He is also the vocalist for the death metal band Glorious Depravity, in which I drum. This makes best use of his DME skills. https://gloriousdepravity.bandcamp.com/album/ageless-violenc.... Look at the lyrics to “Ocean of Scabs” to see a master at work.
And let’s not forget his epic death/doom project Weeping Sores. He writes all the songs (everything except violin) and handles guitar, bass, and vocals on the recording. I had the pleasure of mixing this one. https://weepingsores.bandcamp.com/album/weeping-sores
Finally, the HM crowd will appreciate that he — like everyone else in Glorious Depravity — is a software engineer. He works for the fitness tech startup Proteus Motion, https://www.proteusmotion.com. I worked there with him for many years. He’s a very smart, talented person and I feel fortunate to be his friend and collaborator.
I've made some of my best friends through a shared affinity for metal — I even taught myself to code in part working on web stuff for Cynic and Augury. Doug's projects are all rad.
Who are the lyrics for and what is expected of the audience? Are they purely artistic or do fans usually read the lyrics at some point and appreciate them and do they ever understand them in the song?
Death Metal English: “BRING DOWN THE SCYTHE OF GODS UPON THE NECKS OF THE GREEN-RIBBED LEGIONS AND SWEEP AWAY THEIR WRETCHED BODIES; THOU ART IMPLORED BY ME”
That would be the harvest. Funnily enough, Death Metal Englism is also written in THE VOICE.
"His hollow, peculiar voice is represented in the books unquoted ; it is peculiar because since he is a tall skeleton, he has no vocal cords to speak with, and therefore the words enter your head with no involvement from your ears, the books get this across by having his "speech" in small caps."
I need something for the opposite (WFH the majority of the time doesn't really work for me, the company is officially “hybrid” but with all the people I work with almost always elsewhere I'm just remote but in an office with a couple of people on other teams).
Great read. Despite being into death metal for ages, I've never really paid attention to the lyrics. I tend to be overwhelmed by the intensity of the music itself, in a good way.
I did look up the lyrics to Necrophagist many years ago, and they seemed to be really goofy. There's only so many words about mutilated stillborn babies that I want to hear. Perhaps there's also a fair amount of tongue-in-cheek involved, writing these lyrics. Anyway, amazing band.
I like to drink coffee every morning... or should I say THE RIVERS OF DARK ELIXIR COURSE THROUGH MY VEINS AT DAWN'S FIRST LIGHT; A MOLTEN BLACK POTION TO SUMMON FORTH THE AWAKENING OF MY SLUMBERING SPIRIT!
The Black Dahlia Murder had one of the greatest Death Metal Englishists of all time:
In that very moment which life doth fade away /
Ejected from my human shell exempt from time or space /
Floating absorbing omniscient in display /
A grandiose presentation unravels before me
Not in chronology but so wildly all at once /
An open dioramic rendition of events /
Some horrible integral just the same a /
Ll pieces are key to the sum of the being /
A strobe of emotions vivid extreme /
The rapturous voyage through life's victories /
The man that I once was I have left him behind /
What kind of man does the assembled puzzle read /
With soul spread open wide I calmly contemplate my destiny
Eyes bulging from their sockets
With every swing of my mallet
I smash your fucking head in, until brains seep in
through the cracks, blood does leak
distorted beauty, catastrophe
Steaming slop, splattered all over me
Drink from the goblet, the goblet of gore
Taste the zombie's drug, now you want more
Drifting from the living, joining with the dead
Zombie dwelling maggots, now infest your head
Zombie ritual
Zombie ritual
The lives of all they occupy, their eyes in dismal gloom
The all-piercing, dead oculi, mirrors of our doom
Oblivious to the trespass as you gaze into the black
The demon of surveillance insultingly staring back
Into you
Into you
Definitely a more specific patois than exists in most subgenres of music, but far from the only one. Country and R&B both have a ridiculous set of lyrical tropes. Goths have been stuck in the same limited vocab since the 80s. The coolest thing you can say about DM is it's still fairly niche.
I once tried to start a reverse dictionary, an obscurantorium: look up a normal word to turn it into caliginous locution. I didn't get far, so I'm glad to see other people have brought it to grotesque heights.
I'm a bit confused about most death metal, are they trying to appear (as the cockney's say) "hard men" in the way that gangsta rappers are trying to portray street-level gangs?
- narrators of horror stories, talking about gore and violence
In both cases, the singer rarely sings about themselves as a person. If they say « I » it’s usually impersonating a character (a murderer, a god, a sorcerer…), not literally them
Death metal is indeed very silly. What I'm not sure of is whether its fans don't realise it's silly, embrace the silliness, or have simply moved beyond such pathetic human dichotomies as serious and silly.
It's a line of progression from old metal stuff, which always had social transgression and horror elements as key themes. Because the genre is more extreme musically, the lyrics are adjusted to be more extreme, too. "Death Metal English" is actually not that common.
Serial murderers have always been a lyrical topic, for example, and you can see the progression directly if you look for songs about them. From Judas Priest and Iron Maiden writing about them existing, to 80s bands like Slayer writing about them more individually, to death metal bands in the later 80s and 90s very graphically describing their acts.
I'd say it's mostly not serious, in the same [kayfabe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayfabe) tone as "professional wrestling" where it's known to those that are in the know that it's all a show.
The website linked in this post (invisibleoranges) is a reference to a hand gesture a lot of metal artists and audiences make when performing/listening that appears to look as though they're holding invisible oranges, tongue firmly in cheek.
Maybe a bit back in the 90s. But most of the bands are clearly 'LARPing' and putting on a persona. Off stage they're almost all very chill and aware of the absurdity of the characters they play.
Nah, it has nothing to do with aggression, violence or crime. That's a misconception of outsiders who hear the loud music and growled vocals and assume they are an attempt at intimidation. In truth it's just a very strict art form, and I know it's hard to see it as an art form but that's what it is. It has a certain range of emotions that it chooses to express but it doesn't really have a message, like, go out and eat some babies alive.
There's going to be exceptions to the rule of course, but the majority of kids who dig this stuff are nerds. They finish school and go into a STEM field in science or work in the industry as coders. Like, my best friend in high school was into Cannibal Corpse and splatter gore bands like that, and now he's a doctor. And, hey, I was all into Black Metal and now I got a PhD in computer science. Yeah?
In fact, for me and my friends at least, being into this stuff was also a way to draw a clean line between us and the kids who wanted to grow up and be rich bimbos like their moms and dads, that sort of thing. Not that my friend who's a doctor is poor, but in my school at least we had lots of the kind of kid who comes in with expensive new clothes and brags about her dad's car or where the family is going skiing this Christmas, and it was fun to flip them the bird every day by coming into school with a Kreator t-shirt with a severed head sinking into blood (albeit very stylised; and Kreator aren't death metal). So for some kids at least there was a bit of that. Nerd solidarity, like.
A lot of the themed metal is knowingly over the top in all regards. It's a show, and most fans to everyone knows it's a show. And if you get into the front rows, you get to be part of the show, whatever mess that entails with some bands. Recently we had people fencing with the frontman dressed as a pirate with blowup swords.
Some really tried hard, with actual murder, arson of 1000 yo church in Norway and rehearsing (not live show) surrounded by sheep heads on spikes while throwing up because of the smell.
The 1991 metal album "Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious" [0] by British band Carcass was a landmark work which took the use of unusual vocabulary in metal lyrics to a new (and arguably-satirical) level [1]. Here are some examples, lists of the uncommon words included in a few of the songs lyrics:
Back then it was common belief that the band members were medical students, and that the terminology in their lyrics came from their studies, but this ultimately turned out to be a myth.
I loved that album so much when I was 17, and I don't remember anything other than HP Lovecraft that made me look up so many words in a dictionary - unfortunately this was back when I didn't have internet access, and most of the medical terms Carcass used weren't in my dictionary lol. And I guessed that they were medical students from that, seems I wasn't the only one to make that assumption!
But never since have I come across such philial odes to corpses and the cleaning thereof.
Edited to add I'm thinking of Symphonies of Sickness as the one I listened to the most, although Necroticism came a close second.
The article hits the hammer smashed face right on the face. Great read!
In more recent years I've really come to appreciate the Death Metal English of bands like Obscura. Nothing crushes your significance like song titles and lyrics of the IMMENSITY OV ORBITAL ELEMENTS TREMENDING DESOLATE SPHERES THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE MOMENTUM VASTNESS... Yes, it's about space.
Oh man, amazing Obscura is. If you enjoy them a lot, check Allegaeon. They’re my favourite technical extreme metal band. And very nerdy lyrics, they have a whole range of melodies and rymthms. Also with classical guitar passages.
> “Some of them early songs were, instead of actually singing something, it was maybe just a series of growls or screams that kind of went along with it,” he says.
The first Obituary album doesn't always have lyrics even though you can find fans that transcribed them. :)
Necrophagist[0] is also a good example of this technique. They also employ almost magical instrumental ability both in studio and live which is a hard feat to accomplish--especially with blast beasts and hyper-technical solos. Too bad they have pretty much retired. Rumor has is Muhammed Suiçmez (lead singer/songwriter, main force behind the band) went to work for BMW, would not be surprised if it were as a SE :)
[+] [-] sickcodebruh|2 years ago|reply
Doug is best known as the vocalist for extreme death metal noise maniacs Pyrrhon. https://pyrrhonband.bandcamp.com/album/abscess-time
He is also the vocalist for the death metal band Glorious Depravity, in which I drum. This makes best use of his DME skills. https://gloriousdepravity.bandcamp.com/album/ageless-violenc.... Look at the lyrics to “Ocean of Scabs” to see a master at work.
He’s also the vocalist of the experimental black metal band Scarcity. https://scarcity-nyc.bandcamp.com/album/aveilut
And let’s not forget his epic death/doom project Weeping Sores. He writes all the songs (everything except violin) and handles guitar, bass, and vocals on the recording. I had the pleasure of mixing this one. https://weepingsores.bandcamp.com/album/weeping-sores
Finally, the HM crowd will appreciate that he — like everyone else in Glorious Depravity — is a software engineer. He works for the fitness tech startup Proteus Motion, https://www.proteusmotion.com. I worked there with him for many years. He’s a very smart, talented person and I feel fortunate to be his friend and collaborator.
[+] [-] noduerme|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cdme|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] idontwantthis|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jihadjihad|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] petre|2 years ago|reply
"His hollow, peculiar voice is represented in the books unquoted ; it is peculiar because since he is a tall skeleton, he has no vocal cords to speak with, and therefore the words enter your head with no involvement from your ears, the books get this across by having his "speech" in small caps."
https://discworld.fandom.com/wiki/Death
[+] [-] inglor_cz|2 years ago|reply
(It is banned to mow the lawn here on Sundays, by a municipal bylaw.)
[+] [-] schlowmo|2 years ago|reply
> Death Metal English: “TRANSPORTATION OF THE WAGEBOUND UNTO THE NEXUS OF PERPETUAL QUOTIDIAN ENSLAVEMENT”
I can see that one play out very well in a job interview after realising that the job isn't as remote as promised.
[+] [-] mcv|2 years ago|reply
Waiter: Can I take your order?
Teenager: I wish to devour the unborn.
Parent: Eggs. He wants eggs.
[+] [-] WesolyKubeczek|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dspillett|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SubGenius|2 years ago|reply
I did look up the lyrics to Necrophagist many years ago, and they seemed to be really goofy. There's only so many words about mutilated stillborn babies that I want to hear. Perhaps there's also a fair amount of tongue-in-cheek involved, writing these lyrics. Anyway, amazing band.
[+] [-] Tao3300|2 years ago|reply
IT BIDS ME UTTER INFERNAL VERBIAGE IN CONTEMPLATION OF COMPILATION
https://codewithrockstar.com/
[+] [-] twic|2 years ago|reply
EDIT: mild Baader-Meinhof at the word chronocration, since I only came across the term "the great chronocrator" a couple of weeks ago.
[+] [-] adhesive_wombat|2 years ago|reply
If it hadn't been for a 1657 French book, this article would have been a Googlewhack when published, too.
[+] [-] self_awareness|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] herewulf|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|2 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] bigger_cheese|2 years ago|reply
"Spent Rounds, The Coffin Nails, On Your Empires Fall"
[+] [-] rgrieselhuber|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] m0llusk|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] voz_|2 years ago|reply
Even if you don’t like death metal, give this band a listen if only for the skill alone.
[+] [-] davexunit|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JPws_Prntr_Fngr|2 years ago|reply
In that very moment which life doth fade away / Ejected from my human shell exempt from time or space / Floating absorbing omniscient in display / A grandiose presentation unravels before me
Not in chronology but so wildly all at once / An open dioramic rendition of events / Some horrible integral just the same a / Ll pieces are key to the sum of the being / A strobe of emotions vivid extreme / The rapturous voyage through life's victories / The man that I once was I have left him behind /
What kind of man does the assembled puzzle read / With soul spread open wide I calmly contemplate my destiny
RIP Trevor
[+] [-] YeGoblynQueenne|2 years ago|reply
Or, you know:
https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/124887/Gets the point across, no fuss, no frills.
[+] [-] iamatworknow|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sogen|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nativecoinc|2 years ago|reply
https://genius.com/Belakor-an-embers-arc-lyrics
It’s a song about a photon.
[+] [-] noduerme|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tgv|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Simon_O_Rourke|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] williamdclt|2 years ago|reply
- lovecraftian cult leaders, talking about esotericism, religion, forbidden knowledge etc etc
- narrators of horror stories, talking about gore and violence
In both cases, the singer rarely sings about themselves as a person. If they say « I » it’s usually impersonating a character (a murderer, a god, a sorcerer…), not literally them
[+] [-] twic|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DoItToMe81|2 years ago|reply
Serial murderers have always been a lyrical topic, for example, and you can see the progression directly if you look for songs about them. From Judas Priest and Iron Maiden writing about them existing, to 80s bands like Slayer writing about them more individually, to death metal bands in the later 80s and 90s very graphically describing their acts.
[+] [-] rj_hoff|2 years ago|reply
The website linked in this post (invisibleoranges) is a reference to a hand gesture a lot of metal artists and audiences make when performing/listening that appears to look as though they're holding invisible oranges, tongue firmly in cheek.
[+] [-] dagw|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] YeGoblynQueenne|2 years ago|reply
There's going to be exceptions to the rule of course, but the majority of kids who dig this stuff are nerds. They finish school and go into a STEM field in science or work in the industry as coders. Like, my best friend in high school was into Cannibal Corpse and splatter gore bands like that, and now he's a doctor. And, hey, I was all into Black Metal and now I got a PhD in computer science. Yeah?
In fact, for me and my friends at least, being into this stuff was also a way to draw a clean line between us and the kids who wanted to grow up and be rich bimbos like their moms and dads, that sort of thing. Not that my friend who's a doctor is poor, but in my school at least we had lots of the kind of kid who comes in with expensive new clothes and brags about her dad's car or where the family is going skiing this Christmas, and it was fun to flip them the bird every day by coming into school with a Kreator t-shirt with a severed head sinking into blood (albeit very stylised; and Kreator aren't death metal). So for some kids at least there was a bit of that. Nerd solidarity, like.
[+] [-] tetha|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|2 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] actionfromafar|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nativecoinc|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|2 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] kendalf89|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] crtified|2 years ago|reply
Track 1, "Inpropagation" : atrabilious, crevet, ebullition, beatrific, exequiet, coronach, humous, fecundate, defalcating, lacrimation
Track 2, "Corporal Jigsaw Quandary" (see [2] for YT video of song) : evulsed, deviscerated, chondrin, decollate, quiescent, detrital, sequacious, commensated, convented, uliginous
Track 4, "Pedigree Butchery" : spumous, crubescent, martilinear, desparental, primparal, sporulate, chimerical, rheological, fluxing, "illegitimeat", contumely, ebullient, despumation, desipient
Back then it was common belief that the band members were medical students, and that the terminology in their lyrics came from their studies, but this ultimately turned out to be a myth.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necroticism_%E2%80%93_Descanti...
[1] http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/carcass/necroticismdescanti...
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5nGo7yUtlE
[+] [-] spiralx|2 years ago|reply
But never since have I come across such philial odes to corpses and the cleaning thereof.
Edited to add I'm thinking of Symphonies of Sickness as the one I listened to the most, although Necroticism came a close second.
[+] [-] herewulf|2 years ago|reply
In more recent years I've really come to appreciate the Death Metal English of bands like Obscura. Nothing crushes your significance like song titles and lyrics of the IMMENSITY OV ORBITAL ELEMENTS TREMENDING DESOLATE SPHERES THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE MOMENTUM VASTNESS... Yes, it's about space.
And the musicianship is just bonkers.
[+] [-] Innervisio|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nfriend|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lancesells|2 years ago|reply
The first Obituary album doesn't always have lyrics even though you can find fans that transcribed them. :)
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/obituary-t...
[+] [-] obituary_latte|2 years ago|reply
[0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BalLk6uOMzw