In metal, extreme/gory lyrics are a staple of the genre, particularly subgenres like Death Metal, Brutal Death Metal, and if we were to branch out further, goregrind. Metalheads are often stereotyped because of this, with people saying "yeah all you like is songs about cumming Blood and vaginal cannibals". (I've actually had this said to me before.)

So I pose this question for you, forum-ites: Do GORE lyrics have a place in metal? I'm not talking about lyrics that are simply violent, I'm talking about full-out fucking skulls and shoving a woman's entrails up her own ass while fucking her with a Chainsaw kind of stuff. Some could argue that this kind of music has no depth or character and undermines the metal culture and leads outsiders to believe we're all a bunch of stupid gore-obsessed gorillas. On the other hand, sometimes the lyrics aren't meant to be taken literally and are metaphors for Misanthropy, Hatred of humans, and no-frills expressions of Anger, and who's to say what the bands can and can't write about? A key component of metal is to Push things to the extreme.

What do you guys think? Perhaps a more seasoned fan of Brutal Death Metal could give us more valuable insights on the genre and the lyrics as well.

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If you are a false, don't entry, or you'll be burned and died!

I extremely Hate the GORE lyrics. I am desensitized to them, but it is the fact that there is no meaning behind them. It is blatant idiocy.

Examples of bands with good lyrics:
Mirrorthrone = Nihilism, Misanthropy
Mitochondrion = Gnosis, Occult
The Ocean = Intelligent anti-religious ideals (not blatant pseudo-Satanic bullshit)

I could name more, but that would be a waste.

When a band resorts to GORE lyrics, it shows that they don't have passion to write lyrics with meaning or that they are just immature. Even if the instrumentation is perfect, the lyrics will make them look and be known as childish or moronic.

Bands have tried to make them "intelligent" by using billions of medical and anatomical terms to Mask up everything in a whole ball of gory filth.

Gore lyrics are a choice; one may use them , but I Hate them.

There are exceptions to bands with GORE lyrics that I like though (Carcass and Ahumado Granujo to name to).

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Last.fm: Mercenarion

Well, what would Death Metal be without the gory lyrics? It fits to the whole concept and the music, and gives you a good laugh. I find them funny, and interesting, how they describe everything so precisely. I don't take it that serious.

And besides, I have never heard a Brutal Death band with intelligent lyrics.

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I don't generally care about lyrics, but I'll talk about the GORE lyrics and what I think of em anyway.
 
Depends on creativity.
Cannibal Corpse is blatantly uncreative; it's always about killing people in Brutal ways. Nothing more.
Other bands gross you out with nutty fetishistic lyrics, Abortion, Dying of hunger, self amputation, diseases, crack babies that're missing their eyes and hands, etc. They go Beyond the cliche of killing stuff. Those are pretty interesting IMO.
 
But you can't understand what a lot of these bands are saying (unless it's Cannibal Corpse or Death) so it doesn't matter too much, as long as the music is good.

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I really don't care about lyrics in general , unless they're good.
Can't say I'm much into gory lyrics though, they are simply just trying too hard to be ugly/shocking just by describing some atrocious form of dying/killing.

Also, I've never looked at some gory lyrics and thought 'oh, that's so cool and br00tal', but a strange thing I've noticed, that my friends at med university kind of like them and have fun discussing them...

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When in Danger or in doubt,
Run in circles, Scream and shout.

 
Oh yeah, I Saw a review on this site for Carcass' Symphonies of Sickness (more like an amateur comment, but anyway), and it said that the lyrics of Symphonies of Sickness is the reason that the person became a doctor. Yeah Raina tell your friends to look at the lyrics to the first 3 Carcass albums, they're full of medical and scientific terms that most metalheads don't understand.

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I do album art for bands! Send me a Message or email [email protected] for more info. My website: http://curtisbotham.weebly.com/

The thing is, though, those bands that you described to have "good" lyrics use lots of metaphors and lyrics that are meant to be interpreted outside the literal. (good example would be that whole "The Fecal Rebellion" and how it was a metaphor for Misanthropy thing we discussed a little while back) So why shouldn't it be the same for lyrics like these? Perhaps they're meant to represent Misanthropy as well; they're expressing their Hatred for humans by singing about the worst possible things that could be (and should be, in their opinion) done to them.

Oh, and psycho_metal: If you've never heard a BDM band with intelligent lyrics, you've obviously never heard Disavowed or Decrepit Birth.




Decrepit Birth's the same, often using celestial bodies as a metaphor for esoterically- slanted lyrics.

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If you are a false, don't entry, or you'll be burned and died!

Vladimir's lyrics reflect his views on how humanity has destroyed the world, forgotten law and understanding. His lyrics describe why humanity should Die off. If the GORE lyrics reflect Misanthropy, then they are the practical views of it; killing all humanity as a "what" and not a "why".

And for intelligent BDM lyrics:
Den Ensomme Nordens Dronning - The Monolith Deathcult (well thought anti-religious lyrics)
The Victorious Reign - Hate Eternal (I was surprised when I read their lyrics)
Shadowless - Weeping Birth
Soullessness Embraced - Ulcerate
Devourer of the Unjustified - Scarab

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Last.fm: Mercenarion

I Forgot about Decrepit Birth, and I don't really consider Scarab or Weeping Birth as BDM. I'm going to check out Disavowed though, thanks.

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And this is a problem why? It's simply a different facet for the same concept.

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If you are a false, don't entry, or you'll be burned and died!