According to a BBC Science & Environment report, Macquarie University's music lab used Bloodbath's song "Eaten" as part of a psychological test, which "revealed that death metal fans are not 'desensitised' to violent imagery."

"Death metal fans are nice people," said Prof Bill Thompson, from the Australian university, which is based in Sydney. "They're not going to go out and hurt someone."

This latest study is part of a decades-long investigation by Prof Thompson and his colleagues into the emotional effects of music. These effects, he explained, are complex.

"Many people enjoy sad music, and that's a bit of a paradox - why would we want to make ourselves sad?" he asked. "The same can be said of music with aggressive or violent themes. For us, it's a psychological paradox - so (as scientists) we're curious, and at the same time we recognise that violence in the media is a socially significant issue."

What did the band think of their music being used like this?

"We don't have any issue with it," Bloodbath's lead singer Nick Holmes told BBC News. "The lyrics are harmless fun, as the study proved." He added that Bloodbath's lyrical content was "basically an aural version of an 80s horror film".

"The majority of death metal fans are intelligent, thoughtful people who just have a passion for the music," he said. "It's the equivalent of people who are obsessed with horror movies or even battle re-enactments."

Prof Thompson said the findings should be "reassuring to parents or religious groups" concerned about violent music. More broadly, there is still concern that violence in media leads to social problems. "If you're desensitised to violence, perhaps you wouldn't care if you saw someone on the street getting hurt - you wouldn't help."

But while research has found some evidence of such desensitisation in people who play a lot of violent video games, music, it seems is different.

"The dominant emotional response to this music is joy and empowerment," said Prof Thompson. "And I think that to listen to this music and to transform it into an empowering, beautiful experience - that's an amazing thing."

Nick Holmes identified with that, saying that most of the he enjoyed was "melancholic, dramatic, sad or aggressive and not much in-between".
"I take joy and empowerment from those styles," he told BBC News.

On the topic of the "Eaten"'s lyrics, he added: "I didn't personally write them, but I would be frankly astounded if anyone listened to that song and then felt a desire to be eaten by a cannibal."

Read the complete report here

WDR Rockpalast live streamed performances from the 2018 edition of Germany's Summer Breeze festival from Dinkelsbühl. Watch demonic death metal supergroup Bloodbath’s full set from August 18th below.

Setlist:

"Let The Stillborn Come To Me"
"Cry My Name"
"So You Die"
"Breeding Death"
"Anne"
"Cancer Of The Soul"
"Like Fire"
"Outnumbering The Day"
"Bathe In The Blood"
"Mock The Cross"
"Eaten"

Bloodbath’s fifth slice of morbid savagery, The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn, is out now via Peaceville. Order here.

Tracklisting:

"Fleischmann"
"Bloodicide"
"Wayward Samaritan"
"Levitator"
"Deader"
"March Of The Crucifers"
"Morbid Antichrist"
"Warhead Ritual"
"Only The Dead Survive"
"Chainsaw Lullaby"

Bonus tracks on limited edition CD:

"Ride The Waves Of Fire"
"Wide Eyed Abandon"

"Chainsaw Lullaby" video:

"Bloodicide" lyric video:

Bloodbath lineup:

Old Nick - vocals
Blakkheim - guitar
Lord Seth - bass
Joakim - guitar
Axe - drums