I imagine this is old news by now, but apparently a 16-year-old kid slayed another student at a South African school and much of the blame is being laid on Slipknot.

A person can kill another of their own free will. They do not need Satan to intervene. This is the view of a top police psychologist who warned people not to put too much emphasis on the so-called forces of evil.

Gerard Labuschagne, who heads South Africa’s police investigative psychology unit, was commenting on the schoolyard slaying at the Nic Diederichs Technical High School in Krugersdorp on Monday where a schoolboy allegedly slashed a fellow pupil to death and injured three others.

“Whenever there is a murder people jump to conclusions, and always it is God or Satan who told the killers to do it. These notions should not be taken seriously,” he said.

However, this has not stopped the growing belief that the hugely popular US heavy metal band, Slipknot, was at the root of the slayings.

The alleged killer used a mask that resembled that of a Slipknot band member.

He was also apparently a follower of the band’s nihilistic music.

The music produced by Slipknot is either referred to as Nu Metal or Death Metal.

I don’t want to make light of the killings themselves, since that sort of humour is cheaper than the daily food budget of a depressive anorexic, but I always laugh when newspapers refer to Slipknot as “death metal.” Did I just wake up and dream the last ten years of my life? Seriously, teenagers still listen to Slipknot? I’d have thought they’d latch on to Killswitch Engage or Groinchurn by now.