How to Write Death Metal Songs

You want something brutal, memorable and real enough to make your neighbors reconsider their life choices. Death metal is an honest beast. It wants riffs that feel like an avalanche, drums that act like machine gun fire, vocals that sound like a demon reading your last text and lyrics that hit like a revelation or a dare. This guide hands you the tools and the attitude to write death metal songs that actually land with fans and not just other metal heads in your basement.

Everything here is written for busy creatives who want results. You will find actionable workflows, riff crafting exercises, drum patterns to steal and adapt, vocal techniques explained without scary medical terms, lyric approaches that avoid cliche and production notes for both bedroom studios and proper studios. We explain every acronym so you are never left guessing. Expect real life scenarios so you see how to apply each idea immediately.

What Is Death Metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that emphasizes aggression, speed, density and intensity. It grew from thrash and extreme metal scenes in the late 1980s. Key elements are low and dropped guitar tuning, fast and precise drums, complex and riff driven guitar work, and harsh vocals. Lyrically death metal covers dark themes like mortality, existential dread, myth, misanthropy and sometimes gore. That last item can feel gross but it is often metaphor or theatrical imagery rather than a literal diary.

Terms you will see and how they matter

• BPM means beats per minute. It tells you tempo. Death metal can range from moderate tempos to extreme tempos over 250 BPM in the blast sections.
• DI stands for direct input. It is when you record a guitar or bass signal directly into a recording device instead of recording an amp. You can reamp later. Reamping means sending that DI signal into an amp or amp simulator to shape tone.
• DAW means digital audio workstation. This is the software where you record, edit and mix. Examples are Reaper, Pro Tools, Logic and Ableton Live.
• EQ means equalization. It is the tool you use to remove or boost frequency ranges. Think of it as the sculpting knife for your sound.
• LUFS stands for loudness units relative to full scale. Mastering engineers use it to measure perceived loudness. You want a loud record without squashing dynamics into paste.

Core Ingredients of a Death Metal Song

• Riffs are the currency. A good riff is a repeating musical idea that bites and does not release until it must. Riffs can be simple or technical but they must hook.
• Rhythm and drums provide momentum. Double bass work and blast beats are common. Syncopation and metric changes keep the listener engaged.
• Vocal delivery ranges from low guttural growls to high screams. The performance must serve the music and the lyrics.
• Song structure can be linear, cyclical or progressive. Death metal thrives on contrast. Calm for menace then crush for release.
• Atmosphere created with guitars, bass tone, samples or synths gives your song its personality and prevents everything from sounding like a demo tape.

Step By Step Songwriting Workflow

Here is a repeatable process that takes you from idea to usable demo. Use this whether you write alone or in a band.

1. Start with a riff seed. Pick one or two riff ideas on guitar or bass. Record them rough to your phone so you do not forget anything. Keep the riff looped for at least a minute and play with variations.
2. Choose your tempo. Decide what BPM feels right for the riff. Try three tempos and pick the one where the riff breathes. A slower tempo can make it heavier. A faster tempo makes it urgent.
3. Add drums. Program or play a basic drum pattern to find the pocket. Use a simple kick and snare pattern first. Then escalate to double bass and blast fills where appropriate.
4. Find a vocal approach. Hum a melody or growl on the riff. You may find a rhythmic vocal phrasing that fits like a glove. Record guide vocals even if they are nonsense syllables.
5. Structure the song. Use sections that contrast. Common approaches are riff sequence, verse, chorus and breakdown. Think of the chorus as the riff that hits hardest and is easiest to recall.
6. Write lyrics aligned to rhythm. Death metal lyrics often simulate spoken prosody. Place stressed words on beats where the drums hit hard. Make imagery concrete. Use a scene or a verb to give gravity.
7. Refine and rehearse. Tighten transitions. Practice with a metronome or a click. Record a rehearsal demo and listen back critically.

Guitar Riffs That Actually Work

Riffs are where listeners decide whether you matter. A great riff is easy to hum but hard to forget. Here are riff types and how to write them.

Power chord smack

Use power chords for simple crushing motion. Play with palm muting to get a percussive feel. Palm mute means resting the side of your palm against the strings near the bridge to cut sustain. Imagine someone knocking on a thick door and then kicking it open. That is the palette you are working with.

Tremolo picked runs

Tremolo picking is picking a single note repeatedly at speed. It creates a wave of tension. Use it for intros and passages where you want tension without chord changes. Pair it with dissonant intervals like minor second for horror textures.

Chromatic march

Chromatic movement uses adjacent notes like a walk rather than diatonic scales. It sounds mechanical and ominous. Try sliding down chromatic lines while the bass holds a drone. Think of a giant on a conveyor belt.

Harmonic pinch

Play harmonic squeals and pinch harmonics to add personality. Pinch harmonics are produced by the picking hand lightly touching the string after the pick stroke to create a squeal. Use them as punctuation marks like exclamation points in a sentence.

Riff writing exercise

1. Pick a tuning. Common death metal tunings are drop C or drop B. Drop tuning means the lowest string is tuned lower. This gives extra low weight and makes power chords easy with one finger across strings.
2. Record one four bar riff. Repeat it eight times while changing nothing else. Now change one beat at bar five. That change becomes your transition motif.
3. Take the motif and write a counter riff that plays on different strings. Move them together and apart. Listen for the combination that gives you a pendulum feel.

Choosing Tuning and Tone

Tuning matters. Lower tunings give weight but can smudge clarity if the strings are too loose. Find a balance that gives low end without turning everything into mush.

• Standard low options: drop C, drop B and C standard. Lower tuning allows heavier chords and faster single note riffs with less hand movement.
• String gauge matters. Heavier gauges keep the strings tight when tuned low. Think of gauge like thickness. Thicker strings hold pitch better when tuned down.
• Amp settings. Use high gain without glaze. Too much mids scoop and you lose bite. Start with mids slightly scooped then add presence and attack. Trust your ears.

Real life scenario

You tune to drop C to get a thicker bottom. Your riff sounds like a truck. But when you play with a drummer the kick and bass compete. Fix by tightening the kick EQ around 60 to 100 Hertz and scooping the guitar at the same band slightly. The result is not losing power but creating space for each element to punch.

Drums That Kill

Drums define death metal energy. Drummers either lock the band in or let it float. Learn patterns and how to use them for songs.

Blast beats

Blast beat is a rapid alternation between kick, snare and cymbal that creates a continuous curtain of sound. There are variations like the traditional blast, the bomb blast and the machine gun blast. If programmed poorly it will sound fake. If performed poorly it will sound sloppy. Use it to build terror or release after a slower heavy riff.

Double bass

Double bass means rapid kick drum work on both feet. It is the heartbeat for many death metal sections. Consistency matters more than speed. Play to a metronome and build stamina slowly. If you binge practice you will burn your calves and your drummer will swear at you.

Groove and pocket

Death metal is not just speed. Groove is the place where the band breathes together. Use fills sparingly to maintain momentum. A well placed single bar fill can feel like a knife in the right place. Count beats out loud when writing fills. If you cannot clap the rhythm the band will not lock in live.

Vocals: Growls, Screams and Delivery

Vocal technique in death metal is its own craft. There are safe ways to learn harsh vocals without killing your throat.

Learn the support

All healthy harsh vocal techniques use breath support rather than sheer throat force. Imagine pushing the sound from your belly like fog from a canister. Working with a vocal coach helps. If that is not possible, watch reputable tutorials and warm up with breathing exercises. If it hurts you are doing it wrong. Pain is the medical red flag. Stop and rest.

Types of death metal vocal delivery

• Guttural low growls come from a relaxed throat cavity and a pushed but not strained breath. Think caveman reading tragedy.
• Mid range rasps sit above growls but below shrieks. They often carry more words and rhythmic clarity.
• High screams are thin and cutting. Use them for peaks and to create contrast with the low parts.

Real life scenario

You want to record vocals at home. Use a cheap dynamic microphone like an SM57 or a streaming mic. Put a towel over a clothes rack behind you to reduce reflections. Record three takes and listen back. If the second take is the only one without throat pain choose that one. That is your baseline. Never accept pain for authenticity.

Lyrics That Hit Without Clich

Death metal lyrics can be cinematic or introspective. Fans appreciate specificity rather than vague shouting. Here are approaches you can use.

Scene writing

Write a short scene with sensory details. Instead of writing about death write a scene where a clock runs backwards while someone counts wrong. Concrete details create vividness.

Metaphor and angle

Pick a metaphor and stick to it. If your song is about bureaucracy as a monster use office imagery across the verses. That creates cohesion and avoids the thrown together gore list.

Economy of words

Death metal often favors rhythm over poetic sentences. Use short lines and place strong syllables on heavy beats. Read your lines like you will vocally perform them. If they sound clumsy when spoken they will sound worse sung.

Example lyric approach

Title

Paper Tomb

Verse

Staples bite through my palm. Filing cabinets hum like liver. My name stamped and folded like shame.

Chorus

Sign here to die. Stamp here to sleep. Paper tomb for a living breed.

Song Structure That Works

Death metal songs can be linear and progressive or compact and recurring. The structure should serve the emotional arc. Here are a few templates.

Template A: Classic assault

• Intro riff
• Verse one
• Chorus
• Verse two
• Chorus
• Bridge or breakdown
• Final chorus repeated

Template B: Progressive narrative

• Atmospheric intro
• Riff suite one
• Slow section with narrative vocals
• Explosive return riff
• Extended instrumental passage
• Climactic riff and vocal scare

Use bridges and breakdowns to change pace. Breakdowns are slower heavy parts designed for impact. In a live setting breakdowns are where pits happen. Make them memorable and not just a copy of the chorus at half speed.

Arrangement and Dynamics

Arrangement prevents fatigue. If everything is loud all the time the listener will tune out. Use quiet and sparse sections to make the heavy parts feel heavier.

• Introduce a clean guitar or synth bed for contrast before a crushing riff returns.
• Use vocal whispers or spoken words to set up a chorus. That makes the next entrance dramatic.
• Automate or mute elements for impact. Sometimes removing guitars for one bar magnifies the drum and vocal entry that follows.

Recording and Production Tips

You can get a heavy sound in a small studio if you make smart choices. Here are priorities.

Guitars

• Record DI along with your amp. The DI gives you options later if you need to reamp or use amp sims.
• Double track rhythm guitars and pan left and right for width. Consider quadruple tracking for thick walls of sound. If you cannot record four takes, duplicate and slightly detune or time shift the doubles for a believable stereo spread.
• Use cabinet impulse responses or real cabs for authentic tone. If you use amp sims, tweak the mic placement and EQ to avoid digital sheen.

Bass

Bass must be present. Record both DI and amp. Blend them. Use distortion or saturation on the DI to make the bass cut through while the amp provides low end warmth.

Drums

Capture the kick with a dedicated mic for attack and another for low bloom if you can. Use samples sparingly to even out blast sections. If your drummer is great do not replace everything with samples. Human feel matters.

Vocals

Record several takes. Punch in phrases to keep energy. Use slight compression while tracking to prevent clipping but reserve major compression for mixing.

Mixing tips

• Cut mud around 200 to 500 Hertz in guitars if the sound is boxy. Boost presence at 2 to 5 Kilohertz for bite. Listen in mono to check phase and power.
• Sidechain the bass to the kick if clashing occurs. Sidechain means reducing one instrument briefly when another plays so both can be heard.
• Use parallel compression on drums to keep transients lively while raising body.
• Limit the master gently to reach loudness targets. Avoid smashing dynamics into a flat brick wall.

Mix Checklist Before You Call It Done

1. Guitars are thick and not mushy
2. Bass is present and locked with kick
3. Vocals cut through clearly without burying drums
4. Transients are alive and not squashed
5. Master file peaks below 0 decibels and LUFS sits in a reasonable range for streaming

Mastering and Loudness

Mastering is the final polish. If you are mastering yourself aim for competitive loudness but keep dynamics. For most modern metal on streaming platforms aim for around minus 8 to minus 10 LUFS for a loud feel without a brick wall. If you send to a mastering engineer provide both your mixed stereo file and notes on what you want changed. A good mastering engineer will offer a technical and artistic pass.

Practice Routines for Songwriters

Consistency beats long rare sessions. Here are exercises tailored to death metal songwriters.

• Riff jam. Ten minutes a day. Play a riff and pull one new variation from it. Record the best one.
• Blast stamina. Drummers should do two minute small window blast sets at comfortable tempo and increase by 2 BPM each week.
• Vocal support. Do breathing drills and vowel exercises for ten minutes. Sing clean for ten minutes afterwards to balance the muscles.
• Lyric flash. Write a vivid two line image in five minutes. Use object and sensory detail only.

Staging and Live Considerations

Translating your record to the stage is an art. Here are practical tips that will make the show feel professional.

• Have a set that mixes high energy sections with a few spaces for crowd interaction. The audience needs time to scream back else they pass out.
• Use an in ear monitoring mix for better timing. This is abbreviated as IEM. It keeps the band tight and reduces stage volume chaos.
• Use samples sparingly to recreate atmospheric parts. Make sure the sampler is locked to the tempo or you will have timing disasters.

How To Avoid Cliches and Sound Original

There are death metal cliches that work because they are effective. The trick is to not lean on them as a crutch. Instead use one cliché per song as an anchor then twist the context.

Real life scenario

Your band avoids the typical gore imagery. Instead write about the slow bureaucratic death of a small company. You get dark irony with less gore and more commentary. Fans will appreciate the brain as well as the teeth.

Collaboration and Band Writing

Writing as a band can be chaotic. Set rules early and use a few organizing habits.

• Bring one idea per person to rehearsal. Pitch in under two minutes. Kill the ones that do not spark quickly.
• Record rehearsal run throughs. The demo helps you remember what actually worked when adrenaline was high.
• Use a shared folder for stems and DI files so the bassist and producer can experiment at home.

Gear On A Budget

You do not need a room sized amp to make death metal. Here are budget priorities.

• Invest in sturdy strings and the right gauges for low tuning.
• Buy a decent audio interface for clean DI recording. A four input interface is enough for a basic home studio.
• Use quality headphones for mixing. Cheap cans ruin perception of low end.
• If you cannot record drums live, use programmed drums with realistic samples. Programmed drums can sound pro with careful velocity and humanization edits.

Copyright, Publishing and Getting Paid

Write songs and register them with a performing rights organization. In the United States that could be ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. Registration ensures you get paid when songs are played on radio or used in media. Upload to a distributor for streaming and collect mechanical royalties. If you do not do this you make music and then watch streaming numbers grow with nothing landing in your bank account. Register early and keep documentation for splits. Splits determine who owns what percentage of the song. If you write the riffs you deserve credit and payment for that work.

Real Life Songwriting Example Walkthrough

We will build a short song skeleton from scratch so you can see the process.

1. Riff idea Record a three note drop riff in drop C. Palm mute the first two notes and let the third ring. Loop it.
2. Tempo Try 120 BPM, 140 BPM and 160 BPM. 140 feels heavy and groovy. Keep it.
3. Drums Start with a simple double bass pattern on the riff. Add a snare on beats two and four. At bar nine introduce a two bar blast section at 180 BPM to create a surprise jolt.
4. Vocal idea Hum a low rhythmic chant that follows the riff accents. Record. The chant becomes the chorus hook.
5. Lyrics Write a two line chorus that fits the chant. Example chorus lines: Clock eats my wages. Teeth made of time. It is short and memorable.
6. Bridge Create a slower breakdown at 90 BPM with single low chord hits. Add a whispered vocal line to build dread. That whisper leads back into the final riff assault.
7. Demo Record all parts roughly. Mix levels so vocals and drums are clear. Send to the band for feedback.

Common Problems and Quick Fixes

• Problem Guitars sound muddy. Fix Cut the 200 to 400 Hertz range and add presence at 3 to 4 Kilohertz.
• Problem Drums do not hit. Fix Use parallel compression and layer a sample under the kick for consistent attack.
• Problem Vocals are unclear. Fix Move the vocal line to a less dense frequency range and use EQ to carve space for speech frequencies.
• Problem Song lacks direction. Fix Trim the parts that repeat material without adding new information and add a small contrast section in the middle.

Publishing And Promotion Tips For Modern Bands

Tune your release plan to attention spans. A single that is three minutes and aimed at streaming playlists performs better than a 12 minute epic as the first public delivery. Make teaser clips for social media. Create a short behind the scenes video of the riff writing process. Fans love authenticity. Use platform specific content for TikTok and Instagram reels. Even death metal thrives on bite sized authenticity.

Action Plan You Can Use Tonight

1. Pick your tuning and string gauge. Tune and adjust your guitar today.
2. Write one four bar riff and record it to your phone. Repeat it but change one beat at bar three.
3. Program or play a basic drum pattern to match the riff. Add a double bass lick or a one bar blast and see which you like more.
4. Hum a vocal hook for the riff and record it. Keep it to one short phrase that can be repeated as a chorus.
5. Write two lines of lyrics that are concrete and place stressed words on beats two and four. Test by speaking them out loud in time with the drums.
6. Send the rough demo to one trusted friend or bandmate asking them what line or moment they remember after one listen.