Heavy metal lyrics

Another exception is pop metal bands, which replaced "gloom and doom" themes with "positive, upbeat" songs about romantic love and relationships, part of their goal of appealing more to female listeners.

[9] Jeffrey Arnett analysed the lyrics from 115 metal songs: he found that the top three messages were "grim themes" about violence, angst and protest.

[13] Black Sabbath 's second album Paranoid (1970) "included songs dealing with personal trauma—'Paranoid' and 'Fairies Wear Boots' (which described the unsavoury side effects of drug-taking)—as well as those confronting wider issues, such as the self-explanatory 'War Pigs' and 'Hand of Doom.

[17] Research by Karen Bettez Halnon showed that songs enjoyed by heavy metal fans are seen as an alternative to listening to the "impersonal, conformist, superficial and numbing realities of [the] commercialism" that's present in popular, non-niche music genres.

[13] Death metal songs involve themes of "horror, gore and environmental and social decay", including descriptions of dismemberment and "botched forensic procedures.

Andrew Cope states that claims that heavy metal lyrics are misogynistic are "clearly misguided" as these critics have "overlooked the overwhelming evidence that suggests otherwise.

Examples of sex-themed metal songs include AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill"; Krokus' "Long Stick Goes Boom"; AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie"; Motörhead's "Fast And Loose"; and W.A.S.P.

[41][42] Spanish author Arturo Pérez Reverte contrasted favorably Tierra Santa's popularization of a classic with the official effort of "trashy" education programs in Spain.

[27] Another topic often found in black metal lyrics is that of the wild and extreme aspects and phenomena of the natural world, particularly the wilderness, forests, mountains, winter, storms, and blizzards.

The lyrical themes of death metal may invoke slasher film-stylized violence,[46] religion (sometimes Satanism), occultism, Lovecraftian horror, nature, mysticism, mythology, philosophy, science fiction, and politics,[47][48] and they may describe extreme acts, including mutilation, dissection, torture, rape, cannibalism, and necrophilia.

Even though death metal's songs have been described as containing "images of extreme violence", fans "report feelings of transcendence and positive emotions", which has made psychologists curious to learn why.

[58] Describing Korn's 1994 album, one reviewer stated that the "lyrics were raw and confessional in nature, addressing themes of child sexual abuse, violence and drug use.

"[61] The Michigan Daily wrote about Limp Bizkit's lyrics, writing that the band "used the nu-metal sound as a way to spin testosterone fueled fantasies into snarky white-boy rap.

[62] In 2011, Courtney Love declined to perform alongside Limp Bizkit in the Australian music festival Soundwave due to the band's allegedly sexist statements.

[69] According to Josh Chesler of the Phoenix New Times, the lyrics of Deftones, whose style is a mix of nu metal and post-hardcore, "tend to have complex allusions and leave the songs open to many different interpretations.

"[70] Raw Alternative praises the lyrics on Incubus' Make Yourself (1999), noting they are not "as angst-y as most of its nu metal contemporaries either, and instead takes turns into the philosophical and ethereal.

"[71] Michael Siebert states that a "significant portion of the genre's appeal was in the lyrics", with Korn and other groups dealing with "transgressive themes"; Linkin Park "frankly addressing suicidal ideation and alienation"; and Slipknot and Mudvayne expressing "nihilistic rage".

[78] In September 2014, a man from Kentucky who "posted the verses of the Exodus song "Class Dismissed (A Hate Primer)"" on his Facebook account was "jailed and accused of terrorist threats".

[79] The lyrics the man posted on Facebook read: "student bodies lying dead in the halls, a blood splattered treatise of hate / Class dismissed is my hypothesis, gun fire ends in debate.

"[79] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is defending the man, using a First Amendment of the Constitution of United States of America freedom of speech argument.

[79] Heavy metal has been the subject of critiques from "music industry watchdogs and parents' groups for its violent, drug-related, sexual, antisocial and occult lyrics".

[82] While Weinstein states that the lead vocal part is not as important as the overall sound of the band, "Wass showed that 87% of adolescent heavy metal fans knew the lyrics to their favorite songs".

"[24] Epstein and Pratto state that "many heavy metal songs have socially constructive lyrics" which show "concern for the world that youth will inherit.

[88] Professor Bill Thompson from Australia's Macquarie University studied the impact of listening to death metal and found that it brings joy to fans, and that it does not "desensitize" them to the depictions of violence in the songs.

Bloodbath lead singer Nick Holmes praised the study, stating that it proves that his "lyrics are harmless fun" that are no more dangerous than a person watching horror movies or hobbyists doing battle re-enactments.

[89] Epstein and Pratto state there is a risk that metal listeners may misunderstand or misinterpret song lyrics, since it is hard to hear the words in the "...complex, loud" music.

Metal songs typically have powerful, heavily distorted guitars and loud, aggressive drumming, which can make it hard to hear the vocals.

[90] Swedish and US studies from the 1990s showed that heavy metal fans had "decreased motivation for school, lower grades" and an increased potential for dropping out.

"[28] Gavin Russell states his concern with specific "post-millennial metalcore splinter genres' obsession with the punishment of women" and their lyrics, which he alleges "justify violent misogyny".

Simon Tatz from the Mental Health Council of Australia states that metal music "has some worrying aspects", including the nihilistic lyrics that may "reinforce alienation and exclusion".