Death metal lyrics may seem intimidating and perplexing to those outside its genre, yet according to research conducted by music psychologist William Forde Thompson, fans feel powerful and joyful when listening.
Death metal music combines loud and fast rhythmic thrash metal music with demonic vocals that range from low death growls to high-pitched shrieks, but what really stands out are its lyrics.
1. God Is A Lie
When creating a death metal song, lyrics are key. While creating killer riffs and impressive progressions may be easy, lyrics set the mood, tell a story and provide insight into its deeper meaning.
Most metal bands’ lyrics often incorporate provocative or controversial themes. From gore and violence, to Satanism and religious criticism. Others even use lyrics to take shots at metal music itself or its fans (think Sammy Hagar’s “Heavy Metal Rock ‘n Roll” and Slayer’s “Metal Militia”).
Extreme metal artists throughout the 1990s pushed lyrical boundaries further and further. Many bands explored more controversial themes, with lyrics focused on death, disease and atrocity – including Repulsion, Autopsy, Obituary and Carcass at the forefront of this new style of music.
One of the more shocking lyrical themes in death metal music is cannibalism. Although most bands don’t actually engage in cannibalism themselves, they still depict this lifestyle through their music; Norway’s Mayhem are famous for displaying cannibalism with their grisly covers and songs glorifying cannibalism; some bands even use cannibalism as a way of mocking Christianity, while other use it simply because it’s so shocking.
Other than cannibalism, many death metal bands also incorporate themes of sexuality and nudity into their lyrics. A prominent example is Cock and Ball Torture’s song, “Anal Lilly Pissing Chick,” with its humorous look at sodomy. Sex humor tends to work particularly well in metal and can help lighten up certain songs by providing light relief from their intensity.
2. Rest In Faeces
Bovine Fecal Matter’s specialty lies in gore-filled songs such as this one about feces. Reminiscent of medical horror flicks or anything out of an adult horror series, it may make some blue-hairs or more conservative types shudder; but unlike power metal’s overt tributes to Satanism, this rant should not be taken too seriously.
This song would make for an exciting performance at any death metal concert. It features fast riffs and hard to understand vocals that work perfectly with the music.
Some lyrics focus on being poisoned and dying while others just speak about feces – making this song ideal for learning death metal vocals.
Death metal bands create lyrics with lyrics that sound aggressive, yet must also create music to support those words. Death metal boasts growls, gurgles, grunts and banshee shrieks; yet also contains melodies.
One of the greatest difficulties for new fans of metal music is trying to decipher what the band is singing about. Many songs contain words which can be difficult to pronounce and reading the lyric sheet can still prove challenging when trying to understand what’s being sung about.
One of the hallmarks of death metal music is its dark humor. Thrash metal bands were already doing this, while death metal took it one step further by singing lyrics about death, disease and atrocity.
3. Preteen Deathfuck
Death metal lyrics that provoke outrage are typically those that are stridently anti-Christian, which many bands make an issue of. One such band that does not generally belong to black metal but makes this point is Nattefrost; their inane songs make the genre even more vulgar and tasteless; one particularly shocking song from them called Preteen Deathfuck sounds exactly as its name implies: five year old girls being sexually exploited to their deaths.
This band has long offended my sensibilities, yet they continue to do it over and over. In fact, I’m no longer sure why I listen to them anymore as their lyrics can be offensive and repellent while producing some decent music that cannot counteract its offensive and degrading lyricism.
There are a lot of bands within metal that feature disturbing lyrics, particularly thrash metal bands; however, none can match Death Metal for its truly disturbing and violent lyrics. Death pioneered death metal with their extreme violent lyrics as an inspiration – while later developing into more focused tracks dealing with human misery and exploitation; other similar bands include Misery Index and Napalm Death.
Acid Bath stands out as an example of death metal bands with more diverse lyrical themes; their lyrics cover topics ranging from sexual assault and violence against women, terrorist acts and witch-hunts, wartime experiences and more – though this approach remains rare among metal bands today.
4. The Exploited
At the height of punk/hardcore movement in the early ’80s, groups such as Slayer and Exodus led with powerful lyrics. Norway’s Mayhem was another game-changer when they released songs about cannibalism and arson; similarly The Exploited formed in Edinburgh Scotland in 1978 were one of the first bands to take a hardline working class stance through defiant lyrics and bold performances.
The Exploited began as a street punk band and later evolved into thrash metal, but their defiance never wavered in their lyrics. From their debut single “Army Life” and its flip side “F— a Mod,” to 1983 album Troops of Tomorrow, The Exploited were one of the driving forces behind UK82 movement.
Wattie Buchan, lead vocalist of The Cockney Rebels and The Jam, levied his lyrics with fury against military, mod subculture championed by bands such as The Jam and Cockney Rebels, the establishment, and music in general. Many of his diatribes focused on war as an issue.
Through the 1980s and 90s, their music and lyrical themes became less explicit; songs like “Kelly’s Meat Emporium” and the Beatles-influenced “Eleanor Rigor Mortis” offered more subtle references than chainsaw gutfucks. Still, the group managed to retain their signature defiant sneer when discussing medical horrors; Loudwire compiled some of the band’s sickest song lyrics that may give you chills; take a look below.
5. The Devil Is In The Details
Metal music has long been seen as aggressive and violent; this perception stems from its graphic lyrics and stage personas adopted by many bands as well as its fast technical guitar riffing and drumming, both signature elements in this genre.
Death metal differs from its thrash metal cousin in several key respects, the primary one being its distinctive vocal style which incorporates low death growls and high shrieks (known as Cookie Monster vocals) and is its hallmark characteristic. Although some might find its music unpleasant to listen to, studies conducted by Behavioral and Brain Sciences show it actually produces positive emotional reactions in its listeners despite appearing unpleasant at first listen.
Comparable to its thrash metal cousin, death metal is faster, heavier and darker in its sound. Furthermore, death metal typically features more complex chord progressions as well as song structures that break from the typical verse-chorus format. Furthermore, its instrumentation typically consists of two guitars, bass guitar and drum kit with double pedal or double bass drums.
Black Metal, developed in Scandinavia and focusing on occult themes and death, has long been one of the primary influences for death metal music. Many bands utilize its influence in their lyrics and musical style through harsh distorted vocals as well as rapid tempo and key changes.
Some death metal bands criticize religion and the Christian bible in general; Machine Head is known for songs that “criticize religious hypocrisy,” as well as their focus on apocalyptic themes and songs criticizing religious hypocrisy. Other groups attack Christianity using various methods – from invoking images of demons and hell to using imagery like that from horror movies.