How to Write Electronicore Lyrics

You want lyrics that slam like a breakdown and sing like a stadium synth hook. Electronicore blends heavy music and electronic music. Your words need to survive being screamed, autotuned, chopped, and dropped into a heavy guitar wall. This guide gives you a complete workflow. You will learn how to choose themes, craft choruses that stick on the first listen, write verses that breathe, and survive a vocal chain that includes screams and glossy clean vocals.

Everything here is written for artists who want results fast. You will find templates, real world scenarios, line edits, and exercises that force you to ship songs. We explain every term so no reader needs a degree in music studies. Expect jokes, blunt truth, and a little attitude. That is how we write heavy and human lyrics.

What Is Electronicore

Electronicore is a genre that blends metalcore or post hardcore with electronic music. Metalcore is a mix of aggressive metal and hardcore punk. Post hardcore is similar but often more experimental with melody and dynamics. Electronic elements include synths, programmed drums, and EDM style drops. The vocal palette usually mixes screamed vocals with clean sung vocals. Bands that helped define the sound include Enter Shikari, Attack Attack, and Bring Me The Horizon in some of their phases. Newer bands and producers add trap beats, industrial textures, and pop sensibilities.

Put simply, electronicore is heavy music that also wants you to dance and sing along. That tension between violence and melody is exactly where the lyrics live. Your job is to be poetic enough to be meaningful and direct enough to be yelled at the top of a crowd's lungs.

Core Principles for Electronicore Lyrics

• One clear emotional promise per song. This is the single idea the listener can scream back on the first chorus.
• Two vocal textures only. Use the scream to puncture and the clean voice to make the hook. Keep roles clear.
• Concrete images beat vague emotion. Heavy music loves specifics that can be staged on a live show.
• Punchy phrasing that survives pitch shifting, autotune, and vocal chops.
• Rhythm first. Your words will be weapons and instruments at the same time.

Choose Your Core Promise

Before you write a single bar, write one line that states the emotional promise in plain speech. This is not your title. This is the heart. Examples are below.

• I am done forgiving you and I will make noise until I forget.
• We own the night because the world told us to be quiet.
• I miss who I was but I refuse to talk about it sober.

Turn that sentence into a title or a chorus anchor. Short is good. Direct is better. If you can imagine a handful of sweaty strangers screaming it at a show, you are close.

Understand Your Vocal Roles

Electronicore commonly uses two vocal roles. We will call them scream voice and clean voice. Screams deliver aggression and punctuation. Clean voice carries melody and the hook. Think of them like two characters in a play. They can trade lines, argue, or sing the same line with different textures. When you arrange lyrics, plan who says what and why.

Scream Voice

The scream is emotional punctuation. It works best on short lines, single words, or half lines. Keep syntax simple. Screams are less forgiving for complicated phrasing. Use them for rage, catharsis, and payoff. They are excellent at turning a private thought into a public command.

Example uses: the last line of a verse, the first line of a breakdown, the call before a drop, a chant that the crowd can answer back with.

Clean Voice

Clean vocals hold the melody and the chorus. They need vowels that are singable when processed with autotune or stacked with harmonies. Open vowels like ah, oh, ay and oo are friendly on chorus notes. Titles that sit on long vowels will stick better in memory and on streaming thumbnails.

Example uses: chorus, pre chorus, main hook, connective lines between screams.

Picking a Theme That Survives Intensity

Electronicore lyrics often revolve around identity, rebellion, social anxiety, technology, addiction, and toxic relationships. Themes should be big enough to feel universal and specific enough to feel lived. Avoid being abstract. Imagine a scene you can stage in a live video or recreate with a single prop on stage.

Relatable scenario

• Artist in a parking lot at 2 a m after a gig with sweat on the collar and a text from an ex that reads sorry. The song becomes a conversation between the artist and the phone. That phone is a prop and a symbol.

Structure That Works for Electronicore

Most songs in the genre use a hybrid of rock and electronic structures. Keep momentum and create moments to drop energy for impact.

Reliable form

• Intro hook
• Verse one
• Pre chorus
• Chorus
• Verse two
• Pre chorus
• Chorus
• Breakdown or drop
• Bridge or post chorus
• Final chorus with extra layer

Have at least two clear moments that the listener can latch onto. The chorus must be one. The electronic motif or a vocal tag can be the second.

Write a Chorus That Works Live and in Headphones

The chorus must be singable. It should also be resilient to production tricks such as heavy autotune, vocal chopping, and reverb tails. Use plain language and a strong rhythmic anchor. Put the title on the longest note or at a strong beat. Repeat it. Repeat it again.

Chorus recipe

1. State the core promise in one short sentence.
2. Repeat or paraphrase it for emphasis.
3. Add one image as consequence in the final line.

Example chorus

I light the city up so you can see me. I light the city up so you can see me. Watch the skyline burn while I learn to breathe.

That chorus is simple. It repeats the hook. It adds a cinematic image that a stage light can mimic. It is perfect for live shouting and for being the thumbnail on a streaming service with a repeating melodic tag.

Verse Writing That Prefers Scene Over Explanation

Verses tell the story. Each verse should add a new detail that deepens the chorus. Use objects and actions. Tell the scene. People remember images more than feelings. If you must say an emotion, pair it with a concrete object or a timestamp.

Before and after edits

Before: I feel broken and I miss you.

After: Your lighter sits on the dashboard like a grave candle at three a m.

The after line gives a camera shot. It also leaves space for the chorus to say the speaker is done forgiving. That contrast creates catharsis.

Pre Chorus and Build Lines That Push Toward the Drop

Pre chorus exists to tighten rhythm and increase tension. Use shorter words and push toward an unresolved cadence. The pre chorus should make the chorus feel inevitable. In electronicore the pre chorus can also be a place for half screamed lines that cut before the synth drop. Keep sentences short and vocal friendly.

Example pre chorus

Count the scars. Count the calls. One more fuck up and I will break the wall.

That pre chorus is rhythmic. It uses repetition to build. The last line promises release which can be the scream or the drop.

Breakdowns, Drops, and How Lyrics Behave There

Breakdown is a heavy rhythmic section common in metalcore. In electronicore a breakdown can be replaced or combined with an EDM style drop. Lyrics in these spots behave differently. They either become shouted one word tags or rhythmic chants that loop. Do not try to write long lines for a breakdown. Breakdowns favor syllabic aggression and call and response.

Good breakdown lyric tactics

• Single word commands that the crowd repeats.
• Short phrases that fit on kick and snare patterns.
• Syncopated chants that producers can chop and process as ear candy.

Example breakdown tag

Wake up. Tear down. Burn out. Rise up.

Each phrase can be screamed or processed and dropped into the beat. The crowd can say it back without needing a lyric screen.

Rhyme, Rhythm, and Prosody for Aggressive Music

Prosody is how words fit rhythm and melody. In electronicore, sharp prosody matters because processing will push words into new places. Always speak your lines out loud at performance volume. Mark the stressed syllable. Place the stress on a strong beat or on a sustained note for the chorus.

Rhyme choices

• Use internal rhymes and slant rhymes to keep lines fresh. Slant rhyme means similar sounds but not exact matches.
• Prefer consonant movement at the end of lines to give the mix clarity when guitars and synths sit together.
• Keep rhymes alive with short breaks. If the chorus uses heavy end rhymes, let the verse breathe with internal rhyme or none at all.

Prosody checklist

1. Speak the line at normal speed and mark stressed syllables.
2. Make sure strong words land on strong beats.
3. Avoid clunky consonant clusters before a long vowel in the chorus unless the vocalist thrives on grit.

Imagery That Reads Well on Stage

Electronicore lyrics translate to live visuals fast. Write for light cues, for a prop, or for a camera shot. This makes videos cheaper and shows more memorable.

Imagery examples

• A spray painted hoodie left in a crowd and found again.
• Smoke machines and an empty cigarette packet on a backstage table.
• A phone screen with twenty messages and one unread voice note.

Each of those is cheap to stage and strong on meaning. They feel lived. They also read well in a lyric video where the camera can pause on the object for a beat.

Titles That Stick

The title should be the chorus line or a standout tag. Short titles win. Think three words or fewer. If the title can be shouted by a fan walking past you at the merch table, you have gold.

Title examples

• Light It
• Static Heart
• City on Fire

Test your title by texting it to three friends. If at least two reply with a GIF, keep it. If you get a question, edit for clarity.

Write Faster With Drills

Speed produces decisions that feel honest. Use these timed drills to get lyrics down quickly.

• Object drill. Pick one object on your desk. Write four lines where the object appears and performs something. Five minutes.
• Two voice drill. Write a verse as a scream and a chorus as clean in ten minutes. Record both on your phone. Keep the chorus melody high and simple.
• Breakdown tag drill. Write eight one word or two word chants that could be looped. Ten minutes.

Topline Craft for Electronicore

Topline means the melody and the lyric together. Producers will hear your topline and either love it or ask for changes. When writing a topline, focus on mouth friendly shapes. Sing on vowels. Test the chorus melody on pure vowel sounds first. That reveals the catchiest gesture without being distracted by words.

1. Vowel pass. Hum or sing on ah oh oo for two minutes. Capture gestures you like.
2. Rhythm pass. Tap or clap the rhythm of your favorite parts. Count the syllables on strong beats.
3. Title anchor. Place the title on the most memorable gesture and give it a long note.
4. Prosody pass. Check stressed syllables. Align with beats.

Real Life Examples and Edits

Below are short before and after lines. These will show the edit process you can steal.

Before: You hurt me and left me in the dark.

After: Your footprints glow on my jacket light. I keep them like trophies of a war I lost at dawn.

Before: I am angry and I want revenge.

After: I bottle road noise and wear it to sleep. One day I will pour it over your front door and watch it bubble.

Before: I am sad about the past.

After: The voicemail plays ten times. I still rewind like it contains the cure.

Notice the pattern. Replace abstract feeling with sensory detail. Add an object. Give a micro action that makes the line stageable.

Production Awareness for Lyricists

You do not need to produce to write better lyrics. Still, knowing how production treats vocals makes your words survive the mix.

• Autotune can make subtle pitch slides sound robotic. If you want a raw human wobble, write a phrase that will be sung in a single breath and then record without heavy pitch correction.
• Vocal chops will slice syllables. Keep a few one syllable words in your chorus that can be used as chops later.
• Low end from guitars and synths can mask consonants. Put important words on vowels or double them with a synth line so they cut through.
• Use silence. One beat of space before a chorus title makes the drop feel larger and gives the crowd time to inhale.

Editing Passes You Must Run

Editing is the secret sauce. You will rewrite more than you write. Use these passes.

Crime scene edit

1. Underline every abstract word and replace with a concrete image.
2. Delete weak adjectives. Replace with a verb that hints at motion.
3. Add a time or place crumb in at least one line per verse.
4. Shorten any line that does not add new information.

Live test pass

Sing the chorus at rehearsal volume. If you need to shout to be heard, simplify the phrase. Record one phone demo and play it in a car. If you still know the title after a drive, you are good.

Collaborating With Producers and Vocalists

Collaboration is negotiation. Producers will rearrange your words for groove and effect. Vocalists will change phrasing for comfort. Protect the heart of the lyric by naming it in writing. Provide a one sentence brief with each submission that states the promise and the title. This reduces rewrites and passive aggressive emails.

Relatable scenario

You send a demo with a long chorus line that runs over a drop. The producer moves half the chorus into the pre chorus. They do this because the drop needs space. If your emotional promise is intact, accept the swap. If it breaks the hook, say why and suggest an alternate placement for the title.

Common Mistakes Electronicore Writers Make

• Too many images at once. Fix by choosing one object per verse and letting it breathe.
• Trying to be poetic instead of direct. Fix by asking if a sweaty crowd can chant the line. If not, rewrite.
• Overcomplicated syntax. Fix by simplifying sentences and keeping verbs up front.
• Letting the scream carry every line. Fix by using the scream as punctuation rather than explanation.
• Hiding the title deep. Fix by placing the title on a long note or a strong beat in the chorus.

Examples You Can Model

Here are full short templates that you can adapt. Each comes with a one line idea and a suggested vocal split. Clean means sung. Scream means screamed.

Example 1: City on Fire

Idea: Leaving a toxic scene and watching it burn metaphorically and literally.

Intro hook: Clean. Static on a synth. One line repeated as an earworm.

Verse 1: Clean. Describe a parking lot, an empty hoodie, a voicemail timestamp.

Pre chorus: Scream a line that indicates decision time.

Chorus: Clean. Title on a long note. Simple image repeated.

Breakdown: Scream tags. Crowd chants the title.

Lyrics sample

Verse

The cigarette pack keeps the receipts for promises you never kept. I find one in my shoe like a secret I cannot stomach.

Pre chorus

Scream: I am done counting favors that were never mine.

Chorus

Clean: City on fire, watch it fall. City on fire, you can burn it all. I light the skyline, I light the skyline, and I walk away with smoke on my hands.

Example 2: Static Heart

Idea: Technology as an emotional barrier and a source of noise.

Split: Verses clean, pre chorus half screamed, chorus clean with stacked harmonies, drop with vocal chops.

Lyrics sample

Verse

Your last text is a white noise station. I listen through static until I can almost hear the thing you never said.

Pre chorus

Scream: Turn the volume down on us.

Chorus

Clean: My static heart will not respond. My static heart will not respond. It blinks and waits for you to send a signal that will never come.

How to Finish a Song Fast

1. Lock the chorus first. If the chorus is weak the rest will struggle.
2. Draft two simple verses with one image each.
3. Write a pre chorus that tightens rhythm and points at the title.
4. Decide where the scream lives and mark it in the lyric sheet.
5. Record a bare bones demo with phone vocals and one synth loop. This is a blueprint more than a demo.
6. Play it to two people who will be honest. Ask specifically which line they remember. If it is the title you win.

Advanced Tactics

Call and response for crowds

Write a two line exchange where the clean voice sings a melodic phrase and the scream answers with a single word or a short phrase. This creates a live dynamic where the crowd can participate.

Layered meaning

Write a chorus line that can be read in two ways. One reading is personal. One reading is political or social. This gives the song replay value and makes lyric videos viral on social platforms where fans debate the real meaning.

Using processing as lyric punctuation

A vocal chop or a bit crushed vocal effect can act like punctuation. Write a short syllable that can be repeated and processed after a chorus line. The producer will loop it and it becomes the motivational tag of the song.

Lyric Checklist Before You Send to Producer

• Is the core promise written in one sentence and easy to say?
• Does the chorus have a clear title line on a strong beat or long note?
• Are the verses full of specific images and one object each?
• Are the screams used as punctuation and not as paragraphs?
• Will the chorus survive heavy processing and still be singable?
• Can the song be staged with one visual prop in a video or live set?

Electronicore Lyrics FAQ

What makes a good electronicore lyric

A good electronicore lyric has a single emotional promise, concrete imagery, a chorus that is singable when processed, and screams that hit like punctuation. The lyric must also be stageable. That means one or two props or visual cues make the song more dramatic live.

Do I need to write both scream and clean parts myself

Not always. If you are primarily a clean vocalist you can write scream tags and hand them to a screaming vocalist. If you are the screamer it is useful to draft melodic lines for the chorus even if another vocalist will sing them. Communicate the emotional center so everyone can deliver it.

How do I make my lyrics singable with autotune

Use open vowels on sustained chorus notes. Keep consonant clusters light before long vowels. Try singing the chorus through a cheap pitch correction plugin to test how it behaves. If a line turns into gibberish under heavy tuning, simplify the vowel shape or choose a different note.

How long should an electronicore song be

Two and a half to four and a half minutes is standard. Keep momentum. If the song repeats one idea for too long it will lose live energy. Deliver the first chorus by the minute mark and plan at least one textural break such as a drop or breakdown to reset energy.

Can electronicore lyrics be subtle

Yes. Subtlety works if the core promise is still clear. Many great songs whisper their meaning then scream the payoff. Subtle verses that build to a blunt chorus create emotional release. The key is to make sure the listener can find the anchor phrase when they need it.

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