How to Write Deathgrind Songs

You want songs that make people nod their heads like they are breaking an industrial ceiling fan. You want riffs that feel like being shoved through a wall and vocal parts that sound like a monster with a knapsack of revenge. Deathgrind is the lovechild of death metal and grindcore. It pairs the speed and short song structure of grindcore with the low end brutality and technical bite of death metal. This guide turns that chaos into a repeatable method.

Everything here is written for artists who want brutal results without pretending to be tortured. You will get practical riff strategies, drum patterns, vocal approaches, lyrical themes, arrangement templates, production tips, and concrete exercises. We will explain jargon and acronyms so you do not need to guess what your producer is shouting. By the end you will know how to write a deathgrind track that slams on first listen and earns replay respect.

What Is Deathgrind

Deathgrind blends two heavy forms. Death metal is built on low tuning, growled vocals, complex riffing, and dense production. Grindcore comes from punk energy, hyper speed, very short songs, and a tendency to thrash through ideas. Deathgrind takes the intensity of grindcore and adds the weight and teeth of death metal. The result is fast, brutal, sometimes technical, and often quite short. Songs can be under a minute or run three minutes when the band lets the idea breathe.

Real life scenario

• Your neighbor texts you at two a.m. after your rehearsal. They do not ask for a refund. They ask for earplugs and a playlist.

Core Elements of a Deathgrind Song

• Speed and precision played at high tempo. That is the engine.
• Low tuned guitars and bass for body and crushing weight.
• Blast beats on drums. We will explain what that means.
• Short hostile arrangements with sharp transitions and little nostalgia for long repeated sections.
• Guttural vocals with occasional high screams or pig squeals for contrast.
• Riff based writing where each riff is a small weapon that pushes the song forward.

Key Terms and Acronyms Explained

We will explain the usual scary sounding terms so they are useful not mysterious.

• BPM stands for beats per minute. It is how you measure tempo. Grindy sections are often between 220 and 320 BPM. Death metal parts can be lower and heavier at 140 to 190 BPM.
• Blast beat is a drum pattern where snare and kick alternate or combine rapidly with the hi hat or ride. It creates a wall of percussion that drives the song forward.
• Tremolo picking means picking the same note rapidly with alternate picking. It creates a buzzing continuous tone that works well for fast riffs.
• Guttural means low, throaty vocals. These vocals come from using the false vocal cords and controlled breath, not throat damage. You will get technique tips.
• DAW is a digital audio workstation. It is the software you use to record and edit. Examples are Reaper, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, and Logic Pro.
• EQ is equalizer. It shapes frequency balance. You will EQ to make the guitars cut and the kick drum hit without muddying the bass.

Decide Your Deathgrind Identity

Before you write riffs decide what kind of brutality you want. Are you a technical deathgrind band that loves odd time stabs and breakneck fills? Are you a grindcore leaning band that writes micro songs and delivers a visceral hit then moves on? Your identity will guide tempo choices, riff complexity, and song length. Write a one sentence band identity like you would a dating app bio. Short and dreadful beats long and indecisive.

Identity example sentences

• We are a sprinting bulldozer that likes tremolo and quick stops.
• We are a twisted clockmaker with abrupt tempo changes and surgical grooves.

Song Structure Options for Deathgrind

Deathgrind does not follow verse chorus verse structures like pop. Keep the architecture simple and brutal. Here are three common arrangement templates you can steal.

Template A Short Strike

• Intro riff 8 to 16 bars
• Main blast section 16 to 32 bars
• Bridge with slowdown or breakdown 8 to 12 bars
• Return to main blast 8 bars
• Stop

This is your two minute sprint. It lands hard and ends when it still hurts.

Template B Dynamic Crush

• Intro motif 8 bars
• Riff A heavy and mid tempo 16 bars
• Riff B fast with tremolo and blast beat 16 to 32 bars
• Small solo or lead motif 8 bars
• Final blast with micro variations 16 bars

Use this when you want a little room to breathe and show technical chops.

Template C Episodic Onslaught

• Multiple short motifs 8 bars each
• Contrast sections with differing tempos
• One extended breakdown to change dynamic
• Return with a combined riff that merges motifs

This suits bands that like narrative movement inside the song without settling into a chorus.

Tempo and Groove Choices

Tempo defines mood. If you live for pure violence aim for 240 to 300 BPM in blast sections. That tempo feels relentless and gives little space to breathe. If you want weight and groove aim for 160 to 190 BPM in the heavy riffs, and then break into higher BPM for blast parts. Mixing tempo ranges in the same song is a classic deathgrind move. The change from heavy stomp to violent blur makes the song feel like a punch followed by a sprint.

Real life scenario

• You write a riff at 170 BPM that makes the room nod. Then you slap on a blast beat at 260 BPM. When listeners hit the car stereo they think the drummer cloned themselves.

Guitars and Riff Writing

Deathgrind riffs are small units that attack, retreat, and change. Think in sentences rather than paragraphs. Each riff should have a clear attack, a small development, and a cadence that either resolves or leads to a new attack.

Tuning and Tone

Low tuning gives the riffs weight. Drop C, drop B, or seven string tuning are common. Drop tuning allows power chords with one finger while keeping the riff tight under high speed. The exact tuning depends on your guitar, amp, and vocal key. Lower tuning helps vocals to sound massive without shouting into the stratosphere.

Tone chain basics

• High gain amp or amp sim with tight low end control
• Use a scooped mid if you want a modern wall but keep some mid presence for clarity
• High string gauge stabilizes tension when tuning very low

Riff Recipes You Can Use Now

1. Tremolo and Chromatic Stab. Start on the low open string with tremolo picking. Follow with a chromatic walk up two frets and land on a power chord for two staccato hits.
2. Palm muted gallop. Palm mute the low string with a sixteenth note pattern and punch the chord on the downbeat every fourth hit. This creates a machine gun rhythm with a slam.
3. Syncopated break. Play a blunt power chord on beat one then add an off beat snare aligned syncopation. Use this to create tension before a blast.
4. Harmonic squeal. Insert a pinch harmonic as a signature scream on the second bar. It is a character sound listeners recall.

Example riff writing drill

• Set a metronome to 200 BPM
• Play four bars of a palm muted pattern on the low string
• Add two bars of tremolo picking up a minor third
• End with a two bar chromatic phrase that resolves to a heavy chord
• Repeat and vary dynamics or note lengths

Drums and Blast Beats

Drummers drive deathgrind. Here are the basics plus practical tips.

Blast beat varieties

• Traditional blast beat where snare hits on each quarter or eighth and the kick matches the snare. It is steady and relentless.
• Machine gun blast where kick hits are constant and snare punctuates with off beat accents. It sounds like an automatic weapon.
• Bomb blast where double bass on the kick provides low end weight and snare acts as the high engine. This is common in death metal influenced parts.

Real life scenario

• Program a drum loop in your DAW with alternating snare and kick at 280 BPM. Play your tremolo riff with it. If the riff feels lost, widen the guitar tone or lower the kick tune so the drums and guitars do not fight.

Vocals That Cut Through the Cage

Vocals in deathgrind are about attack and texture. Growls, snarls, and high screams work when used with intention. Learn technique before trying to sound like a boar in a blender.

Vocal techniques explained

• Low growl uses false vocal cords and breath support. Think of the sound coming from the chest and upper stomach, not the throat. This protects your voice.
• Squeal or pig squeal uses a mix of throat and mouth shaping. It is an accent, not an entire verse technique.
• Screaming should use the fold edges safely. Many vocalists train with a coach or online resources to avoid damage.

Practice plan for safe increase

1. Warm up with five minutes of breathing exercises and gentle hums.
2. Try sustained low tones at comfortable volume. Hold for five seconds and breathe.
3. Move to short repeated growls at low volume. Gradually increase intensity while staying pain free.
4. Record practice sessions. Your ear picks signs of strain before your throat feels damaged.

Lyrics and Themes

Deathgrind lyrics vary from dark social commentary to gore and absurd surrealism. Decide your angle and keep the language concise. Short songs demand purpose. Give listeners a single image or punchline they can remember.

Theme ideas with real life spice

• Machine uprising metaphors about burnout at a coffee shop job
• Urban decay told through one concrete object like a broken subway turnstile
• Dark humor about online arguments and cancel culture
• Personal collapse and recovery portrayed as an excavation scene

Example approach

Instead of writing a three paragraph rant about how bad society is, zoom into one scene. Describe a cashier scanning a barcode that reads your regrets. Make the image visceral, then let the music do the cinematic expansion.

Arrangement Tips That Keep Impact

Keep your songs dynamic. Vary texture to make heavy parts hit harder. Use silence strategically. A full stop before a blast section forces the listener to lean forward. Overdoing repetition with identical riffs makes even heavy things boring.

• Use a thin intro with a hook then pile the instruments for the blast.
• Create micro breaks where bass and vocals carry a bar before the band returns.
• End with an unresolved cadence or a sudden stop to leave the listener hanging.

Production and Mixing for Maximum Crush

Production can kill or elevate deathgrind. The trick is clarity under chaos. Your mix should let the low end breathe while giving high transient detail to snare and picks. Here is a practical chain you can use in your DAW.

Basic production checklist

1. Record clean takes. Tight performances reduce the need for time editing which can sap feel.
2. Guitar editing. Align the picks or keep some human timing for life. For blast sections you want precision. For stomps you want groove.
3. Drum sample augmentation. Blend real kit hits with samples for snap. Use low end samples for kick and bright samples for snare to cut through guitars.
4. Bass treatment. Distort the bass slightly and blend with a clean sub to keep the low end solid on small speakers.
5. Vocal chain. Use compression, a de esser if needed, subtle saturation, and a little reverb or room for dimension. Too much reverb on fast vocals muddies the words.
6. EQ decisions. Carve low mids on guitars around 250 to 400 Hz to avoid boom. Boost around 2 to 4 kHz for pick attack. Cut boxy frequencies on vocals if they compete.
7. Mastering safety. Keep dynamic range for punch. Do not squash everything into lifelessness. Use limiting to control peaks but leave transients audible.

Common production traps and quick fixes

• Guitars muddying the low end. Fix by carving space using EQ and by tightening the kick and bass relationship.
• Snare lost in blast. Layer a bright sample with the snare and sidechain the guitar transient slightly if needed.
• Vocals buried. Cut guitars in the vocal frequency range momentarily during vocal lines using automation.

Practice and Writing Exercises

Stop waiting for inspiration. Write with intention using these drills.

The 90 Second Riff Drill

1. Set a timer for ninety seconds
2. Play one low string and find a three note motif
3. Repeat the motif and vary one note on the second bar
4. Stop when the timer ends. Repeat the motif into a micro song structure using any template above

The Blast Then Stop Drill

1. Program or play a short blast beat for eight bars
2. Write a two bar guitar phrase that interrupts the blast with a palm muted groove
3. Alternate these two ideas for a thirty second loop and then write a bridge that flips the tempo

The Vocal Tag

1. Write one line of lyric that is a visceral image
2. Repeat it at the end of your main riff like a tag
3. Record multiple variants of that line with different vocal textures

Collaboration Tips for Bands

Deathgrind thrives on tight performance. Use small group rules to stay productive.

• Record rehearsal takes so everyone hears actual timing issues rather than imagined ones
• Use tempo maps in your DAW so everyone practices against the same grid when needed
• Assign one person to manage the arrangement map so sessions do not run in loops
• Bring demos to rehearsal with a guide drum track rather than hashing out ideas from scratch each time

Common Mistakes and Fixes

• Too much random speed. Fix by adding clear riffs and cadences so listeners have orientation.
• Guitars and kick fighting. Fix by carving frequency space with EQ and tightening kick attack with transient shaping.
• Vocals sound the same across the song. Fix by using dynamic variation, doubling on key lines, and adding small clean or spoken parts for contrast.
• Song goes nowhere. Fix by planning one or two clear motif returns and a bridge that changes texture.

Finish Your Song With a Clean Workflow

1. Lock the main riff and tempo first
2. Record a click track and basic drum guide
3. Layer guitars and bass with clear note choices and tight editing
4. Record vocal passes in short bursts to keep intensity consistent
5. Mix with an emphasis on transient clarity and low end control
6. Get feedback from one trusted listener who knows heavy music and one who does not
7. Make two small changes and then stop

Songwriting Example Walkthrough

We will build a short deathgrind idea from scratch so you can follow the steps in real time.

1. Pick identity. We are a sprinting bulldozer with an industrial edge.
2. Choose tempo. Intro at 170 BPM, blast at 260 BPM.
3. Write riff. Open low string tremolo for four bars. Add a chromatic descent that lands on a heavy palm muted chord. Repeat with a pinch harmonic accent.
4. Drums. Use a half time groove for the intro. Switch to machine gun blast for the main section with snare accents on off beats.
5. Vocal. One line set as a tag. Keep it visceral. Record two passes, one low growl and one higher snarl for the final repeat.
6. Arrange. Intro 8 bars. Blast section 24 bars. Bridge stomp 8 bars. Final blast 12 bars. End with sudden stop.
7. Production. Use a tight guitar tone, layer a sub bass on the kick, and add a bright snare layer. Keep room reverb small to preserve clarity.

Now you have a track that could sit comfortably on a deathgrind EP next to other short assaults without sounding amateur.

How to Get Better Fast

• Play with drummers who can maintain consistent blast tempos. Timing defines credibility in this genre.
• Listen actively to classic death metal and seminal grindcore. Transcribe short phrases and learn why they work.
• Record everything. Your phone voice memo can capture a riff that becomes a full song.
• Practice vocals safely and often. Health equals longevity in the scene.

Action Plan You Can Use Right Now

1. Decide your band identity in one sharp sentence
2. Set a tempo plan with a low BPM for heavy parts and a higher BPM for blasts
3. Write three riff ideas in a single hour using the 90 second riff drill
4. Map a short structure using Template A or B
5. Record a rough demo with a drum machine and one guitar take
6. List three things you can improve and apply them the next practice

Deathgrind FAQ

What tempo should I use for deathgrind songs

There is no single tempo. Use low BPM ranges for heavy groove and much higher BPM for blast sections. Common combos are 160 to 180 BPM for heavy riffs and 240 to 300 BPM for blasts. Experiment with what feels heavy and what sounds frantic while keeping playability in mind.

How do I get a tight guitar tone for fast riffs

Start with a stable tuning and heavier strings for tension. Use tight amp settings with controlled low end. Cut muddy mid frequencies around 250 to 400 Hz. Add attack around 2 to 4 kHz. Layer a tight DI or amp sim under the main tracked guitar for definition and then blend real amp takes for character.

Can I program drums for deathgrind

Yes. Programmed drums are common and can sound convincing when humanized. Use subtle velocity variation and small timing offsets to avoid robotic feel. Layer real samples with synthetic samples for transient snap. If possible, bring a real drummer in for final takes to get natural dynamics.

How do I record guttural vocals without damage

Warm up with breathing and hums. Use proper breath support from the diaphragm and avoid pushing from the throat. Keep sessions short and rest your voice. Consider working with a vocal coach who specializes in extreme techniques. Record multiple short takes rather than long screams so you do not strain.

What is the ideal song length for deathgrind

Song length ranges widely. Many deathgrind tracks are under two minutes. That is fine. The goal is to make every second count. If you have an idea that needs more time to develop and it remains brutal, let it breathe. Shorter tracks often demand sharper writing discipline.

How do I mix blast beats without muddying the guitars

Use EQ to carve complementary frequency spaces. Tighten the guitar low mids and give kick space with a slight boost at the fundamental. Use transient shaping on the snare for the snap and compress the drum bus enough to glue but not to flatten. Sidechain guitars subtly off the snare transients if they are colliding.

What are common songwriting mistakes in deathgrind

Common mistakes include random speed without structure, guitars and kick fighting for space, and vocals that have no dynamics. Fix these by planning motif returns, carving frequency space in the mix, and adding vocal variation. A focused idea played well beats a dozen flashy parts that do not connect.