Death metal music is an inherently heavy genre with deep growling vocals and blast beat drumming to convey themes about death, violence and other topics such as politics, philosophy or true crime.
Impaled are famous for singing that “poop sells.” Carcass use Death Metal English to describe medical atrocities such as liquidized esophagus and bloodied excrement in songs such as “Rest in Faeces.”
Researchers found that death metal lyrics are difficult to comprehend; however, their impactful language had an extraordinary response among its listeners.
Themes
A good metal song needs a theme, whether that is love story, war imagery, or both. Once your lyrics have been written and reviewed, writing the music itself can be quite the daunting challenge; finding its proper feel without sounding cliche can take practice!
Metal songs frequently depict themes of death and violence. Both their music and lyrics depict this violent side of human nature that can serve as a catharsis for fans; however, some fear this genre’s potential impact on young listeners.
Music often explores antisocial themes that can provoke moral panic among community groups, parents and politicians. This is particularly true of satanic and black metal music which has drawn considerable criticism for encouraging violent and antisocial behaviors.
Another popular theme is mythology and magic, something utilized by bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Their songs like “Flight of Icarus” and “Halls of Valhalla” evoke images from Greek mythology.
More recently, bands have begun exploring political themes through metal music. Napalm Death and Misery Index employ leftist ideas in their songs to create an aggressive musical experience, making their tracks truly stand out among other metal tracks. Their anger towards upper class influences stands them out among all others as well.
Some artists have also turned to music as a powerful platform to speak out against injustices of race, politics and religion. Bands such as Antigama, Impaled and Discordance Axis have all used their musical talent to highlight pressing global issues while making a positive difference in people’s lives.
There is no single formula for what a perfect metal song should sound like, yet some bands have found their own unique sound. Some bands use Nintendocore to combine intense metalcore music with nostalgic chiptune sounds from classic video games for an engaging and enjoyable musical experience that engages their audiences.
Characteristics
While death metal’s lyrics can be disturbing, it’s important to remember that not all death metal music is violent or pornographic. Instead, most death metal songs focus on spirituality and human mortality with many bands adopting pre-Christian pagan traditions such as Wicca; some bands also incorporate themes from Satanism, occultism or mysticism into their songs.
Genre music tends to be heavily distorted and down-tuned, employing guitar playing techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking to achieve its distinctive sound. Tempo, key and time signature changes may also be used; song structures often include complex chord progressions with melodic riffing; bass guitars, keyboards and drums are sometimes featured among others instruments in these tracks.
Death metal vocals are famous for their deep guttural growls and gurgles – colloquially known as death growls – as well as for their high-pitched shrieks, pig squeals and banshee cries. Screams often used by Death Metal vocalists can convey emotional intensity while adding depth and horror to their music.
As much as early 1980s thrash metal bands garnered attention with their shocking lyrics, death metal took things one step further by exploring topics like mutilation, murder and necrophilia in its lyrics. Although such themes often caused controversy at first, death metal quickly attracted people interested in exploring extreme, taboo and bizarre aspects of human nature.
Researcher Jack Thompson has discovered that death metal music may not have the effect of creating sociopaths or nihilistic maniacs among its listeners; rather, his 2017 study in Behavioral and Brain Sciences shows that those with lower empathy scores may find certain forms of violent art appealing; this phenomenon is known as “theoretical distancing”.
Some death metal musicians make references to themselves within their lyrics, often extolling the musical genre such as in Sammy Hagar’s “Heavy Metal Thunder” or Anvil’s “Metal on Metal.” Other songs explore themes related to violence and power associated with heavy metal through lyrics like 3 Inches of Blood’s “I am Iron Man, God of Metal.”
Styles
Death metal vocal styles often create dissonant sounds that are harsh and discordant, with fast tempo music featuring aggressive and abrasive rhythms.
Death metal music features complex rhythmic structures with shifting keys and time signatures, as well as bands using chromatic chord progressions that create unique tonality for this genre. These differences distinguish death metal from more traditional heavy metal genres with fixed song structures and melodies; many death metal bands even incorporate melody and harmony into their work!
Death metal music’s early days were violent and aggressive, with lyrics focused on subjects such as torture, violence and murder. This style influenced other heavy metal genres and eventually evolved into grindcore, an emerging subgenre in the 1990s; Napalm Death, Morbid Angel and Carcass were some of the key bands within this movement.
Death metal evolved and expanded its boundaries during the 1990s, giving birth to several subgenres such as crossover thrash (which blends elements of death metal with those from other genres such as thrash metal and speed metal) and melodic death metal (which mixes fast riffing with more melodic singing).
Many death metal bands have crossed over into other genres, including doom metal and stoner metal. These hybrid bands often feature slower tempos with heavier guitar sounds that create an atmospheric blues-tinged atmosphere reminiscent of psychedelic drugs, altered states of consciousness or the occult.
Some death metal bands have used their lyrics to criticize religion, especially Christianity. Megadeth’s song “God Is a Lie” offers an extreme example; other death metal bands may use more subtle attacks against religion such as Impaled’s song “Rest in Faeces.”
Genre artists have also become more socially aware in their lyrical themes, exploring topics like environmental degradation, war and poverty in their lyrics. Additionally, humor and irony have found their way into music compositions.
Influences
Death metal music may be disconcerting for some listeners. Bands frequently write lyrics about bloodshed, dismemberment and gory imagery on album covers; its deep growling vocals and blast beat drumming only increase its intensity further. Lyrics play an equally vital role, according to Bloodbath frontman Nick Holmes who saw death metal’s lyrics as another instrument on this week’s MetalSucks Podcast episode: they “can easily switch between seriousness and campiness”.
Early death metal songs featured Satan, religion and ritual sacrifice as themes; due to death metal’s merging with thrash metal and first-wave black metal in the 1980s. Bands such as Deicide, Morbid Angel and Possessed began exploring ideas surrounding Satanism, hellishness, evilness and anti-Christian sentiments lyrically; often meeting resistance from parents who demanded their children stop listening to metal music.
Later, this genre evolved further by subgenres such as melodic death metal and progressive death metal, which blended progressive rock’s complex song structures and unusual time signatures with violence and aggression of metal music. Some bands, like Child’s Play and Soilwork even wrote lyrics in archaic languages like Old Norse to demonstrate their dark side.
Death metal music has long been associated with violent themes. Yet its messages can also be political and subversive – such as fighting sexual harassment of women by companies like Cattle Decapitation and Venom Prison who criticize alt-right ideology, corporate greed and imperialism.
Music may appear chaotic at first listen, with heavy guitars, pounding bass and unintelligible lyrics, yet it can have an immense influence on our subconscious minds. Macquarie University researchers discovered that when participants listened to Eaten by Cannibal Corpse they were less likely to find images of violence disturbing than when exposed to pop or no music at all; the researchers believe this may be because death metal music instils feelings of death and inevitability that help numb us out to images of violence.