ON THE VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTINGS

This is a metal website so I intend to stay on topic here for the most part; of course it goes without saying that these events were (ARE) extremely tragic and my thoughts go out to the families and friends of the vicitims. What I want to talk about here is the inevitable fallout resulting from these events and how they might affect the heavy metal community. It seems that every time there is an event of this type the music listening preferences of the shooter are called into question, and those preferences often end up being heavy metal. It happened with W.A.S.P and OZZY in the ’80s, MARILYN MANSON and NINE INCH NAILS with the Columbine shootings, and it may happen again here once the dust settles from all the craziness. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it comes out that Cho Seung-Hui had on LAMB OF GOD‘s Sacrament Sunday night in his dorm room.

Rather than go on a rant, I want to know your thoughts.

Is heavy metal unfairly targeted by the media as a catalyst of aggression and anger? Is it coincidence that fans of heavy metal always seem to be involved in events like this? How will this affect or not affect what happened at Virginia Tech? If so, how will it affect the metal community at large?

-VN