The words often paid deep homage to German philosophers like Andreas Gryphius, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Nietzsche and Gottfried Benn, as well as international poets such as Georg Trakl,[3] Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Baudelaire, and Jean-Paul Sartre.
Lyrical themes include transience, evil, nihilism, surrealism, expressionism, existential philosophy, criticism of religion, violence, madness, isolation, depression, and especially death.
[3][4] As part of this movement, a number of bands use classical Latin for their lyrics and album names.
[5] The expression "Neue Deutsche Todeskunst" was first used in 1991 by Danse Macabre's label magazine MagazinOphon.
[6] It was picked up by Sven Freuen, a journalist for the Zillo magazine, who used it to classify bands like Relatives Menschsein, Das Ich and Goethes Erben.