One of defining aspect of music torture is repetition: the idea that if something is played repeatedly then it becomes obnoxious or even psychologically harmful. The detainees at Guantanamo were subjected to the same music for hours, sometimes days at a time. This extreme level of repetition caused a paralysis of will and cognition.
But repetition itself is not harmful. If anything, small amounts of repetition can be beneficial to psychological awareness and stress purging. The issue lies within the degree of repetition, from healthy to lethal. As Paracelsus said of substances, “everything is a poison. The difference between a poison and a remedy depends on the dose.”
A band that I believe straddles the fence between healthful and harmful repetition is the noise-rock outfit Swans.
Below I included a link to one of their songs.
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