I only recently learned to appreciate the value of excellent lyrics; it's a variable that I ignored for too long. Now I'm on the hunt for quality lyrics.

In particular, I request bands that consistently deliver fucking badass lyrics (interpret "badass" in your own way). GENRE/VOCAL STYLE DOESN'T MATTER.

I don't want lyrics that are pretentious, but they shouldn't be too simple either. Intelligent, but relatively straightforward. Want stuff that evokes powerful imagery. Badassness can also come from the way the vocalist pronounces words, and when the music meet up with words in interesting ways (so I'm not limiting my request merely to words on a page). Non-English-speaking bands that murder the language is a turn off.

I recognize that badassess of lyrics is often inseparable for badassness of the music; so another way of stating my request is that I want badass metal where much of the badassess is due to the lyrics.

Hope this is clear enough.

Pain of Salvation. Amazing lyrics and singer.
Perfectly sung.

This song is Water.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsd3hGDcIe0

Angelcorpse has some great fucking lyrics and the band is so fucking awesome too. Black/death. Get "Exterminate"!

Awake! Sons of Vengeance rise
Rub the dust of twenty centuries from your eyes
Fashion your Being: ploughshares into weapons of war
Today we conquer the Self - tomorrow the world
- "Sons of Vengeance"

Heaven & Hell has badass lyrics, sung badassly.

There is only one answer to this question - bal-sagoth!

No Cryptopsy yet?

"They'll crawl in their perdition,
The righteous will be lost
Where gutted angels lie fucked...
Beneath the funeral cross;
We'll dig them a mass grave soon,
And bring to their knees
Those who would have rescinded
The laws of disease.

"The children have turned",
The cherubs wail,
As anticross triumphs
Where the cross has failed.

Hell-spawned majesty, we eagerly
Await the advent of the
Next millennium
When you will return with a swarm from
Beyond to claim your carnal
Lost dominion. "
-"Crown of Horns"

THIS! The way Byron intonates (apart from the screams) is a further plus!

And for some non-sword 'n sorcery type lyrics:

The chorus of "many a good man" by The Black League is really badass. Maybe not when only reading this but together with the rest of the music - Hell Yeah!
Ans the way Tarneli delivers them is just, well, badass and perfect!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD2_wQK6u1o

Black soul - Blue skies
Cold sweat and dead inside
A wrong man in a big bad land
Where many a good man failed

Right, cryptopsy too - SOMEHOW forgot about them (Don't know how).
Rorschach blotters,
My responses to which inspire fear...
From my lizard side,
The amoral alien speaks;
"These aren't butterflies,
I see a face I'd like to burn."

Obfuscation
Of the authorities with lies,
And my natur
Alability to charm and be me,
Or whoever they want;
I've known all minds by divine right - wow

Pretty crazy stuff. Also check out broken hope - most of their lyrics are pretty disgusting, but the album bowels of repugnance stands out the most to me. She came out in chunks is hilariously grotesque.

chills man. every time.

Acid Bath. Both albums. Dax Riggs is an amazing lyricist.

Recently been reading quite a few Immolation lyrics, think they're mostly pretty badass.

Exodus' Class Dismissed ,especially the pronunciation in the refrain is agressive
Not thinkfull but straightforward and the the music is also great

"Valedictorian of violence
Graduation day, one bullet remains
Charles Whitman set the precedent
I pull the trigger and blow out my brains
They never knew I was insane"

or Burn Hollywood Burn

"So young, bitch and famous
Hotel heiress, glamour queen
The only reason we know your name
Is bad night vision pornography"

The Black Dahlia Murder

“Let us go out this evening for pleasure for the night is still young!”
Let us dance skeletally,
The chill of the autumn is stirring in me.
Let us rape, let us murder,
A night to sate thine perverted desires,
A night on which to watch them die,
To see the life whisked from the inside.
A night so black as Satan’s hide,
When we ghouls do come alive,
When the masks of mockery shall disguise our wicked eyes.
To the death of all,
Celebrate the empty breath of fall.
The 31st t'will not go silent so long as evil doth dwell in man.
Devil's night t’was a scorcher,
But on this eve we bring hell.

Pig Destroyer wins metal lyrics forever. For example, here's Soft Assassin:

"Your heart looks delicious" she says
Licking her lips as her kamikaze fists
Crash into floating ribs
I stare at you the way you stare at your mirror
So please show me no mercy
Don't be a soft assassin
I scream though I'm laughing inside
I know you can't destroy me
But you're adorable when you try

Immolation has like the best anti-christian lyrics ever, completely fear and awe inspiring and they're one of the reasons for the huge evil atmosphere throughout CTAWB.

Lost Passion



And Father, You're Not a Father's chorus has such powerful lyrics


Father, you're not a father
Rapist, selfish taker of youth
The fires you cast out
I promise you for eternity

I second Trevor from Black Dahlia Murder, consistently kick ass lyrics. Especially on the new record. Also second Pig Destroyer, they have the most genuinly dark and overall fucking metal lyrics ever.

Esoteric have some awesome, well written lyrics.

Esoteric - Only Hate (Baresark) :

Disgust for the standards set by you,
Disgust for your aims of mass control.
Freedom is your silencing mechanism,
Fortunately for you people are too blind and ignorant to see,
That while you exist they will never be free.

Your lies of freedom I spit upon,
From birth you have calculated our control.
Born as a number on your little machines.
A number to check upon, to keep under control.

Now to the blind I'll help you see,
That you are born under a contract laid down by society,
Obligations to obey their laws, no freedom of speech.
You are one mind, they are many.
Justice has been decided by the narrow-minded bastards
Who lived centuries ago, leading the fools,
With the commandments of their false "God" they made up the rules.

Fuck your morals I have my own mind,
To decide what is best for me.
You know nothing of psychology, only of fantasy,
And love of order in your tidy, empty lives.

From lies you built the order of society,
Skepticism your enemy, you try to make people believe,
From an early age so that they cannot retrieve,
Their instincts of life and questioning, so that they just
Follow blindly, but you'll never blind me.

I have only hatred for those in authority,
And the blind fools who follow.
So weak in spirit, never questioning.
I have only hate for this fucking society.

So weak.
I have only hate for this fucking society.

Esoteric - Dominion Of Slaves

Internal images,
Scattered within translucent thought.
Order amongst the chaos of the psyche.

The external dilapidation,
A tribute to their world of regression.
I pour forth my scorn,
To the dominion of slaves.
Bound by blindness.
Their fear of the unknown,
Is greater than the price of ignorance.

The changing face of humanity.
A different face for each occasion.
Remove the mask and see the vacant stare.

The mask is all they know....

Behold the sight,
The irony of it all.

Everything is true,
In the dimension of dreams.

Their dirge wrought through the chains of insecurity.
The common-trod path leads to oblivion (trampled by fools),
The path that is built remains strong.

The valour of perception,
Is bestowed upon few.

Some of my favorite lyrics come from Dark Tranquillity. Shade Empire has some interesting lyrics as well.

Most of The Crown's lyrics. Seriously, most ass-kicking band on the planet (I mean, before they became christians or whatever on that worthless new album).

I saw it flash before my eyes!! Blitzkrieg witchcraft!

Evil night, Hell on earth! As the black sky turns to a white out of light!
Mushroom clouds of endless size rise and shine, blinding all, total fear is all you feel!
Scream in silence as your soul explodes! Death construction war machine flying free on nightmare wings!
The only thing that you see is an insane black abyss open up, still the missiles strike!

You're gonna learn the hard way, that the world don't wanna be saved
So when it calls for doomsday...
I'll kick back, step out! I see...

Blitzkrieg witchcraft - massmurder megaslaughter!
Madness, terror - the occult power of destruction!
Nuclear warfare - burning storms of radiation!
H-bomb! Sieg Satan - Exploding bodies uber alles!
Come and take it away!

[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/crown-lyr ... yrics.html ]
Fatal end from beyond. Black magician, politician, devastation ritual!
To be king, on the other side, a psychedelic kamikaze to kill all life
Burst command! Death is done! Horror power holocaust! Demons dance in nuclear winds!
Extreme evil! Terrify! The sky caves in and breaks as you're falling down to Hell!

You're gonna learn the hard way, that your soul don't wanna be saved
So when it calls for doomsday...
Kick back, step out, watch it all fall apart! You'll see:

Blitzkrieg witchcraft - massmurder megaslaughter!
Madness, terror - the occult power of destruction!
Nuclear warfare - burning storms of radiation!
A-Bomb! Pure deathfuck - yeah, God really loves his children:

There will be peace and silence... in eternity
Your prayers have finally been answered!

Some good shit, people.

Amon Amarth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ28J1pa2mk


Ten men are dead by my feet
I smell their steaming blood
And I smile, cause it makes me
Makes me feel so good

They were crawling on their knees
Begging for their pathetic lives
Now their souls belong to me
As well as their eyes

I have, for some reason, never found metal lyrics better than Kamelot's on the albums "Epica" and "The Black Halo", but it depends what you're looking for -- isolating lines here and there might reveal some duds, but looking at the songs/albums as whole, considering the connections between the parts etc., will reveal some extraordinary writing quality. Beautiful language with poetic flourishes, terrific metaphors, and some seriously sophisticated music (for power metal anyway) to go along with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDubchjrz1I&feature=related

I was coming in to bring up Rebel Angel. Fuck that opening verse is perfect.

"Inhale glory, exhale fear
No God or master to make me kneel
Inhale fury, explode force
I am Lord I break your laws
I raise my fist in blasphemy
And with the sign of the horns give praise to the rebel angeeeel

STAND PROUD! STAND STRONG! ALONE! AGAINST GOD!
CAST OUT! THROWN DOWN! HATED, FEARED AND LEFT TO DIIIIIEEEE"

What about "Heaven and Hell" by the mighty Sabbath? Meaningful and definitely still relevant. Also, Celtic Frost have some fucking INCREDIBLE lyrics although Tom sometimes has an accent (it might not bother you though). Gosh, there's tons! Add "Dethroned" by Death Angel; those lyrics make the song what it is, along with that catchy riff of course!

Timeghoul does have quite badass lyrics.

The Siege

Look over the battlements
at the burning countryside
there the army of wicked madness
besieges this castle of will

Feel the frozen wind
from the bleak outer world
the banner twists in agony
tortured from the world around
the wind seeps through the walls
whispering revelations of despair
it skulks in high lofted ceilings
a messenger of the fallen realm

The moat displays whitened bloated corpses
a cesspool where the slain float
for miles back their casualties are strewn
ours burn on pyres smoke replacing sky

Listen to the sound of the pounding
battering rams
their black winged echoes
fly down these desolate halls
each catapult stone defeats the walls
we labor to repair what falls upon us
the bringers of insanity
dance bizarrely
in celebration
of their coming conquest

Look and see their campfires
like obscene stars fallen to the ground
wallow in dread at the moment's peace
for the battle always resumes

No shining army will rush to our aid
we are to die in this crumbling tomb
I'm being driven mad
specters of bitterness and confusion
circle my head
the mist goes in my ears and exits my mouth
and within they destroy all they can

The bringers of lunacy have breached the walls
remnants of innocence put to the sword
engulfed into the kingdom of the mad
my psyche lays in ruins but now I'm born

The lack of Primordial recs deeply disturbs me. Most empowering lyrics ever, sung with a fiery passion. Also, I second all Dax Riggs, Lord Worm and Trevor Strnad mentions. Oh, I almost forgot; the lyrics for Demilich's Nespithe are strangely unsettling, and 100% badass.

Black Future


Energetic pulse rippling out from our world
An undead galactic master sleeps within a sub-spatial realm
Dark waves traverse the astral plane, the demonoid awakes
Nebular projections pierce the fabric of space
The anti-being comes through

Black future

All at once the sky went black, a single earth beat heart attack
Awakened giant in the sky, through the black, huge glowing eyes
A purple glow which stilled the air, stranglehold in the demon's glare
The hungry darkness in our mind's is the toxic substance on which it thrives

Black future

World destroyer

Time accelerates with the advent of a monolithic shadow
On this world that we call home, within our minds its thoughts grow
Entering into our brains, eaten alive but we still feel safe
Never exposed to the light, seething global parasite

Black future




VEKTOR RULES!

Also from Vektor.

Lifeless scenes emerge between the clouds of acidic mist
Metalloid structures crowd this puke colored abyss
The past is the only thing living on the planet
A runaway greenhouse affect destroyed everything organic
The species left their impact with radioactive craters
The cities lie flat on this nuclear future
Phase ten complete on the Venus Project
Scorched rocks and molten lead will be the fate of man
Fear echoes strongly in this nuclear wasteland

Really can't go wrong with any Destroyer 666 lyrics:

This is retribution!

So come to me all you philosphers
I have a use for all your words
And as for you poets and bards
Syncophants to every scar
And as for you lovers of light
You are prisoners on all sides
And as for you humanists
I give the gift of pestilence

This is tyranny

And as for your politics
You march in circles with semantic tricks
And as for you occultists
You hide in shadows with your books
And fuck you all religious fools
Your gods your temples your fucking rules
I have no need for pessimism
I believe in nihilism!
And emperors of golden halls
You built your tomb within your walls
So blessed be the murderers
Who work like wicked conjurers

Spare none the blade!

Rape the world!



Ride forth sons of perdition
Dominate fuck and destroy
By blood and thunder - rise of the heretics
Satan has won!



When every fool is given a voice
and every fool is given the right -
through the deafening roar of the maddening crowd
you just might hear the drums resounding.

A momentary lapse of Treason on the multinational stage,
A linear history manifest; a mass delusion by bequest.
Now, in this age of reason a million righteous fools
invoke a million Gods, as in the age of stone -

Christians and Zionist Jews, Crescent Moon peasants,
Marxist tyrants and childless hypocrites.
Tell me where the truth lies,
and I'll tell you which lie is truth.
Another fucking cliché to misconstrue!

Men of ursury, count your corn -
you'd be better to count your days.
Women of perjury, you'll rue the night
you gave yourself away.
Narcotic child: come you'll see -
I fear not for your soul has fled from thee.

So beware the lure of religion
and beware the voice of idealism -
cast off the garb of your eloquence,
your romantic vision and their pretense.

Fuck them all, all ye of little faith -
let the Wolves Awaken!
Fuck the all, each and every one:
a thousand plagues upon them!

"By god you're cunning, they never knew, behind the vision there was you. You are cold, like a shadow, like a knife in the lives of the shallow."

Fuck them all, each and every one -
a thousand plagues upon them!

Fuck them all. Salt the earth and betray them -
if there's a god above, then hear my call:
a thousand plagues upon them.
One last request to wish them Hell.

My epitaph - my final word:
a thousand plagues upon them.





Also, Axis of Advance have some of the best:

A hamlet lord had taken me in
He was an elder lacking kin
His wing was mentorous and protective
The celestial erudition he was about to share

As a boy i'd learned much on my own
Recognizing pre-war signs and dialects
But Lord Elmreckt was a master intellectual
Capable of feats unproven by science

The first step: to understand the fear
To control the reflexes of mental lapse
Following this: the medicinary state
Where expanding the mind is possible by the use of linear projection

And for long months, I listened, practiced and learned
My mind's eye has transcended the scars of the earth
My awareness immense, my instincts now honed
Lord Elmreckt and I were tapping into the unknown

And oh, the sight and the sound!
Like a billion explosions, but black and calm
And this alleged continuum of space and time?
It is not at all like what is said in thr old world's books

"Quiet" he said, "We are travelling at a humungous speed
Down an unchartable quarter of the astral sleet"
It was so intense that I felt death grip me
Toy with me, follow me and then let me go

Apparition: "There is a land far away across the violent sea
9000 solsti have passed since a dying and unearthly race
Tried to cultivate there. It is important that their work is completed.
Not for their sake, but for yours
Amemnon"

What is this... strange four legged creatures hoofing through desert lands
Gigantic triangular structures... bizarre glyphs... and a...
An opening for life of the universal nucleus




Wrought of blind innocence like children playing with dolls
Considering not technology of convenience would forever rule our lives
The machine is dark and distant yet we all fall in line
For it controls who gets the scraps; When
We are pounded with fear
Day in day out enslaved to its foul ends with no sign of hope at all

Thurty X's and thirty more the fallen a heap of rot in my head
Faceless, nameless, bug-eyed, ugly over and over, the voices command
Banging fraps on my door! Never before, never before
I'm losing control can't tell if it's real or in my mind
Lost in a quagmire of monotony we see the slaves
Control, predestination no avow
When all paths and roads lead toward no escape we will
Rise or fall by the wayside of this storm

Should I answer? The wait may be over
They must be here for me they will take me to punishment
Sweat off the fear; breath frapping again and again
Pulse acceleration to burst the door unlocks and opens (not by my hand)

In silence I freeze this night silhoutted by hallway light
Blurred by terror, pulse of force blood turns cold, so much worse

We are pounded with fear
Day in day out enslaved to its foul ends
With no sign of hope at all
When all paths and roads lead toward no escape
We will rise or fall by the wayside of this storm
Wrath Pounding

Gavin_rossdale, I'm surprised the lyrics you brought up weren't about necromancy.

Yep, couldn't agree more on this one, specialy the storm before the calm album has some really awesome lyrics...

oh, and also Mastodon's lyrics are one of the more awesome:

I killed a man 'cause he killed my goat
I put my hands around his throat
He tried to reason with the sky and the clouds
But it didn't matter, 'cause they can't hear a sound

One of my fav lyrics is on the song Lacertine Forest by Psycroptic, just love the way Chalky tells the story

"In this world there's an unknown forest
deep within parts not explored - yet.
A corner of earth that's a mystery,
though only to our human race.
A residence, of an ancient clan
that have lived here for generations, and have survived
by remaining in this place of seclusive presidence.
A forest - an extensive population
Of lizards - various breeds
Most un-named, some with almost human features
Most half breeds.
Some you'll find can even fly, their species is growing larger
All are born, within the trees, and their skin is rough like
Scaled.......Bark.....
They are born with just a mother, from a spawn taken from the tree
It is secreted on her skin, within days a child is within.
Only six weeks and the child is born - a male but no genitals
There are no need for these as all are fathered by the trees.
This is a race on a steady decrease, an unknown foe called 'humans'
Deadly pollution, drifting across, ocean to their land
Causing - drought, killing the trees
Taking their life source, causing distress, elders call council
Much discussion, form strategy
Then after much careful planning, decides
To send a troop of flying lizards, a-broad
Their mission is to discover
What it is that is destroying
Their fragile eco-system
And to try make things right.
We are a race from an ancient source
that have lived here for generations
And have destroyed- a multitude of things in
our time of residence, we must now face our destruction
by a division of lacertilians,
Their bodies are more resistant to our
weapons (than) anything we can create.
We are now doomed to extinction
And, we surely deserve it.
Deluded arrogance, Mistreatment, of our worl
Will lead to certain death,
Please forgive - our human race."

Mgla's new album, With Hearts Towards None, contains some awesome stuff. Direct, angry, powerful and not overtly cryptic with their references of philosophy or religion.

I really like Beheaded lyrics, especially Horde of the Stolen Sun.
Solitary descent amid the twisting depths
Tracing the downward spiral trailed by the dead
On the merge of desperation, inhaling pain
Suffused in ruins and never to rise again
Devoid of hope - injected by binding fear
Wet my arid spirit, I bathe in lakes of tears...