Beyond the obvious Iron Maiden epics and such, what are some metal songs with amazing, original lyrics and themes? Well, I like my music to hit hard, and here some of my picks. I’m also trying to keep it as underground as possible, so you can discover some fresh metal music. Well aware that Death has like 8 songs that would quality, but everyone already knows those.
It’s not the first time I’ve written about metal lyrics. I actually dived into doom metal lyrics and death metal lyrics before, dissecting tropes and I suppose I’m trying to figure out what I actually like in process. Anyway, here are five songs that hit very hard lyrically, while also being kickass metal songs from a purely musical standpoint.
About me – deathdoom.com, music and more
- Stefan Nordström
- Musician, songwriter, content creator, digital freelancer
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Bands: Desolator, Soliloquium, Ending Quest, Ashes of Life, Trees of Daymare, The Ashen Tree
- Social: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
- Stay in touch: Newsletter signup
- Support my work on PayPal: 1€ | 2€ | 5€ | 10€
Helevorn – Blackened Waves
Once I held on to your hand
Now I’m fighting to stay alive, helpless
What will happen to the race of man?
Better to be lost than remembered wronged”
Empathy and the urge for tranquillity and understanding is something I love in gloomy metal music. Just because shit is dark, we don’t need to go full DSBM, right?
Well, Spain’s Helevorn combined this outlook with real-life topics to massive effect. The Mediterranean refuge crisis sure hits me more than any gothic autumn melancholy could.
Katatonia – Clean Today
The blue lights are falling
Night is warm
Came down with a promise
I have my best shirt on
I lower myself now
It is a way to forgot
Of last year’s failure
Katatonia wrote many elaborate and touching lyrics over the years, but this might be their most unique one. Tackling Swedish alcohol culture in a song is just bloody genius, nothing else to say about it. It’s also a great song musically.
Nevermore – The River Dragon Has Come
Today the warning came in the flood
Architects and fools never cared for poor men’s blood
Cursed to repeat the past they are
The river dragon swims upstream
They’ve built another wall
The three will fall
Save us from the flood
Washed away we drown
Chinese dam collapse and some of the best progressive guitar work of all time? Why not? It’s a match made in heaven.
Warrel Dane wrote a lot of genius stuff, but this might be the peak. If you’re curious, I really recommend this song analysis on YouTube.
Pain of Salvation – Beyond the Pale
Someone still this hunger (it’s in my blood) always growing stronger (ticking)
Budapest I’m learning, budapest you’re burning me
This is not who I wanted to be, this is not what I wanted to see
She’s so young so why don’t I feel free now that she is here under me?
Daniel Gildenlöw is a wild songwriter, and I find myself connecting with a lot of this stuff, or at least being fascinated. “Beyond the Pale” is a journey into young sexuality, something not particularly common in metal. I get the feeling it’s equal parts real-life experiences and fantasy, but who knows? It’s just wild, unique and totally different stuff, and the performances on the song just serve to amplify it. It proves that there is much to write about, if you only choose to stray past the obvious.
Vehemence – She Never Noticed Me
Venturing into the street….
I know where she lives….
I know where her bedroom is….
I know everything about her….
She’ll see- I’ll show her
She’ll see- I’ll show her
Her light is off, but her bedroom door is open, I can see her…
Legs spread, I can hear her moans through the window….
“But there’s something wrong,” …. She gazes at a picture of Jesus….
Watching her in that room, I am in love with her….
This whole concept album is as sick and twisted as it is musically brilliant. It never gets as out there as on “She Never Noticed Me”, the album’s ballad.
0 Comments