How to Write Metal Lyrics

You want lyrics that punch through distortion and live in the pit. You want lines that fans shout back at shows and that make merch feel like a manifesto. Metal lyrics need weight, imagery, rhythm, and attitude. This guide gives you a brutal but usable workflow so you can write lyrics that match heavy riffs and violent drums without sounding like a high school diary or a fantasy novel gone wrong.

Everything here is written for musicians who care about real results. Expect practical prompts, edit passes, examples you can steal, and explanations of terms and acronyms so nothing feels like secret music school code. If you are on a van tour, in a dorm room at 3 a.m., or staring at a blank note on your phone because the riff is nasty but the words are not, this is for you.

What Makes Metal Lyrics Work

Metal is a mood plus an engine. The music provides an emotional temperature and a rhythmic machine. Lyrics must match both. Great metal lyrics do three things at once.

• They set a tone that can be angry, nihilistic, triumphant, ritualistic, dystopian, or tragic. Tone is the emotional filter.
• They create clear images so listeners can picture a scene. Metal loves strong visuals because extreme music pairs well with concrete imagery.
• They ride the rhythm of the riff and the vocal delivery. A line that is poetic but does not land on the beat will feel wrong when screamed or growled.

Think of lyrics as the front person for your song. They tell the crowd where to jump, what to chant, and what to feel. If the riff is a tank, lyrics are the banner on the bumper.

Pick a Persona and a Point of View

Metal wants a voice. Which voice you pick will steer tone, diction, and imagery. The persona can be a narrator, a character, an idea, or an extension of you.

Persona examples

• The Avenger who speaks in short, violent commands
• The Prophet who sees visions and uses ritual language
• The Survivor who describes scars and small victories
• The Ancient Thing that uses archaic or mythic diction

Choose first person for immediacy. Use second person to accuse or recruit the listener. Third person lets you tell a story with distance. Be consistent for the song unless you intend a dramatic reveal.

Real life scenario: You are on a loading dock at 2 a.m. after a show. You smell oil and cheap coffee. You write from the persona of someone who has watched cities burn five times and still shows up for the road. That narrow point of view gives the song gravity.

Decide the Theme and the Core Line

A theme is the emotional or narrative spine of the song. Examples are revenge, apocalypse, inner collapse, ritual, oppression, or triumph. The core line is one sentence that expresses the whole thing in plain language. Write that line first. Make it short and repeatable.

Examples

• I will tear the sky for you.
• The city eats itself at midnight.
• I am the rot inside the crown.

Turn that core line into a hook or a chorus anchor. It can be literal or symbolic. If it is symbolic, make sure you anchor it with at least one concrete image in a verse so the listener can connect.

Understand Vocal Styles and Write for Them

Metal singers use many vocal techniques. Each calls for different lyric shapes. A shout or a clean sung line can hold long vowels and melodic phrasing. A growl or a guttural scream needs shorter syllables and heavier consonants. Write lines that suit the delivery you actually plan to record.

Common metal vocal types

• Clean singing means melody with pitch variation. Use longer vowels and prosody that allows for sustained notes.
• Screamed vocals use powerful chest voice and aggression. Consonant attacks like b, t, k, and hard g help articulation.
• Guttural vocals also called death growls. These emphasize low register and percussive consonants. Short syllables and open vowels that are easy to distort work best.
• High screams live on vowels that sit well in upper ranges such as ah, eh, and ee. They need breathing space and careful melody

Tip: If you cannot perform the vocal style, write as if you can but plan how a vocalist will adapt. Never write verses that require a singer to fit ten syllables into one beat because that will sound strained in performance.

Match Lyrics to Rhythm and Riff

Metal riffs have accents and rests. Your lyrics must respect that groove. Map words to beats. Speak lines over the riff at natural tempo. If you are writing without an instrument, clap or tap the rhythm first. The mapping is not math. It is feel. But a simple rhythm map saves hours of rework.

Practical rhythm workflow

1. Play the riff on loop. Count the bar in your head or out loud.
2. Speak a possible line over the riff at tempo. Mark where strong syllables land.
3. If a natural stress falls on a weak beat, rewrite the line so the stress aligns with the heavy guitar hit.
4. Record a rough voice memo while playing the riff and repeat the phrase to see how it breathes.

Real life example: You write a line that feels epic but every long vowel overlaps the double kick drum blast. The vocalist will either choke or the lyric will disappear. Rework the line to compress vowels or move the title to a rest where the vocal can breathe.

Use Imagery That Fits Metal

Metal imagery is visceral. Think bodily, elemental, architectural, ancient, or mechanical. Replace emotion words like pain or anger with images that show those states.

Replace:

I am angry

With:

My knuckles taste of rust and cold

Concrete images let listeners supply the emotion. Metal thrives on physical detail because it amplifies the music instead of explaining it.

Image buckets you can use

• Bodies and decay
• Iron and rust
• Fire, ash, and smoke
• Stones, ruins, and chains
• Machines, gears, and electricity
• Mythic creatures and gods

Do not overdo archaic language unless you mean to be epic. Modern, spare, brutal images often land harder than ornate medieval phrasing. Use an old word only if it sings and if it connects to a clear image.

Rhyme, Meter, and Flow

Metal lets you choose how dense your lyric patterns will be. Some genres within metal prefer slant rhyme and internal rhythm. Some prefer full end rhymes. The important part is that your rhyme choices support the riff and the vocal style.

Rhyme tips

• Use internal rhyme to create momentum within a line without forcing clunky endings.
• Slant rhyme, which uses similar but not identical sounds, can sound more aggressive and less pop.
• Echo a consonant sound across lines to create a glue that is not obvious but feels satisfying.

Meter is your line length and pattern. If your chorus has a long vocal melody, use longer lines. If the verse is rhythmic and percussive, write shorter fragments and sentence fragments. Keep a log of how many syllables comfortably fit a bar in your song. That becomes your template.

Structure: Where Lyrics Live in Metal Songs

Metal song forms can vary wildly. The basic map still helps. Typical sections include intro, verse, pre chorus, chorus, bridge, breakdown, solo, and outro. Decide where your lyrical statements land.

• Chorus should carry the central line or the title. It is the chant point.
• Verse adds scenes and specifics. Each verse should move the story or deepen the mood.
• Pre chorus builds or teases the chorus. It can be a rhythmic chant or a melodic lift.
• Bridge or breakdown can flip the perspective or pause the narrative to create a mosh moment.
• Outro repeats a core image or lets a final line hang for impact.

Keep the chorus simple and repeatable. Fans should be able to shout it after one listen. That does not mean make it obvious. Make it visceral and easy to chant.

Common Metal Themes and Fresh Angles

Metal themes are broad. To avoid clichés, pair an archetypal theme with a fresh angle. Here are themes with lens ideas you can try.

• Revenge through the lens of small domestic details being reclaimed
• Apocalypse shown as the last phone battery dying at midnight
• Inner turmoil narrated as a mechanic fixing a machine that is you
• Power and corruption told by a crow inside a throne room
• Myth retold as graffiti on a subway car

Using an unexpected detail grounds the grand idea and makes it memorable. Metal fans love both the massive and the tiny. Give them both.

Avoid Cliches Without Losing Metal Energy

Words like blood, fire, skull, and scream are fine if used smartly. The problem is lazy metaphor. To avoid cliché, do one of the following.

• Subvert the image. Use skull imagery but describe the skull as a library of names.
• Pick a specific sensory detail. Not blood but the salt stain on a collar.
• Mix registers. Put an ancient image next to a modern object for contrast.

Example

Instead of The city burns, write The city holds its breath like a man with bad lungs. The image keeps heat but adds specificity and body.

Vocab and Diction

Metal lyrics can be lyrical or blunt. Decide early. If you use big words, use them deliberately. If you use short blunt words, make them rhythmic. Avoid purple prose that undoes the music.

A note on archaic words. Words like eldritch, wroth, or obdurate carry flavor but can alienate if used without context. If you use an archaic word, pair it immediately with a concrete image so the listener can translate on the fly.

Writing Exercises That Actually Work

Try these drills to unlock lines fast.

Object Swap

Pick a mundane object near you. Write four lines where the object is both the narrator and a metaphor. Ten minutes. Example objects: lighter, cup, van, watch.

Riff Echo

Loop a riff and speak nonsense syllables over it for two minutes. Mark the sounds that want to be words. Turn those into lines. This discovers natural prosody.

Image Ladder

Write a core image at the top. Under it, write five variations that escalate in intensity. Choose the strongest one for your chorus.

The Brutal Edit

Take a verse you wrote. Delete the first and last line. Now write two new lines that force the verse into a new direction. This avoids safe repetition.

Example: From Idea to Chorus

Idea: The city is a living thing that devours its children.

Core line: The city eats the names off our tongues.

Chorus draft

The city eats the names off our tongues
We walk without memory and sing like machines
Raise your glass to the mouth of the street
Let it swallow who you were

Edit pass

• Shorten and tighten
• Make cadence fit a heavy riff

Chorus final

It eats our names
We answer with no face
Raise your fist to the mouth of the street
Let it take what it takes

This chorus has repetition, short lines that match percussive delivery, and a concrete final image. It is chantable and grim.

Write Better Verses

Verses should add specifics. They avoid restating the chorus. Use scenes, times, and small actions. Give the listener something to hold between choruses.

Verse example

Neon puddles sleep on cracked concrete
A kid trades a name for a cigarette and a lie
The subway eats the paper prayers in the rain
We harvest echoes and call them courage

Notice the sensory details and concrete actions. These lines paint a world.

Bridge and Breakdown Craft

Bridges and breakdowns are for pivot. Use them to change the listener's perspective or to strip the arrangement for impact. A bridge can reveal motive. A breakdown can repeat a single command that turns into a ritual.

Breakdown lyric example

Knock it down
Knock it down
Let the bones be counted

This short repetition becomes a mosh chant. It uses rhythm and a physical word to drive the section.

Editing Passes That Save Songs

Every lyric needs passes. Here are focused edits.

Clarity pass

Does the listener understand what the chorus wants them to feel or do? If not, add a concrete action or simplify the language.

Prosody pass

Speak every line at tempo. Mark strong syllables. Move stresses to heavy beats. If a long vowel sits under a double kick blast, change the vowel or move the word.

Imagery pass

Underline abstract words. Replace half of them with physical detail. If a line has no image, rewrite it.

Hook pass

Make sure the chorus has a short repeatable line. Reduce words until the line is chant ready.

Collaboration With Composer and Producer

Metal is a team sport. Talk to the guitarist and drummer early. Share the core line before you lock the entire lyric. Ask about riff changes that might affect vocal phrasing. Producers can suggest doubling patterns for the chorus to make a line land bigger.

Real life scenario: The drummer switches to blast beats on the second verse. You planned long sung lines. Either adapt the lyrics to shorter fragments or ask for a small drum break to give breathing room. Collaboration saves rehearsal misery.

Recording Tips for the Vocalist

When tracking metal vocals, keep these notes.

• Warm up. Screams and growls need physical preparation so you do not injure vocal cords.
• Record multiple passes. Choose the take that has the best energy not necessarily the most perfect pitch.
• Use doubles on clean choruses and keep some raw single tracked moments for intimacy.
• Consider the microphone and proximity effect to capture grit. Producers will select an EQ chain, which stands for equalization, to shape the tone of the vocal.

Legal and Ethical Notes

Metal often courts taboo. That does not mean you should incite violence or steal other artists lines. If you reference a real person in a defamatory way, there can be legal risk. If you use religious or political content, be prepared for response. Use artistic framing and avoid direct actionable incitement.

Examples: Before and After Edits

Before: I am angry and I want revenge.

After: My jaw is a closed door and the city has the key

Before: The night is full of death.

After: The night folds the living paper thin

Before: I am the king of pain.

After: I wear the crown of cracked bone

Genres Within Metal and How They Affect Lyrics

Different metal subgenres favor different lyric styles. Here is a quick map.

• Black metal leans into atmosphere, mythology, nature, and existential isolation. Lyrics can be poetic and bleak.
• Death metal often uses violent, gory, or medical imagery. It favors aggressive, percussive phrasing for growls.
• Thrash metal tends to be direct and political or confrontational with fast rhythmic delivery.
• Doom metal favors slow, heavy phrasing with melancholic and sometimes archaic imagery.
• Progressive metal may include long forms, conceptual narratives, and abstract themes.

Write for your subgenre but do not be trapped by it. Some of the best songs borrow elements from multiple camps.

How to Finish a Song

1. Lock your chorus. Confirm the key chant line is repeatable and fits the riff.
2. Lock your verse template. Count how many syllables fit per bar and keep verses consistent unless you are intentionally changing time signatures.
3. Do the prosody check while the arrangement is on loop. Move stresses to hits and rests to allow breathing.
4. Record a scratch vocal demo and play it to bandmates without explaining. If they can hum the chorus back, you are close.
5. Do one last brutal edit. Cut any image that does not earn its place in the song.

Promotion and Live Performance Tips

Teach the chorus to the audience. Keep the chant line simple and repeat it early in the song. Fans will learn and then shout along. If you use long or complex lines, add a short hook or call and response to anchor the crowd.

Real life example: At a small club you start the final chorus with the crowd silence. Sing the first line twice. The crowd will join on the third. Practice the count in and the crowd fold so transitions feel natural.

Writing Practice Plan for a Month

1. Week one. Write five core lines and choose one to expand into a chorus.
2. Week two. Draft two verses and a bridge for the chosen chorus. Use the riff echo exercise.
3. Week three. Record a rough demo and do three passes of edits: clarity, prosody, and imagery.
4. Week four. Play the demo to three different audiences and collect feedback. Finalize lyrics and prepare for tracking.

Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

• Too many ideas. Fix by committing to one core line and letting other lines orbit it.
• Vague metaphors. Fix by replacing an abstract with a concrete sensory detail.
• Lyrics that do not match delivery. Fix by mapping stress points to the riff and simplifying phrasing for aggressive vocals.
• Overwriting. Fix by cutting lines that repeat the same image without advancement.

Quick Templates You Can Use

Chorus template for a chantable line

One short declarative line repeated twice
One short consequence line
One command or closing image

Verse template for storytelling

Line with time and place
Line with action or object
Line with consequence or reflection
Line that connects back to chorus image

When to Use Poetry and When to Be Brutal

Some moments in a metal song can be poetic and lush. Other moments require blunt force. Decide care fully where each belongs. A poetic bridge that breaks into a brutal chorus can be powerful. A song built entirely of purple imagery may lose the mosh energy.

Metal Lyric FAQ

How long should my metal lyrics be

Length depends on song form. Keep choruses short and repeatable. Verses can be longer if they provide clear scenes. Most metal songs balance repetition with movement. If the listener can hum the chorus after one listen, you are doing well.

Can I mix mythic imagery with modern details

Yes. The contrast can make each image brighter. A sword in a subway or a god with a cracked smartphone gives the listener two anchors to understand the metaphor.

How do I avoid sounding like a horror movie trailer

Focus on specificity and natural prosody. Avoid catalogues of scary words. Pick one strong image and build the verses around it. Let the music provide menace and the lyrics provide texture.

Is it ok to write about real people

Fictionalizing is safer. If you write about real people, avoid libel and defamatory statements. If you write from the perspective of a real public figure, frame it as commentary and be ready for reaction.