Smart kids listen to Slipknot and Slayer

Fifteen years after Esquire declared “Five out of five kids who kill love Slayer,” the truth has come out. According to a report month in the UK’s national daily newspaper The Independent, a study reveals that “death metal and thrash bands such as Slayer and Slipknot produce the music of choice for today’s brightest youngsters.”

The report is based on an online survey conducted with students at Great Britain’s National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth, representing the top five percent of the country’s students. The report further states that

This intellectual elite often [finds] themselves facing situations and issues not encountered by less able students.” Researchers associated with the study admitted their surprise that “intelligent” genres traditionally associated with the precociously bright, such as classical and jazz, were the least populaar.

According to the story, kids responded to the combination of political ideas and aggressive tendencies in songs from System of a Down, Tool and Slayer.