Songwriting Advice
How to Write Depressive Suicidal Black Metal Lyrics
Warning: This guide discusses suicide themes and deep emotional pain. If you are currently struggling with thoughts of harming yourself, please get help immediately. In the United States call or text 988. In the United Kingdom contact Samaritans at 116 123. If you are elsewhere, contact local emergency services or a crisis hotline in your country. This article focuses on songwriting craft. It does not endorse or instruct self harm.
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Quick Links to Useful Sections
- What is Depressive Suicidal Black Metal
- Content Warning and Responsible Choices
- Finding the Emotional Core
- Personal Experience or Character Voice
- Imagery That Works in This Genre
- Avoid Graphic or Instructional Detail
- Language, Diction, and Tone
- Rhyme and Meter
- Song Structure and Hooks Without Pop Tricks
- Voice and Delivery
- Musical Alignment With Lyrics
- Editing for Ethics and Impact
- Before and After Line Examples
- Exercises and Prompts
- Collaboration and Band Dynamics
- Publishing and Release Considerations
- Mental Health and Aftercare for Writers
- Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them
- Legal and Platform Notes
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Resources if You Are in Crisis
So you want to write lyrics for depressive suicidal black metal. You want words that sting, that feel authentic, and that can carry the bleak weight of the music without being exploitative. You want lines that make people nod like they have been seen and not like they just paid for a sad poster. This guide gives you tools that keep honesty, craft, and care in balance. It will cover genre context, lyric techniques, imagery, voice, prosody, delivery, ethical edits, and release tactics. Expect actionable exercises, before and after examples, and a few jokes to keep you alive while you read.
What is Depressive Suicidal Black Metal
Depressive suicidal black metal is a sub style of black metal that focuses on extreme loneliness, despair, and suicidal themes. The shorthand term many people use is DSBM. DSBM blends the bleak atmospheres and raw textures of black metal with lyrical content that is often confessional and obsessive about hopelessness. The genre grew from underground scenes where artists used music to process intense emotion. Some artists find that writing or listening helps them manage pain. Some fans rely on the music as an outlet. Neither of those facts turns self harm into a plot device. That is why we write with responsibility.
Black metal more broadly is a heavy music style characterized by tremolo picking on guitars, blast beat drumming, cold and distant production at times, and vocals that are usually high pitched screams or harsh rasping shouts. Lyrics can range from nature and pagan themes to nihilism and personal collapse. DSBM takes the emotional axis and points it inward until the light is nearly gone.
Content Warning and Responsible Choices
Before you put anything online or on a record, ask yourself three questions. One, will these words encourage someone to harm themselves. Two, are these words honest without being instructional. Three, if a young fan reads this in a lonely room, will it make things worse. If the answer to any of those questions is maybe then rewrite. You can be bleak without giving explicit methods or normalizing suicide. You can write about desperation while also pointing to the humanity behind the feeling. Responsible writing matters for your fans and for your own legacy.
If you are writing from genuine pain, consider pairing your release with resource links in the liner notes and on social media. Many bands choose to include a short note that says something like, If you are struggling please reach out to a friend or call a crisis line. This simple move can save lives and raises your credibility as an artist who understands the weight of what you are singing about.
Finding the Emotional Core
Every powerful song needs an emotional core. That is the one aching idea you will return to like a chorus of vultures. For depressive suicidal themes that core might be total exhaustion, the feeling of being an observer in your own life, anger at missed chances, or a longing for release. Choose one core per song. Too many cores becomes a messy therapy session on stage and leaves the listener adrift.
Ask yourself where the feeling lives in the body. Is it a heavy rib cage. Is it a buzzing in the ears. Is it a cold hand on the throat. Translate that bodily image into the lyric. Physical detail makes abstraction feel lived in and not like a Tumblr quote. Example core statements
- I am tired of pretending to be a person.
- Every morning is a narrow room with one small window.
- Silence weighs more than any sound I have ever known.
Turn one of those into a title. Titles in this subgenre can be plain and brutal or poetic and veiled. Both work if the title feels like a promise of the song. Promise made, promise delivered.
Personal Experience or Character Voice
You can write from first person confession or from a character distance. Both are useful and each has different risks. First person can feel raw and immediate but can also be read as a literal cry for help by someone in fragile mental health. Character voice gives you permission to explore darker ideas without positioning you as the literal speaker. Use character voice if your subject requires more distance. Use first person for songs that are meant to be cathartic and consider including a content warning when performing them live.
Relatable scenario. You are on a tiny van tour with a broken heater. Your voice is raw from screaming and the city smells like wet cardboard. You write a few lines in a notebook in the tour van. Decide if those lines are your private diary or a character monologue. Either choice is valid. Just be deliberate.
Imagery That Works in This Genre
Imagery is your primary tool. Black metal listeners love cold images. Nature works because it is vast. Small domestic details work because they feel intimate. The strongest images are odd enough to be memorable but obvious enough to land in one listen. Use sensory detail and avoid moral lecturing. Let the scene do the work of telling the human story.
- Landscape images: frost on a church roof, an empty birch grove, a coastline where the tide eats the sand.
- Domestic images: a mug with lipstick stain, a calendar page clinging to a wall, socks balled by a radiator.
- Body images: a thumb that forgets to stop tapping, a pulse that is too soft to hear, a mouth that tastes like cold coins.
Mix the macro with the micro. A lyric that moves from a ruined cathedral to a single thumbnail pressed into the wood is more visceral than a line that only says suffering. Use metaphor to layer meaning. For example, describe grief as a wallpaper pattern that repeats itself until you cannot tell where one bloom ends and the next begins. That image suggests suffocation without spelling out method.
Avoid Graphic or Instructional Detail
Do not describe methods or provide any procedural details of self harm. Graphic depictions of the act itself are unnecessary and harmful. You can show the aftermath as an emotional landscape without glorifying or explaining the act. Writers often think specificity means procedural detail. It does not. Specificity can be in texture and sensation not in steps.
Language, Diction, and Tone
Decide if your lyric voice will be elevated poetic, stark plain, or somewhere in between. Many DSBM artists use a mixture. A simple sentence can carry more weight if followed by an ornate line. Keep a palette of words that fit the song. If you use archaic language, commit to it. Do not slip into modern slang in the same verse unless you intend the friction for effect.
Word choice matters for singing. Harsh consonants cut through distortion. Long vowels carry over tremolo. Use that to your advantage. For a line you want to stretch with a held vocal use open vowels like ah and oh. For lines you want to feel brittle and spiky use consonants that bite, like k and t, delivered with a short attack.
Rhyme and Meter
Classic black metal lyrics often favor free verse and internal rhyme over strict end rhyme. Slant rhyme keeps the language natural and avoids sing song patterns that break the mood. Prosody matters. Speak your lines aloud. If a natural stress does not match the musical beat, rewrite. Prosody makes harsh vocals intelligible even when the voice chews the words. Use repetition strategically. A repeated phrase becomes a ritual chant. Rituals fit this genre.
Song Structure and Hooks Without Pop Tricks
Black metal is not about pop hooks but about motifs that lodge in the mind. Repeat a short phrase as a motif. Let it return like a wound. Use a simple chorus or refrain that shifts meaning as the verses progress. That shift is gold. It can turn a line that sounded like admission in verse into accusation in chorus.
Structure examples
- Verse that describes the scene
- Refrain that is a single image or line repeated
- Instrumental build with tremolo guitar and atmosphere
- Second verse that reframes the scene
- Refrain returned with altered meaning
- Final collapse or whisper that closes the arc
Use atmospherics to create space between lines. A long noisy chord can let a short line land and breathe. Silence can be as loaded as sound. Do not be afraid of bare guitar and low voice for two lines. That contrast will make the screams sound like eruptions instead of background noise.
Voice and Delivery
How you sing changes the meaning of the words. A whispered confessional reads different than a bloodied scream. Match vocal texture to lyric content. If a line is private and small, whisper or half speak it. If a line is rage, let it rip with full distortion. Record multiple passes and choose the performance that feels honest. Sometimes the raw first take is perfect despite the roughness because it contains the original hurt.
Practice articulation in a way that keeps the lyric comprehensible. Fans appreciate when they can pick out a line during a set and shout it back. That comprehension creates community and helps the words land. Use backing vocals sparingly. A choir effect can make a refrain hymn like. That can be devastating when the lyric is bleak.
Musical Alignment With Lyrics
Lyrics and music should point the same way. If the guitar progression moves toward resolution, your lyric should either accept that resolution or resist it. Dissonance and unresolved chords work well with themes of lingering despair. Slow tempos allow for long drawn vowels and tendrils of atmosphere. Faster tempos can convey panic and racing thoughts. Choose tempo to match the internal time of the lyric.
Instrumentation choices matter too. Use reverb and delay to create distance. Use cold tremolo to paint winter landscapes. A bass tone that is muddy and present can make the lyric feel grounded. Consider using field recordings like rain or a distant train to add realism. Again be careful. Use environmental sounds to enhance mood not to prescribe action.
Editing for Ethics and Impact
Editing a lyric about suicidal content is as much ethical work as craft work. Run these checks
- Replace any line that presents suicide as heroic or the only solution.
- Remove procedural detail and vivid descriptions of the act itself.
- Keep the focus on emotion and consequence rather than method.
- Consider adding a line that acknowledges shared pain or the search for help to avoid glamorization.
A small edit can change the narrative. Instead of the lyric that says I wanted to end it all because nothing mattered, try a line that says I wanted the noise to stop even for a moment. The first line asserts an irreversible action the second line expresses acute desire for relief. The second is easier for listeners to hold and for the lyric to live inside without instructing anyone.
Before and After Line Examples
These rewrites show how to keep weight and authenticity while removing glamorizing or instructive content.
Before: The rope felt like an old friend and I planned the step by step so nothing would go wrong.
After: The rope hangs in my head like a half learned tune. I cannot finish the chorus.
Before: I slit my wrists and watched the room bloom red in slow motion.
After: The room learned the color of waiting. I watched it back like someone I used to know.
Before: I swallowed pills and waited on the floor until it all faded.
After: I swallowed silence the way some swallow coffee. It sat heavy and unclear in my chest.
Notice the after lines keep despair and specificity of feeling but remove graphic action and method. They preserve poetic power and allow room for listener empathy instead of instruction.
Exercises and Prompts
These drills get you unstuck without funneling you into cliche.
- Object Inventory. Set a timer for ten minutes. Write five lines about a small object in the room. Make the object take on emotional weight. Example. A chipped mug collects frost like a small shrine.
- Weather Transfer. Pick a weather image. For ten minutes write metaphors connecting weather to bodily sensation. Rain as memory. Black sky as a lid. Keep only the lines that feel fresh.
- Character Monologue. Invent a person three sentences in. Give them one secret regret. Write a monologue as that person for eight minutes. Use third person for safety if you are writing from true pain.
- Refrain Drill. Write one short line you can repeat. Use it as a chorus and write three different verses that change its meaning when it returns.
Collaboration and Band Dynamics
When you bring dark material to bandmates be transparent. Explain the emotional aim and any boundaries. If a lyric feels too raw, ask for a neutral observer. Producers can help dial vocal delivery so the words land safely. During rehearsals practice delivering lines as an actor without collapsing into actual panic. That is healthy for your voice and your mental state.
Real world scenario. You have a close friend in the band who has history with self harm. You want to perform a song that mirrors their experience. Talk to them privately. Ask how they feel about the lyric. Consider options such as changing a line, issuing a content advisory at the show, or dedicating the song to awareness and resources. Communication is not censorship. It is care and smart art making.
Publishing and Release Considerations
When releasing music with suicidal themes think about the packaging and the message. Streaming platforms sometimes restrict graphic content. Include a short advisory in the metadata and in the album notes. Provide links to crisis resources. Consider a lyric video that does not romanticize the act and an artist statement explaining your intent. Press interviews can amplify dangerous messaging if handled poorly. Prepare talking points that frame the song as exploration and not instruction.
Mental Health and Aftercare for Writers
Writing about heavy pain is draining. After a session, take care of yourself. That can mean calling a friend, stepping outside, doing a grounding exercise like naming five things you can see, or simply having coffee and music that feels neutral or positive. If you notice that writing makes your suicidal thoughts stronger or more detailed, stop and reach out to a mental health professional. Writing is not worth your life.
If you are creating art from trauma consider working with a therapist who understands creative work. They can help you process material safely and help you decide how much to reveal publicly. Some artists keep two notebooks, one for private processing and one for public lyrics. That practice creates a boundary that keeps honesty from turning into danger.
Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them
- Mistake: Using suicide as a cheap prop. Fix: Commit to depth by focusing on emotional truth and consequence rather than shock value.
- Mistake: Being vague and cliché. Fix: Use small concrete details that suggest a life not a trope.
- Mistake: Graphic imagery that reads like instruction. Fix: Replace method with sensation and aftermath that focuses on human cost.
- Mistake: No context for listeners. Fix: Add a content advisory and resource links with the release.
Legal and Platform Notes
Different countries and platforms have rules about self harm content. Streaming services may remove content that appears to facilitate self harm or that is excessively graphic. When in doubt, consult platform guidelines and err on the side of caution. Including trigger warnings and resource links is not only ethical it reduces the risk of takedown and shows you respect your audience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it exploitative to write about suicide
Not necessarily. Many artists write responsibly about harm as a way to process or to build empathy. Exploitation happens when you use another person suffering as mere decoration or when you glamorize the act. Keep your work rooted in human consequences and avoid sensationalism. Be transparent about your intent.
How do I keep lyrics raw without triggering listeners
Focus on sensory detail and emotional truth rather than procedural description. Use content advisories and provide resource links. Consider writing from metaphor and character distance. These steps maintain authenticity while reducing direct harm.
Should I put trigger warnings on my releases
Yes. A short advisory on streaming pages, social posts, and physical packaging is considerate. Something like Content advisory. Themes of severe depression and suicide. Support resources linked in the description. This lets listeners opt in and shows you take their wellbeing seriously.
Can I write these lyrics if I have suicidal thoughts
Many people use art to process thoughts. If writing helps you cope and does not increase risk it can be therapeutic. If you notice writing intensifies plans or gives you more detail you might act on, stop and contact a mental health professional. Always prioritize your safety. Seek immediate help if you feel you might act on those thoughts.
How literal should black metal lyrics be
Literal lyrics can be powerful but metaphor often hits harder and lasts longer. Black metal has a tradition of nature metaphors and abstract phrasing. Use both literal and figurative language to create layers for listeners to unpack. That makes your lyric rewarding on repeated listens.
Resources if You Are in Crisis
If you are in the United States call or text 988 for the suicide and crisis lifeline. If you are in the United Kingdom contact Samaritans at 116 123. In many countries you can find a local hotline through the nearest hospital or mental health service. If you are unsure where to look try online searches for national suicide prevention hotline plus your country name. If you are in immediate danger call local emergency services. Reach out to friends or family. You do not have to carry this alone.
