Write Death Metal

This is going to show you how to write a good death metal song/riff/lyric. You will find several types and ideas to start developing your own sound in this article.

Steps

  1. Pick something(s) that you want to write about. Death Metal lyrics are usually dark and negative themed such as: Abuse of power, addiction, anarchy, anger, apathy, cannibalism, darkness, death, depression, fantasy, gore, hate, humor, insanity, Christianity, anti-Christianity, life and death, masochism, misanthropy, murder, mysticism, mythology, nihilism, outer space, politics, psychosis, serial killers, sexual perversions, social alienation, social commentary, satanism, society, suicide, occultism, torture, and war are all themes that are explored in Death Metal lyrics. Also, looking on an online dictionary is a good idea. Random words on online dictionaries have definitions and can help you think of a song. Remember that part of what makes Death Metal unique is that nothing is off-limits in terms of song lyrics. And don't be afraid to talk about more than one thing in your lyrics. For example, a song can flow between furrydom and Tolkien in a complex thematic interplay.
  2. Get inspired! Everyday Life, Horror Movies, Music, Anti-Religion, Serial Killers and all the dark, morbid, gruesome and lonely thoughts in the back of your mind are an inspiration to Death Metal songwriters.
  3. For a riff, pull a riff using root notes from a power chord with a very weak arpeggio. (ex; E string, 5-5-5-5-5-5-5-8-8-8-7-7-7-7-7-5-5-5-5 etc). If you're into tech death, look up Origin, Decapitated, Necrophagist, Nile, Beheaded, Abysmal Torment or Beneath the Massacre for references. A common scale to use is the chromatic. Riffs often use tapping or sweep picking, and often change tempos like 5/4-7/4.
  4. Get your lyrics stated clearly and in a perfect order. Find a way to use certain syllable amounts for certain lines. Like the first word in a verse could always be 1-2 syllables, while the last word could be 3 or more. But remember, not ALL Death Metal is just grunting separate words. In Flames vocalist Anders Friden writes very deep meaningful lyrics. He also often changes from growling to clean vocals during choruses, making them sound monumental and epic.
  5. Have a good guitar/bass/drum setup. For a guitar (the deeper the tuning the heavier), a good ole' Marshall tube amp with an Ibanez tube screamer or a Digitech DEATHMETAL will make great sound.
    • When setting an amp, the number one rule is to use your ears. If it sounds good (from all angles) then it's good. That said, here are some suggestions to experiment with: (tone levels on a scale of 1-10)
      • gain:10 treble:7 middle:5 bass:6 (makes the chunky stuff heavier yet screams harmonics, perfect for playing rhythms)
      • gain:9 treble:8 middle:3 bass:4 (gives less noise in the sound and still responsive to the harmonics, perfect to keep the solos tidy)
    • Suggested pedals:
      • Distortion (riffing): Digitech DEATHMETAL, Behringer WD300, Behringer HD300, MXR 78 Custom Badass, BOSS MD-2, BOSS MT-2 Metal Zone,
      • Distortion (solos) aim for more of a drive sound: Digitech bad monkey, turn down the gain knob from any of the above.
    • For bass, find out how to make a clean noise somewhat heavy, without using a lot of distortion (but a slight gain wouldn't hurt). Be sure that you have very high treble and cut the bass, this enables the bass to really sound "popping" and can make slapping really stand out.
    • Drums should consist of a standard set, with another pedal or bass drum, a china, 3 crashes, ride with a clear bell, deep sound splash (about a 13") up to four toms(2 tom-toms, 2 floor toms) or more, a one more cymbal, and if you wanna mix it up, put in jingles, hand-bells or maybe a cowbell.
  6. Clean is good. Adding a clean intro that grows is a great addition to Death Metal. Listen to Lack of Comprehension by Death or User-ma'at-re by Nile as a reference. Remind to have high bass frequencies with the clean sound to make it seem heavier.
  7. LEADS! Most Death Metal bands from 97-now have dropped leads. Old-schoolers are still experienced in the art. Take Trey Azagthoth or Jack Owen for example. If you want a dynamic lead system, try using blues minor arpeggiations, diminished scales, neoclassical arpeggios, sweeping, tremolo sweeps, and tapping. These are great, two string tapping is highly recommended for skilled guitarists. Chuck Schuldiner (Death) shows this in the intro to 'The Philosopher.' Another exceptional lead guitarist in a metal band is Emil Werstler from DAATH, and Tosin Abasi from Animals As Leaders/Born Of Osiris-both unique guitarists. A lot of lead guitarists also use the floyd bar, so listen to greats like Rick Rozz,Brunelle,Millie Petrozza,James Murphy,Jack Owen. This may also be called atones, or noise without any real tone/pitch. Other guitarists that use this are Mick Thompson, Kerry King, Barry Thompson(Early bolt thrower), and Ron Jambarzack.
    • If your band has two guitarists, it's important to not give all the solos to one guitarist, that can cause the other guitarist to be underrated by the fans (like Jeff Hanneman compared to Kerry King in slayer), this can be avoided to make lots of "parallel" harmonies like for example one guitarist does a lick and the other does the same thing 5 frets/7 frets or an octave higher; one can do the exact same thing but one guitar does pinch-harmonics on all the notes.
  8. Try experimenting with time changes, and writing in unusual time signatures like 13/16, and 7/8 - these can make for very interesting and entertaining riffs, as well as add to the overall complexity of the music.
  9. Try using polyrhythmic sequences. This is done by layering one riff on top of another (for example a 5/4 riff on a 4/4 riff; a good example listen to Meshuggah).
  10. Do not just listen to only one kind of metal. If you like Cannibal Corpse, don't ignore Possessed, Atheist or Cynic, if you like Origin, don't ignore Slayer and Venom, if you listen to Carcass, don't ignore Behemoth. Versatility can help you to get new ideas for your music and melodies. Even Jazz, Blues and Country can help!!

Tips

  • Check out Melissa Cross' DVD "The Zen of Screaming" to learn how to properly scream minimizing damage to your vocal chords. Every metal vocalist needs this video..
  • Don't sell out and go with whatever is popular in hopes of making money.
  • If you can write a song that uses clean vocals as well as Death Growls efficiently, then go you. Some people prefer Death Metal with clean vocals as well. Though, if you're a true metal head you'll understand the little need of popularity.
  • Don't just write one style of song (Example: Slow or Fast). Think of Slayer, who were extremely fast in Raining Blood and decided to have slower songs in South of Heaven.
  • As an added bonus, if you have time, listen to Torsofuck, Heinous Killings, and Cemetery Rapist. They all have an extremely unique vocal type and it pays to learn it. Torsofuck does nasal gutturals, Heinous Killings does predator growls, and Cemetery Rapist does cricket growls. It is worth it to learn.
  • Make sure that you are in line with the rest of the band. Don't get offbeat or out of step, as it will sound bad. George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher of Cannibal Corpse says that it is very easily noticed when a band is not "in sync" with each other, especially the drummer and singer.
  • Don't get distracted by high-speed intensely technical leads and riffs. Slow, doomful, sludgy riffs and solos are just as awesome. 'Festering in the Crypt' by Cannibal Corpse is an example.
  • It's best to warm up before screaming and don't force it out just let the air run past your vocal cords to create a smooth screaming sound.
  • There are multiple types of extreme vocals for Death Metal used by many different bands. Screaming (Lamb of God, Soilwork) growling (Cannibal Corpse, Necrophagist), gurgling (Dying Fetus, Rompeprop), pig squeals (Waking The Cadaver, Amputated Repugnance), screeching (Burzum, Darkthrone which are actually Black Metal not Death Metal) you should learn all of these to have variety in your vocals.
  • Using thicker strings on a guitar helps alot with death metal. I am currently using 13's.

Warnings

  • Death metal bands are still largely misunderstood and not as commercially popular as alternative, rock, metal, etc. Being a full time musician (where you quit your job and pay your bills with music earnings) can take a very long time, especially pursuing death metal success.
  • Death metal vocals can be damaging to vocal chords. Know what you are doing to avoid permanent damage.
  • Don't over use atones! Like I mentioned before in leads, players like Kerry King use almost nothing but atones. Don't use those as an excuse for a good guitar solo. It's helpful to create an atmosphere, but learn scales to create real solos.

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