Top 10 Death Metal Bands Whose Lyrical Themes Are Different From the Stereotyped Image
Cattle Decapitation is an American Deathgrind band from San Diego, California formed in 1996. Cattle Decapitation's songs protest the mistreatment and consumption of animals, the abuse of the environment and touch subjects such as misanthropy and genocide of the human race. Much of their music is based on putting humans in the situations that animals are subjected to, for example animal testing, slaughter, etc. While the band started with an entirely vegetarian lineup, only two current members are vegetarian namely Travis Ryan and Josh Elmore. I was never their fan but:
1) The band's devotion to these lyrical themes isn't fake - they even started with an entirely vegetarian lineup but currently only 2 members are vegetarians
2) Read the following carefully because this band is misunderstood:
"Cattle Decapitation's songs protest the mistreatment and consumption of animals, the abuse of the environment and touch subjects such as misanthropy and genocide of the human race. Much of the band's music is based on putting humans in the situations that animals are subjected to, for example animal testing, slaughter, etc." - wiki
3) Cattle Decapitation were acknowledged as "one of the few metal bands whose message hits as hard as their music".
4) Now look at their album covers and lyrics from a different angle. From the right angle.
Nile is an American technical death metal band from Greenville, South Carolina, United States, formed in 1993. Their music and lyrics are inspired by Ancient Egyptian/Near Eastern mysticism, history, religion, and ancient art, as well as the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Some band members (I think 2 of them) studied Egyptian history at the uni.
Death as a lyrical theme in death metal shouldn't surprise anyone.
Obscura is a technical/progressive death metal band from Germany, founded in 2002. The band became prominent when members of Necrophagist and Pestilence joined Steffen Kummerer to release the critically acclaimed second full-length album, Cosmogenesis. The band was named after the Gorguts album Obscura. Their entire album Omnivium, 2011, was based on Friedrich Schelling's "On Nature's Connection to the Spirit World".
Opeth is a Swedish progressive death metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by David Isberg, who invited Mikael Akerfeldt into the band as a bassist. Isberg ended up leaving the band, which lead to Mikael becoming the band's vocalist, guitarist, principal songwriter, and driving force. Along with ...read more.
Amon Amarth is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, formed in 1992. The band takes its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom. Their songs could be soundtracks to the series Vikings on History Network.
Children Of Bodom was a melodic death metal band from Espoo, Finland. Formed in 1993, the final lineup consisted of Alexi Laiho, Janne Wirman, Henkka Seppälä, Jaska Raatikainen and Daniel Freyberg. Their lyrical themes correspond to their music that is a bit thrashy and some thrash lyrical themes appear in their songs (anger, antagonism, hate)
Brain Drill is an American technical death metal band formed in 2005 from Ben Lomond, California. They are signed to Metal Blade Records and released their full-length debut album entitled Apocalyptic Feasting on February 5, 2008. In support of their debut, disagreements were engaged and members began to leave, which led to rumors that Brain Drill was disbanding on March 19, 2008. I don't know why some people hate this band - even the band's lyrical themes can't be used as an excuse for hating them.
Persefone is an Andorran progressive melodic death metal band formed in October 2001. The band's name is derived from Persephone, a figure in Greek Mythology.
Ne Obliviscaris (Latin for "forget not") are an extreme progressive metal band from Melbourne, Australia, formed in 2003.
Hypocrisy is a death metal band from Sweden. It was formed in 1990 in Ludvika, Sweden by Peter Tägtgren.
Insomnium is a Finnish melodic death metal band from Joensuu, Finland. The sound and lyrical themes of their music portray darkness, sorrow, loss, pain, and nature.