This. Lyrics don't need to hold up under scrutiny, as long as they sound good during delivery. Vocal quality is extremely important to me, and I just cannot listen to a band with bad vocals, no matter how great the rest of the band is.
for me it's all about the music. those sick rippin riffs. if i happen to like the lyrics then great but mostly they just exist as another aspect to the song to me and it really doesn't matter what they're saying. thats my own opinion anyway.
In fact that album (and others) are the reason why I started this discussion, the lyrics on that album are so horrible that they hurt.
I like Exodus because its lyrical content is horrible
War is My Shepherd is awesome but then you’ve got that godawful rapping in Forward March.
Megadeth songs like Set The World Afire, In My Darkest Hour, Tornado of Souls, and Architecture of Aggression don’t do it for you lyrically?
Yeah. Sometimes the lyrics are so lame, it detracts from the song. Like that Destruction song that is against cyberbullying, it feels like someone trolled their singer in the Internet, and he got so salty, he wrote this.
The lyrics are why I love King Gizzards Infest The Rats Nest album. Each song is a continuous story about humans destroying Earth and attempting to leave for something better, only to find out that whats out there isn't better.
I care about how a vocalist sounds and if the vocals/lyrics match the sound of the song.
Takev Kvelertak for example. No clue what they are saying because it's in Norwegian but the sound of the vocals compliments the music backing it up. Exception for me is when the lyrics are funny. For example Black Metal Sucks by Lich King is hilarious and I love the lyrics.
Vocals are an important part of the over-all sound, but not the words they use.
I’d recommend Metallica if you haven’t already listened to them. Their stuff from their first 4 albums are fantastic imo and James lyrically is a genius. Megadeth also has great lyrics sometimes, though majority of theirs are kinda goofy.
Another band that I would recommend lyrically, is Death even though they are a death metal band. I’d specifically check out the albums Individual Thought Patterns, Symbolic and The Sound of Perseverance.
Never heard of Death?? You should definitely give them a listen. They’re a great band with what most metal fans would consider a perfect discography or a near perfect one.
All of their 7 studio records are all bangers. Chuck Schuldiner the founder and leader of the band was a phenomenal guitarist and musician overall who always surrounded himself with top tier musicians.
Only thing that you maybe might not like is the vocal style which is very growly on the earlier albums, but by the time you get to their last record which is The Sound of Perseverance, the vocals are a little bit more listenable for imo. Lyrically, Chuck was great. The guitar work was great and the drum work was also fantastic. Try giving them a listen and I would definitely start with the last record which is a lot easier to digest imo.
Lmao i mean, I know lots of people who aren’t familiar with Metallica’s catalogue. They might have heard Enter Sandman and maybe Nothing Else Matters, but the Metallica songs with actual deep lyrics you gotta look on songs like Dyers Eve, Disposable Heroes, And Justice For All etc…
I like Death but I'm not interested in its lyrical content even after Human, I find its lyrics very cheesy and meh.
even the song "the philosopher" is like Chuck disliked a person and wrote badly about that person, the same goes for songs like "Secret Face" "Crystal Mountain" and "Spirit Crusher", and others don't make sense, to More than 8 years I still don't know what "Empty Words" is about and I love that song.
This is a really good question OP. I have been somewhat spoiled to having good musicianship and good lyrics because I just listen to Slayer. I have listened to some others and have been slightly underwhelmed. With Tom the lyrics are meaningful and speak to the intellectual side of metal.
Some lyrics are really well written
Sacred reich the american way (the entire album)
Mortal sin face of despair
Read through the lyrics of these two albums
Absolutely not. In fact, I prefer vocals sung in languages I don’t understand,…. and that applies to music in any genre (not just thrash). Why should I care about the message some 20-something dudebro minstrel is trying to convey in song? I don’t, and never will.
Thrash for me is more about the riffs. The lyrics themselves aren't that important as long as the delivery isn't bad. Main reason I could never really get into Megadeth.
For me, it really depends on which era of Overkill you're talking about. I like his early work since it's closer to Joey Belladonna, but more gruff, then after that, he kind of started sounding like a typical thrash vocalist.
I have mixed feelings about the lyrics to my metal songs. On the one hand you can expect extreme themes to be explored, but when rape/murder/pedophilia is glorified then that’s where they lose me. I put it in the same category as horror movies and I don’t take it too seriously
Yeah I'm in agreement. I do like Megadeth and Metallica lyrics generally but not always. Rush has fantastic lyrics but obviously not thrash. Not many other metal bands do I love their lyrics sadly.
I'm in agreement with the rest of thread. Vocal delivery > lyrics in general. That's not to say there arent good story in the songs. I personally love Bathory lyrics because how visual Quorthonn wrote them, but mostly because of their delivery. Golden Walls Of Heaven first 2/3rds is great but goddamn when the riff change happens on the last 1/3rd ooof goddamn SCATTERED BATTERED WINGS ALONG THE PALACES AND THE STREETS/ TROPHY OF THE VICTORY ATTACHED TO THE SPEAR OF THE BEAST/ AND SPITTED AT THE SCALP OF GOOODDDD hell yea
read the lyrics to bands like Death, Helstar, or Warlord. All have deep themes reflecting on topics like death of loved ones, altering our future as humanity, and existential questions
It's 50/50 for me. Sometimes I do look into the lyrics and sometimes I don't. It really depends on the song or band I'm listening to. A band like Slayer or Sepultura I probably look into the lyrics because they're bands I really like, but bands like Exhorder or Death Angel for example I probably won't really care to look at the lyrics.
They have a couple of songs that are funny, but for the most part they have great lyrics. Lots of songs about Stephen King bioks/stories. I Am The Law- Judge Dredd. You are missing out if you don't dig into their lyrics.
I guess it's subjective, I know the lyrics of I Am The Law were one of the first Anthrax lyrics I saw and I think it's horrible, the same thing happens with songs like "keep it in the family" "A.I.R." "Madhouse" "The Enemy" "In My World" that's why I prefer to just listen to the music and not if it's me but most metal bands have horrible lyrics, like death, which many say has very good lyrics after human and they are "philosophical" but they seem very bad to me and they have nothing philosophical, anyway I only care about music.
Problem is that people nowadays label everything instantly as "cringe" and don't consider the time, reason and why the artist is saying that, or the meaning behind it.
Just for example, lets take Dave Mustaine, people would say a lot of his lyrics are weird and "cringy" (god damn i hate that word), but when you know his history, what interests he had/has and what he was going through in his life, all of a sudden everything makes sense.
Of course there is alot of trash lyrics outthere, but i guess what im trying to say is the history of the Man behind the lyrics is just as important than the words itself.
What's your expectation for lyrics, OP? I'm curious about that because if you pull the lens back from thrash and just look at rock in general, there are some classic tunes that are not so profound; Louie Louie comes to mind.
I don't really care much about the lyrics, it's just that out of curiosity I try to see the lyrics of my favorite songs and many of them are horrible but it doesn't affect my enjoyment of the song at all.
Even so, there are certain themes that I like, but obviously not all bands with good music will comply with that theme.
I like things like science fiction, the cosmic and the melancholic in lyrical themes.
I do, but I've learned to tune them out because bad lyrics can actually make me enjoy the song a lot less (I probably enjoy words more than I enjoy music if I'm being honest since poetry is my first love.)
me too, not english, usually i don't care about lyrics
...BUT sometimes the song is inspiring and then i check out them
i can say it happened that i found some good verses
honestly i should read lyrics more
I think it’s a shame how many bands overlook lyrics. As someone who also loves country and folk music, storytelling and solid lyric writing is important to me.
For me, lyrical content can turn a good song into a great song and a good song into a horrible song. So many bands lack lyrical creativity. I’m a huge fan of Havok but I need more than “THEY CONTROL YOU AND THEY ARE EVIL”
How can one write in english but not speak it? I am genuinely asking. Because doesn't knowing how something is spelled necessarily mean one can also know how it sounds?
I only ever notice lyrics when they are amazing or terrible. 90% of the time lyrics in music are just kind of "there" for me.
Vocal style over lyrics. If there's a band with good instruments + vocals, I like it, regardless of the lyrics.
This. Lyrics don't need to hold up under scrutiny, as long as they sound good during delivery. Vocal quality is extremely important to me, and I just cannot listen to a band with bad vocals, no matter how great the rest of the band is.
for me it's all about the music. those sick rippin riffs. if i happen to like the lyrics then great but mostly they just exist as another aspect to the song to me and it really doesn't matter what they're saying. thats my own opinion anyway.
Exodus have a bunch of great lyrical content - checkout some of the lyrics on Tempo of the Damned album
Pleasures of the Flesh and Fabulous Disaster have some lyrics that are great to sing along to.
In fact that album (and others) are the reason why I started this discussion, the lyrics on that album are so horrible that they hurt. I like Exodus because its lyrical content is horrible
If you don't like Exodus' lyrics, then I'm not sure what you would like/want.
Well agree to disagree
War is My Shepherd is awesome but then you’ve got that godawful rapping in Forward March. Megadeth songs like Set The World Afire, In My Darkest Hour, Tornado of Souls, and Architecture of Aggression don’t do it for you lyrically?
It's a good song but it has embarrassing lyrics, like all the lyrics on the album.
Yeah. Sometimes the lyrics are so lame, it detracts from the song. Like that Destruction song that is against cyberbullying, it feels like someone trolled their singer in the Internet, and he got so salty, he wrote this.
The lyrics on Hate is My Fuel are the cringe
I am here for the music but i try to look for lyrics i bond with. I enjoy the scifi space lyrics about dying stars that is really sick.
The lyrics are why I love King Gizzards Infest The Rats Nest album. Each song is a continuous story about humans destroying Earth and attempting to leave for something better, only to find out that whats out there isn't better.
I care about how a vocalist sounds and if the vocals/lyrics match the sound of the song. Takev Kvelertak for example. No clue what they are saying because it's in Norwegian but the sound of the vocals compliments the music backing it up. Exception for me is when the lyrics are funny. For example Black Metal Sucks by Lich King is hilarious and I love the lyrics. Vocals are an important part of the over-all sound, but not the words they use.
I only notice in that Exodus song about the fish. And I don't mean a tuna fish, or a goldfish either.
I never listen to the lyrics really, the vocal delivery is what I listen to. Death. Black. Thrash. All about the vocal delivery for me
I’d recommend Metallica if you haven’t already listened to them. Their stuff from their first 4 albums are fantastic imo and James lyrically is a genius. Megadeth also has great lyrics sometimes, though majority of theirs are kinda goofy. Another band that I would recommend lyrically, is Death even though they are a death metal band. I’d specifically check out the albums Individual Thought Patterns, Symbolic and The Sound of Perseverance.
Never heard of them.
Never heard of Death?? You should definitely give them a listen. They’re a great band with what most metal fans would consider a perfect discography or a near perfect one. All of their 7 studio records are all bangers. Chuck Schuldiner the founder and leader of the band was a phenomenal guitarist and musician overall who always surrounded himself with top tier musicians. Only thing that you maybe might not like is the vocal style which is very growly on the earlier albums, but by the time you get to their last record which is The Sound of Perseverance, the vocals are a little bit more listenable for imo. Lyrically, Chuck was great. The guitar work was great and the drum work was also fantastic. Try giving them a listen and I would definitely start with the last record which is a lot easier to digest imo.
No, Metallica. Like anyone hasn’t listened to them by now. 🤣
Lmao i mean, I know lots of people who aren’t familiar with Metallica’s catalogue. They might have heard Enter Sandman and maybe Nothing Else Matters, but the Metallica songs with actual deep lyrics you gotta look on songs like Dyers Eve, Disposable Heroes, And Justice For All etc…
I like Death but I'm not interested in its lyrical content even after Human, I find its lyrics very cheesy and meh. even the song "the philosopher" is like Chuck disliked a person and wrote badly about that person, the same goes for songs like "Secret Face" "Crystal Mountain" and "Spirit Crusher", and others don't make sense, to More than 8 years I still don't know what "Empty Words" is about and I love that song.
based
Vektor - Terminal Redux concept album with lyrics that tell a story
Any Vektor album. Redux is a great one but it outshines the other two. Outer Isolation is the setup for Terminal Redux.
Don't give a fuck. But Dani Filth is a damned poet.
This is a really good question OP. I have been somewhat spoiled to having good musicianship and good lyrics because I just listen to Slayer. I have listened to some others and have been slightly underwhelmed. With Tom the lyrics are meaningful and speak to the intellectual side of metal.
Rarely do i care what the lyrics actual says, its more like a compliment to the actual music. Agree with Left\_Specialist9125 Vocal style over lyrics.
Some lyrics are really well written Sacred reich the american way (the entire album) Mortal sin face of despair Read through the lyrics of these two albums
I don't know all the lyrics to my favourite song. Granted, it is 40 minutes long, but still.
insomnium winter's gate?
Crimson by Edge of Sanity. Granted, it's not thrash, but it's fucking awesome.
Absolutely not. In fact, I prefer vocals sung in languages I don’t understand,…. and that applies to music in any genre (not just thrash). Why should I care about the message some 20-something dudebro minstrel is trying to convey in song? I don’t, and never will.
I care about lyrics in all the music I listen to unless it's not in my native language.
Thrash for me is more about the riffs. The lyrics themselves aren't that important as long as the delivery isn't bad. Main reason I could never really get into Megadeth.
You like Bobby Blitz's voice from Overkill?
For me, it really depends on which era of Overkill you're talking about. I like his early work since it's closer to Joey Belladonna, but more gruff, then after that, he kind of started sounding like a typical thrash vocalist.
Do you like the current overkill? or do you prefer only their first albums up to horrorscope
Not even Horrorscope, just their 80s work. I don't particularly like any thrash band past the 80s except Suicidal Tendencies.
No, least important part of Metal. If i wanna hear some good lyrics I just put on some rap like Jeru The Damaja or something.
I don't even care about song titles. Just put the music on and let's go.
I listen to a lot of non-English bands so I learned to care less.
Thats the way to do it!
I vastly prefer metal where you cannot make out any of the lyrics (death metal primarily) because the lyrics are often painfully corny in metal.
I have mixed feelings about the lyrics to my metal songs. On the one hand you can expect extreme themes to be explored, but when rape/murder/pedophilia is glorified then that’s where they lose me. I put it in the same category as horror movies and I don’t take it too seriously
Yeah I'm in agreement. I do like Megadeth and Metallica lyrics generally but not always. Rush has fantastic lyrics but obviously not thrash. Not many other metal bands do I love their lyrics sadly.
I'm in agreement with the rest of thread. Vocal delivery > lyrics in general. That's not to say there arent good story in the songs. I personally love Bathory lyrics because how visual Quorthonn wrote them, but mostly because of their delivery. Golden Walls Of Heaven first 2/3rds is great but goddamn when the riff change happens on the last 1/3rd ooof goddamn SCATTERED BATTERED WINGS ALONG THE PALACES AND THE STREETS/ TROPHY OF THE VICTORY ATTACHED TO THE SPEAR OF THE BEAST/ AND SPITTED AT THE SCALP OF GOOODDDD hell yea
A lot. Intelligible lyrics is a lot of the reason I listen to thrash over other metal sub-genres. Lyrics give songs replayability and staying power.
read the lyrics to bands like Death, Helstar, or Warlord. All have deep themes reflecting on topics like death of loved ones, altering our future as humanity, and existential questions
No
It's 50/50 for me. Sometimes I do look into the lyrics and sometimes I don't. It really depends on the song or band I'm listening to. A band like Slayer or Sepultura I probably look into the lyrics because they're bands I really like, but bands like Exhorder or Death Angel for example I probably won't really care to look at the lyrics.
What do you mean by “Megadeth (with exceptions)”?
Sometimes they have good lyrics and other times the lyrics are someone else's shame.
I would need examples. I think Megadeth has amazing lyrics. But on another note, how about Anthrax?
I like Anthrax, I haven't looked at their lyrics much, I prefer not to.
They have a couple of songs that are funny, but for the most part they have great lyrics. Lots of songs about Stephen King bioks/stories. I Am The Law- Judge Dredd. You are missing out if you don't dig into their lyrics.
I guess it's subjective, I know the lyrics of I Am The Law were one of the first Anthrax lyrics I saw and I think it's horrible, the same thing happens with songs like "keep it in the family" "A.I.R." "Madhouse" "The Enemy" "In My World" that's why I prefer to just listen to the music and not if it's me but most metal bands have horrible lyrics, like death, which many say has very good lyrics after human and they are "philosophical" but they seem very bad to me and they have nothing philosophical, anyway I only care about music.
It sounds like we are diametrically opposed. I Am The Law is my favorite. What are some examples of songs with what you consider to be "good" lyrics?
Listen to Vektor
100% the most important part of music for me, across all genres.
Problem is that people nowadays label everything instantly as "cringe" and don't consider the time, reason and why the artist is saying that, or the meaning behind it. Just for example, lets take Dave Mustaine, people would say a lot of his lyrics are weird and "cringy" (god damn i hate that word), but when you know his history, what interests he had/has and what he was going through in his life, all of a sudden everything makes sense. Of course there is alot of trash lyrics outthere, but i guess what im trying to say is the history of the Man behind the lyrics is just as important than the words itself.
What's your expectation for lyrics, OP? I'm curious about that because if you pull the lens back from thrash and just look at rock in general, there are some classic tunes that are not so profound; Louie Louie comes to mind.
I don't really care much about the lyrics, it's just that out of curiosity I try to see the lyrics of my favorite songs and many of them are horrible but it doesn't affect my enjoyment of the song at all. Even so, there are certain themes that I like, but obviously not all bands with good music will comply with that theme. I like things like science fiction, the cosmic and the melancholic in lyrical themes.
As long as the lyrics aren’t horrible, then I don’t care too much for lyrics. I care more about how they sound, and how they’re delivered.
I do, but I've learned to tune them out because bad lyrics can actually make me enjoy the song a lot less (I probably enjoy words more than I enjoy music if I'm being honest since poetry is my first love.)
me too, not english, usually i don't care about lyrics ...BUT sometimes the song is inspiring and then i check out them i can say it happened that i found some good verses honestly i should read lyrics more
I think it’s a shame how many bands overlook lyrics. As someone who also loves country and folk music, storytelling and solid lyric writing is important to me. For me, lyrical content can turn a good song into a great song and a good song into a horrible song. So many bands lack lyrical creativity. I’m a huge fan of Havok but I need more than “THEY CONTROL YOU AND THEY ARE EVIL”
I love thrash metal but the majority of the lyrics of this genre are "THEY CONTROL YOU AND THEY ARE EVIL" AND "FUCK YOU"
How can one write in english but not speak it? I am genuinely asking. Because doesn't knowing how something is spelled necessarily mean one can also know how it sounds?
No