On BBC2 tonight is a programme that examines the often considered issue of the links between music with extreme lyrics, and murder crimes. The documentary called 'Death Metal Murders' will air at 9 PM on Thursday 24th November. If you don't get to see this news story in time and want to read more then the producer of the programme Sam Bagnall has written an article for the BBC Website.
"One man's relentless search for his missing son led him to uncover one of the most shocking crimes in post-war Italy - a tale of Satanism and violence that has gripped the country for more than a year.
"In January 1998 Fabio Tollis and Chiara Marino, both just 16, disappeared. They had been drinking at a pub called the Midnight - the centre of the heavy metal scene in Milan - and they never came home.
"The police and many of their friends just thought they had run off together. But their parents refused to accept this. Michele Tollis, Fabio's father, began to attend metal concerts and festivals across Europe, handing out leaflets and quizzing Fabio's friends.
"Fabio and his friends were into the most extreme forms of heavy metal music – death metal and black metal, music obsessed with images of murder and Satanism
- and the role of this music is central to the story. It emerged that Chiara, the girl who disappeared with Fabio, had a collection of satanic literature and paraphernalia in her bedroom."
Obviously this issue is passionately argued from both sides.
"During this search, Michele Tollis became convinced that Satanism had something to do with his son's disappearance," Bagnall writes. Quoting the father, "No one can contradict me when I say that heavy metal and Satanism are closely linked. They're inseparable," he says.
However, Glen Benton, lead singer of Deicide, one of the bands often linked to these kind of stories, not surprisingly doesn't think the finger of blame should be pointed in his direction.
"I say don't blame people like me and [Marilyn] Manson, because we never said: 'Hey, we're going to be role models for all your kids.' That ain't what this
is about. It's about entertainment."
Bagnall continues, "indeed there is little evidence that ordinary kids can be turned into monsters by music, but academics who have studied adolescents and music have expressed concerns about the possible effects on children who already have psychological problems."
You can read the full piece on the
BBC Website
Whether we're any closer to drawing any further conclusions, other than the "most right thinking metal fans don't take this too seriously but there's always going to be one fruitcake who goes over the top" remains to be seen.