Metalheads = smart lol

[Degolas]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=UWS5HNNIWW23NQFIQMFSFFOAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2007/03/21/nmetal21.xml

There you have it, we're all super intelligent :P

[Dincrest]

"the only difference between classical music and metal is distortion."  -one of my friends

I think folks like us find themselves drawn to metal because it's 'challenging' as an art form.  And when we enjoy using our brains, we like to challenge ourselves.  Plus with all the subgenres of it (i.e. Pantera does not sound like Dream Theater and both are metal), it never gets stale.  And folks like us are always looking for something fresh and interesting.  We dislike complacency, especially in thought.  

I'm a nerdy/academic looking guy and the last person people would think would listen to metal, but there are a TON of us "nerdy metalheads" out that.

[Losfer]

Well, I certainly started listening to Metal when I was younger as I needed friends and more conventional types of music annoyed me.  The anger and power in the music made me feel like I was not alone.  The music still cheers me up when I'm feeling like shit.

Nowadays, as Dezo said, I feel the technicality in some forms of the music to be a challenge, not only to listen to, but to write.  Seriously, Metal is more than art to me, it's the closest thing I have to a religion.  ...As gay and Manowar sounding that is.  :P

Most other types of music are far too boring and one-dimensional.

[Vanguard]

Honestly, I loathe metal. I give it the technical credit, but it just doesn't cut it for me. Of course, I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum and listen to stuff like old punk, all three waves of ska, garage rock, noise etc...Although, I do love Tchaikovsky and a few other classical musicians/composers.

[D-Rider]

They obviously grow a different flavor of metalhead across the pond.

[Dave]

Yeah, for every one intelligent European metalhead you have, we Americans get an additional tank top-wearing, beer-inhaling lardass screaming SLAYER regardless of whether the band is actually PLAYING AT THE CONCERT THEY ATTENDED RAR MINIRANT.

[Daggerstrike]

Honestly, I loathe metal. I give it the technical credit, but it just doesn't cut it for me. Of course, I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum and listen to stuff like old punk, all three waves of ska, garage rock, noise etc...Although, I do love Tchaikovsky and a few other classical musicians/composers.

Vanguard and I share this feeling. I am pretty sure everyone knows how I feel about Metal =P

[ZE GRAND MASTER]

"They listen to metal to cope with the pressures of being intelligent"? I think its more to do with coping with the pressures of being a depressed, emo teenager and hated by everyone else. Intelligence and metealhaeadedness don't necessarily go together...

Though they do on RPGfan.

[Tlonuqbar]

I've read several well-researched articles and books that pretty much state that a large part of an individual's taste in music is determined by what they are exposed to early in life.

Also, a sign of musical mental maturity is a kind of cross genre acceptance; there are of course going to be certain types of music that you prefer to listen to above any others, as well as those you will never like at all no matter how much you hear them, but I think having a "large musical palate" is a good indication of mental development and culture.  For example, virtually every "popular" musical form that developed during the hey-day of so-called classical music was encorporated in some form or another into "serious" classical pieces almost instantly.  The fact is, most "classical" composers weren't elitists; they appreciated many different genres of music;   anyone with even a limited knowledge of the Western musical tradition would be aware of this.

...and I think you'll find that many if not most of the greatest figures in any musical genre are fans of more than just their own limited style of music; heck, I even once read an interview with Metallica where they said something to the effect that without the musical innovations of Richard Wagner, heavy metal wouldn't even exist...interesting thought.