LoathsomePete

The way metal and indie differ in their geekiness is that indie manages to pull off the cool factor about being weird, metal is more about being weird because that's just how you are. I couldn't think of an indie band writing a song about Egyptian slaves being sacrificed to the god's phallic penis', so it's really not something that everyone can get. But on the other hand, metal has some incredibly poetic lyrics, specifically in the fields of death metal and black metal. I know it seems weird because one of death metal's defining features was its gory lyrics, but musicians and lyricists grow up over time. There's only so much you can really write about the inner workings of the human body, so some of the song writers started to experiment a little bit. One in particular was Chuck Shuldiner from the highly influential band Death. This is best evidenced on their last album The Sound of Perseverance (1998), here are a few examples:

"I would describe it as an invisible darkness
casting a shadow, a blinding black
guarded by hope, my soul is kept from
the bloody claws.

Look beyond, what vision lets me see
time after time, unneeded misery
holding tight to my dreams
I own no price for you
I grip them tight and hope for sight.

Open my eyes wide to see a moment of clarity
confusion gone, it's in your hands
your turn to ask why."

-"A Moment of Clarity"

"Throughout our time a thought
escapes us to enforce a word, no
holding on to pain it may seem to some

The easy way to say o.k., twist your
knife a little deeper
words to sharp actions dark
hide the blade of the deceiver."

-"To Forgive is to Suffer"

Opeth

"There's a sense of longing in me
As I read Rosemary's letter
Her writing's honest
Can't forget the years she's lost

In isolation
She talks about her love
And as I read
"I'll die alone"
I know she's aching

There's a certain detail seen here
The pen must have slipped to the side
And left a stain
Next to his name
She knows he's gone

And isolation
Is all that will remain
"The wound in me is pouring out to rest
on a lover's shore"

-"Isolation Years"

Enslaved

"Reckless man - So righteous, so clean
Towards the light - So bashful, so pure

Who told you to abandon life
Your strength, free will
And bow for the light?
The light! And turn from the spinning wheel

Fear of the judgement!
Obey!"

-Ethica Odini

Of course lyrics are very subjective from one person to another, some may not even notice the lyrics. I know for some people the vocals are more an instrument to add to the aesthetic of the music, and not for telling a story or singing. Still it's an interesting vocal style for those who do choose to try and tell a story by that vocal style. Trying to sing a long is incredibly hard and it really gives you an appreciation of talent to sing like that for a whole album. I guess what I'm saying is that there are just some areas where the musicians aren't as willing to go, whereas with metal you more or less just say "Fuck it" and do whatever you want.

I understand that my comparing musical genres to mentalities in high school might seem a little bit off putting, but I proved this to have some truth to it. When I was 15 I lost one of my first new friends after moving back up to Vancouver in 2003. I was really starting to get into my extreme metal phase and he acted like he didn't know me to impress some other people, who didn't like me because I listened to death metal. A couple of other things definitely helped make me an outcast, but my liking of death metal was the only thing that actually cost me a friend.

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