[cletus]

So here's a thought that just occurred to me.

For context, I've never understood death metal or anything in that realm. The screaming in particular... but I realize that's just my personal preference. No judgment intended. Just opinion, not objective fact.

So only recently I discovered the ASMR phenomenon. And it seems like ~10% of the population (estimated) get a particular response to those sounds.

Other commenters here talk about a "wall of intensity" and things in that realm. What if metal appreciation is the same way as ASMR? By this I mean, what if you just have a predisposition to the sound intensity?

Just a question. I have no answers. This might be ridiculous. I have no idea.

[KozmoNau7]

I can only speak from my own experience, but I know a couple of my friends have had very similar experiences getting into music.

My parents have always been musically inclined, my dad played drums in a rock band and my mom played the flute and sang. There was also always a lot of music in our home, I got my introduction to rock music via Deep Purple's Machine Head on cassette tape, which my parents bought in the 70s and gave to me in the early 90s. I still have it, along with Sgt. Pepper's and Dødens Triumf by The Savage Rose. Absolute classics that helped shape my taste in music.

So there was always rock music nearby as I grew up, and I think specifically Jon Lord on hammond organ through a distorting guitar amp (the intro to "Lazy" is so damn good) is what opened my ears to heavier distortion and the enveloping sound it creates. And of course Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. I also discovered Motörhead around this time, and started to love the raw punk-influenced edge to their sound, compared to Deep Purple's more polished compositions, which also took me in the direction of over-the-top dragons and swords power metal.

From there, I was introduced to progressive death metal in the form of Opeth, thanks to an open FTP at a LAN party (I think piracy was and is hugely important in a lot of peoples' personal musical journeys). That got me used to growled vocals, and I slowly got into harder death metal, and branched out to brutal death metal and grindcore/deathgrind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCsoB8p578Q

I've started branching out to more old school death metal now, wanted to catch up on what I missed in the 90s and early 2000s.

I guess I'm rambling. My point is that it's a musical journey of exposure and experience and learning about new bands and genres. I don't think very many people start out enjoying extreme metal, and I don't think it's a genetic ASMR thing.

[NeedMoreTea]

I'd be surprised if it's that simple. If you'd not raised the point, I think I'd have guessed most had to grow on you with exposure like appreciating spirits or strong foods. Hang around with bikers or metal heads and you'll learn to love it whether you intend to or not... Or find something else to do fast. :)

After growing up with Sabbath, Lemmy, Maiden, ACDC, UFO etc, when I first heard death metal and growl vocals I just thought it sounded a bit naff. Yet somewhere along the way to middle age I grew to love them and also stopped noticing genres. There's now plenty of Ensiferum, Arch Enemy and so on in among bands of all kinds, classical and jazz I listen to these days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFYVcz7h3o0

[plorkyeran]

For me it was absolutely an exposure thing. I spent years listening to metal with clean vocals but hating harsh vocals. Then I listened to one of Equilibrium's instrumental songs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DiJw9wIibw) and fell in love. I was disappointed to discover that most of their songs were "ruined" by the growled vocals, but managed to enjoy them in spite of that. Over a bunch of listens I learned to how to appreciate what Equilibrium did with growls, and once I "got" that I started enjoying a lot of other bands that I previously disliked.

[mhh__]

I don't it's a genetic thing.

AFAIK I like more genres than I don't, but everything I've ever gotten into (Rock -> Metal -> Jazz -> Hip Hop -> No Preference) has been because I've convinced myself to like it. Possibly a genetic trait but it doesn't feel right, especially given that metal music can be appreciated for totally different reasons: One doesn't listen to Opeth the same way as meshuggah

[zzzcpan]

As I understand it music is something you can train your brain to like and the choices are heavily influenced by other people around you, society, culture. On its own metal music is equally as likable as kpop, for example. But you don't necessarily learn to have that attitude towards music and limit yourself trying to fit in, etc.