution. Others were sent out to Death Metal chat room participants and AOL users who described themselves as fans of Death Metal in their member profiles. These surveys were filled out and returned by e-mail at the participant’s convenience. The total number of surveys collected was sixty-seven.
The second means of data collection involved intensive interviews with dozens of Death Metal fans, band members, and icons of the scene. The interviews were only somewhat directed by my questions, and remained quite open in order to keep the data unbiased and to gain as much insight as possible. The prepared portion of the interview involved questions about: Death Metal music itself, reactions to lyrics, experience of shows, impressions of the people in the Death Metal scene, reasons for joining the scene, positive and negative impressions, insight into the “metal philosophy,” view of metal’s supposed relationship to violence, and a description of the influence and personal meaning of Death Metal in the interviewee’s life. The intensive interviews were not restricted to a given time frame, but lasted as long as the interviewee desired to continue the discussion. I also engaged in informal field research by attending shows and making note of behavior, interactions, and any other noticeable aspects of the underground metal scene. Some analysis of secondary data took place in the comparison of the aggregate data collected in this research of the Death Metal community with aggregate crime/violence statistics. The research methods employed within this study were therefore numerous.
Due to the small sample size for surveys, interviews, and field research, the methods utilized in this study are even less generalizable than they would be in better circumstances, and they therefore cannot be used to draw conclusions about the population at large. An accurate and reliable description of the population of Death Metal fans will not be obtained from this study, although some insights into the makeup of the population can be inferred as long as a high degree of variation is expected and a low confidence interval is accepted. The results of this study may be employed to cast doubt on claims that interest in violent entertainment forms is related to actual violent behavior. The modest scope of this study cannot aim to disprove these hypotheses, but can perhaps call them into question and encourage further study on the matter. This research is not sophisticated enough to establish or deny causality, because there are no means to identify and eliminate interfering variables, nor are there any grounds to generalize the conclusions found through this research.