I know the title may sound strange and misleading, but let me explain it by putting an example.

Iron Maiden - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

I'd dare to say that if you removed the lyrics from the song, the music itself would bring up to one's mind images of the ocean, medieval ships and an adventure on sea; thus, matching perfectly with the lyrical theme.

Another example could be In my Kingdom Cold by Immortal. The music screams of darkness, the cold and desolation (which again, is directly related to the lyrics.)


I know that this relation between sound and lyrics might be conditioned by the foreknowledge of the lyrics or the title of the song, but as English is not my first language, and these phenomena occurred to me long before I learned the language, I still believe it's an interesting fact to discuss.

So, what bands are capable of creating a music that matches the lyrics of their songs? And please, let's talk about the bands that go beyond of setting a mere "mood" (sad song, happy song, melancholic song, etc.) and create a whole atmosphere that is more specific to the content of their songs.

Ahab - The Call of the Wretched Sea

Again ocean stuff. Melville's "Moby Dick" lends itself particularly well to that funeral doom. I find the imagery evoken in the listener's mind to be quite similar to this lyrical topic.

Don't know about their other albums, though...

Going with Iron Maiden too i'd say Powerslave, it just sounds so damn Egyptian, also while im thinking off Immortal i'll have to say the start of Battles In The North sounds just like a blizzard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i1rlvOI-UE

Hail of Bullets - Ordered Eastward
The music makes you picture war, from the martial sounding snare to the opening riff that sounds like a tank rolling across the battlefield.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-r78Ry3o2w

1349's Revocations of the Black Flame, very atmospheric journey through hell, even if a lot of people didn't care for the music. Also Graves of the Archangels by Dead Congregation, idk what exactly I picture when I listen to this but it's way over my head and mystical and dangerous as hell. For a thrash example I'll pull out either Darkness Descends or Leave Scars, both very atmospheric albums for their time. I like Time Does Not Heal too but in my head it's more of a shredfest focusing on the instrumentals with an emphasis on that thrash attitude as opposed to any coherent theme.

I think Iced Earth's Horror Show does a pretty good job of this. Also, Bard's Song in the Forest by Blind Guardian, the Gettysburg Suite, again by Iced Earth, although that is mostly due to exaggerated military instruments like the snare and flute. I also think of The Dragon's Flight Across the Waves by Amon Amarth, which perfectly captures the throbbing of oars and sails racing across a torpid sea. Ruins by Nile comes to mind as well, with almost droning guitar work that makes you feel like you're making your way through a decrepit tomb. The Hostile Carbon Units demo by Standing on a Floor of Bodies also deserves a mention because even without the vocals, they put that hammering anxiety of the fear of death inside of you, waiting while chained in a basement for your captor to come and end it. Literally gives me nightmares.

Almost every black metal album invokes some sort of imagery for me. As an example, here's a tidbit of me describing Rain Upon the Impure by The Ruins of Beverast's atmosphere: "wandering through a massive expanse of plains at night while in the distance you can see a man-made ruin the size of mount Kilimanjaro."

All the lyrics on Agalloch's The Mantle really match the music perfectly. Listening to "In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion" I get the profound feeling of finding some almost religious experience wandering through an expanse of remote nature. And lo and behold, the lyrics match that feeling to a tee. For example this line from the song:
Here at the edge of this world
Here I gaze at a pantheon of oak, a citadel of stone
If this grand panorama before me is what you call God
Then God is not dead

When I hear it I get chills, because it is such a profound instance where words match the music. One with out the other wouldn't have the same effect.
Examples like that are abound on The Mantle, but that is one of my favorites

Weapon, Watain, Mitochondrion and Deathspell Omega. The artwork, music and lyrics all go together and if any one of those things were taken away then the whole imagery would be ruined. Weapon's second album is a prime example of this. If you listen to Sardonyx or The Inner Wolf while simultaneously looking at the artwork then you'll definitely know what I'm talking about.

Amon Amarth's "The Dragon's Flight Across the Waves" has the lyrics, music, and artwork in great sync. The tremolo passages really bring to life images of rowing along the sea, whereas the galloping rhythms build anticipation for the battle the men are rowing towards, and the solo just nails the mood altogether. The artwork for that album is pretty much what I picture with the lyrics

He's already dressed, ready to leave
His four friends are waiting by the shore
Each with a dragon ship
And one hundred men prepared for war

I think there are many examples of this, but the first two that come to mind are Deicide and Insomnium.

The guitar and bass riffs and even the drums in the Deicide song "In Hell I Burn" reall sounds to me like flames rising up and engulfing someone.

Likewise, Insomnium, who is perhaps my favorite band if you can't tell from my screen name...a lot of their music evokes to me images of trees swaying in a forest at night, something they talk about in their lyrics.

Also, some of the songs on Immortal's "Sons of Northern Darkness" sound to me like horses trampling the ground during a Viking battle...which is obviously the kind of thing they sing about as well.

I will mention to complete opposites so wide in their difference that it will glow in the dark of the most deadend nights. Agalloch - The Mantle and 1349 - Demonoir. One conjuring up images of the most tranquillized and entrancing fortress of oblivion and the other the most energetic and chaotic regions of hell.

ATAAAAAACCCCKKKKKKKK

Babylon Whores. Very great occult oriented lyrics that fit the mood of their music perfectly. Ike Vil wrote some of the deepest lyrics I've ever red. He also used black humour in some places, which is always welcome.

All of Immortal prior to SOND

fucking frostdemonstorms

also, Beherit's Drawing Down The Moon sounds like the chasms of hell opening and revealing 9999 demons dancing in mockery of humanity

Like some said Immortal , another obvious answer is Running wild and Melechesh

Beyond any reasonable doubt whatsoever,

Shores In Flames by Bathory off Hammerheart.

Ships in some kind of Viking era dock, bad weather, sailing, Vikings attacking (the city by surprise). Seriously, it's executed perfectly.

Darkspace. I know space has no sound, but if it did it would sound like a Darkspace album. They perfectly capture the cold desolation of space. Great band.

Pretty much any old school death metal album whose lyrics dealt with actual death and gore.

Woods of Infinity, especially on Ljuset (2005). Probably my favourite album, with the best lyrics ever written. I believe Taliesin stated it perfectly in his review:



The lyrics are about reality, but a darkly twisted version of reality as seen by someone driven insane by absolute hatred and disgust for humanity and existence. They feel frighteningly inhuman, but the humanity shines through to remind us that the narrator was once like us, and that this black parody of a person exists in us too.

The music, vocals and lyrics are all equally essential to make this album a true masterpiece. Too bad the lyrics are in Swedish, so about 99.8% of the Earth's population is robbed of this absolutely unique experience.

Bal Sagoth for sure - enhanced by the overall artwork, background fluff on Byron's blog, the great pulp fantasy / scifi lyrics
all add to really vividly evoke images to their music.

Many black metal invokes this really cold atmosphere, that's why lyrics like those of Immortal are that fitting.

But the song that has managed something like that best so far imo is Percées de Lumière by Alcest. I can't even follow the lyrics without the sheet and a translation since I don't speak French but once I knew what it is about it made sense to me and makes me almost feel like I'd be in the place of the narrator, drunk on light.
Due to the strong shoegaze-influence, Alcest is a strange case of black metal (if you even want to call it that), invoking warmth instead of coldness.

Also worth mentioning is Lightning Bolt by Iron Fate. And Xeper by Vader.
And lots of other music. Some stuff by Jack Slater and Vital Remains springs to my mind.
But it's rather the interaction of lyrics and music that often makes it work so good; I'm not sure if I'd really "get" it if I wouldn't already know what it roughly is about.

Another example: Bolt Thrower. If you want to feel like being crushed beneath a tank (in a good way), that's the way to go.

And some genres by themselves just have that inherent atmosphere to them, independent of the lyrics, so if there are lyrics that deal with these topics they almost automatically fit.
OSDM reeks of decay and gore, DSBM's eery screams transfer despair, and much thrash just makes me want to jump into the next pit (that's propably one of the reasons why so many thrash-revival bands still sing about moshing although there already are thousands of songs about it - it simply fits).