Random Thoughts: Death: The Sound of Perseverence

I wanted to do a brief post about this amazing album. I have always felt that this was Death's most ambitious and personal album. I also believe that it is Death's best album. Death has always been Chuck Schuldiner and whoever else he happened to have in the studio at the time. This album was clearly an intensely personal experience for Schuldiner. But I will deal with that in a minute.

Death's music on this album was incredibly progressive. Showing a technicality and melodic sensibility that was largely lacking in the initial albums by the band. That's not to say that they were bad albums, but this album has to be considered in a completely different light than their material that pioneered the death metal genre. The melodies are the key on this album, rather than the crushing monolithic riffs of their prior material. The guitar leads and solos sound amazing and Schuldiner's voice is higher-pitched and desperately emotional this time around.

What makes this truly an extraordinary album is the emotional impact. Chuck Schuldiner was dying when this was written and recorded. The album is incredibly spiritual and reflects the mortality of its writer. Songs like "Story to Tell" and "Spirit Crusher", as well as many of the other tracks deal with the personal journey of slowly succumbing to brain cancer. This album is amazing because even though Schuldiner was dying, he still managed to portray some uplifting emotions in it.

To close, I want to reprint the lyrics to "A Moment of Clarity":

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 to 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
Life is like a mystery
With many clues, but with few answers
To tell us what it is that we can do to look
For messages that keep us from the truth

Chuck Schuldiner died of brain cancer in 2001, just three years after this album was released.

Lyrical Themes: Dirty Songs

I had this conversation with my fiancee when we were driving to Lincoln last Saturday morning. We were listening to her iPOD at the time, because I am a considerate boyfriend and let her occasionally listen to her music in my car while traveling :rolling eyes:. I think we were listening to Nickelback at the time, not one of my favorites but better than some of the alternatives. Anyway, she asked me if there were any dirty songs in metal. Of course there are. Metal covers a very wide variety of themes. So, I decided to look into things a little bit.

Here we go:

MEGADETH: "MECHANIX"
Imagine you were at my station
And you brought your motor to me
Your a burner yeah a real motor car
Said you wanna get your order filled
Made me shiver when I put it in
Pumping just won't do ya know luckily for you
Whoever thought you'd be better
At turning a screw than me
I do it for my life
Made my drive shaft crank
Made my pistons bulge
Made my ball bearing melt from the heat
We were shifting hard when we took off
Put tonight all four on the floor
When we hit top end you know it feels to slow
I'm giving you my room service
And ya know it's more than enough
Oh one more time ya know I'm in love

Here we have a song about an encounter between a mechanic and a woman. Lots of double entendres here. Interestingly, this song features the same riff as the Metallica classic "The Four Horsemen", mostly because "Mechanix" is the original version of the song written while Mustaine was still in Metallica.

FAITH NO MORE: "BE AGGRESSIVE"
You're the master
And i take it on my knees
Ejaculation
Tribulation
I swallow, i swallow, i swallow, i swallow
Be aggressive
B-e aggresive
B-e-a-g-g-r-e-s-s-i-v-e-

This song is about oral sex. Obviously. Not the least bit subtle. My favorite part about this is the Be Aggressive cheer sounds as if it is actually being performed by cheerleaders, adding an extra bizarre layer to the proceedings.

JUDAS PRIEST
Rob Halford is gay. This fact is less surprising when you look back at some of the songs he wrote while a member of the band. Song titles like "Hell Bent for Leather", "Grinder", "Ram It Down", "Jawbreaker", and "Eat Me Alive" take on a new meaning when you realize this.

ANVIL: "BUTTER BUST JERKY"
All I need is a lady
With more than average size
She's gotta be a bit crazy
Won't take no compromise
If she can fill a "D" cup
It's good enough to keep me up

Get you down on your backside
I wanna see your wares
Gonna mount you for a good ride
Nothing else compares
Takin' one into each hand
Do as I command

Doin' the Butter-Bust Jerky
We're gonna get down and dirty
Doin' the Butter-Bust Jerky
And makin' me feel so good

Dip your fingers in the butter
Spread it all across your chest
In between one another
You know what I like best
Push 'em close together
The tighter the better

Doin' the Butter-Bust Jerky
We're gonna get down and dirty
Doin' the Butter-Bust Jerky
We're gonna get down and dirty
Doin' the Butter-Bust Jerky
And makin' me feel so good

Ah, the 1980's. The only decade you could get away with this crap.

CRONOS
More obvious song titles: "Love is Infectious", "Dirty Trix Dept.", "Aphrodisiac", "Booby Trap", "Sexloitation".

MANOWAR: "PLEASURE SLAVE"
Need I say more?

MOONSPELL
Moonspell has had a number of songs dealing with gothic, erotic themes. Songs like "Vampiria" and "An Erotic Alchemy" come to mind. Danzig has also done some things like this.

MOTLEY CRUE
"Girls, Girls, Girls", "Same Ol' Situation", and "She Goes Down" are just obvious.

PANTERA: "GOOD FRIENDS AND A BOTTLE OF PILLS"
I fucked your girlfriend last night.
While you snored and drooled, I fucked your love.
She called me Daddy. And I called her baby when I
Smacked her ass. I called her sugar when I ate
Her alive till daylight. And I slept with her all
Over me, from forehead to ribcage I dripper her ass.
Sometimes I thought you might be spying, living out some
Brash fantasy, but no. You were knocked out. But we were
All knocked out you know. In a way
I serve too many masters.
We didn't know you'd break the bottle that the magic
Came in to use those jagged shards to slit our wrists
And neck. And you'd do it too, you're that kind of dude.
But you wouldn't know what you were doing because
I didn't, your girlfriend could have been a burn
Victim, an amputee, a dead body. But god damn I wanted
To fuck.
I'm serving too many fucking masters.
[I told you. I told you motherfucker]

I hate this song really.

DIAMOND HEAD: "SUCKING MY LOVE"
Over and under, do you go down to the sea
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Sweet and timely caress, dear babe fulfillin' me

I can feel her heart, it is beating down inside
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Tasty, tasty, tasty, tasty

Into her valley, all her charms taste of love
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Fragrance of my dreams, yeah go down, take my love
Oh yeah, yeah

Taste my bitter wine, cos there's something boiling up inside
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Tasty, tasty, tasty, tasty

Faster......love....
Make me go.....
Shoot me
Faster, faster

Love, sucking my love
Oh Lord, sucking my love
Oh Lord, sucking my love

Yeah. This is subtle.

SARCOFAGO
We have songs like "Satanic Lust", "Ready to Fuck", "Desecration of Virgin", and "Sex, Drinks, and Metal". Plus, English is not their first language. Thus, the lyrics:
Stand up to see
My penetrator hammer
He will make your dreams
Turn to reality

I will lick you
Of the feets 'till the head
Making you feel torrential orgasms

Oh lady start to suck me
Because i'm ready
I'm ready to fuck

Stand up to feel
My machine of delight
He will make your reality turn to a dream

TYPE O NEGATIVE: "MY GIRLFRIEND'S GIRLFRIEND"
It's no secret we're close
As sweaty velcro
Like latex, fur and feathers
Stuck together, now

In their '62 Vette
Sharing one cigarette
In a black light trance then
Go go dance, then

They keep me warm on cold nights
We must be quite a sight
In our meat triangle
All tangled, wow

My girlfriend's girlfriend
She looks like you
My girlfriend's girlfriend
She's my girl, too

Her and me and her and she and me
An uncrowded couple are we three
And we don't care what people say
When walking hand in hand down King's Highway
Two for one today

My girlfriend's girlfriend
She looks like you
My girlfriend's girlfriend
She's my girl

"LOVE YOU TO DEATH"
In her place one hundred candles burning
As salty sweat drips from her breast
Her hips move and I can feel what they're saying, swaying
They say the beast inside of me's gonna get ya, get ya, get...

Black lipstick stains on her glass of red wine
I am your servant, may I light your cigarette?
Those lips smooth, yeah I can feel what you're saying, praying
They say the beast inside of me is gonna get ya, get ya, get...

I beg to serve, your wish is my law
Now close those eyes, and let me love you to death
Shall I prove that I mean what I'm saying, begging
I say the beast inside of me is gonna get ya, get ya, get...

Let me love you to
Let me love you to death

Hey am I good enough for you?
Hey am I good enough for you?
Am I?
Am I?
Am I good enough
For you?

VENOM: "TEACHER'S PET"
Teacher caught me masturbating underneath the desk
she looked at me and winked her eye said "see you after class"
I heard the school bell ring that told me that the day was done
She called me back and locked the door my lessons just begun

Teacher's pet
Teacher's wet

Sitting down she crossed her legs her skirt crept up her thigh
Feeling something start to rise my thought began to fly
You've been a naughty boy, she said, now that you can't conceal
I'll have to punish you the best way that I feel

Teacher's pet
Teacher's wet

She took my hand and gently placed it in between her thighs
With open legs and heavy breath she slowly closed her eyes
Her flesh was aching and her hands began to stray
One thing that I know for sure, I won't forget today

Teacher's pet
Teacher's wet

Pulled me down forwards her mound, teacher tasted sweet
Sixty-nine - I don't mean lines, this was teachers treat
Played hide and seek with teachers mouth, her lips were warm and wet
Now today I've had my way and teacher won't forget

Teacher's pet
Teacher's wet

W.A.S.P.
W.A.S.P. wrote a song called "Fuck Like a Beast". Enough said.

Lyrical Themes: Greek Mythology

Whew. The big child custody trial is finally over. The judge took it under advisement, so I won't know the results for some time. But at least it's over.

Let's get back into things.

Today's post is inspired by Greek mythology. I've been on a kick lately since I got God of War 3 with the PS3 that my fiancee gave me for my birthday last month. Metal, being a genre with a wide range of lyrical themes, has found a fountain for lyrical content in Greek mythology. And it's not just the Greek bands either. Let's look at some examples. There are tons more than the ones I want to look at obviously.

ROTTING CHRIST: "GAIA TELLUS"
Well, we'll start with a Greek band anyway. This song is about the pre-Titan deity Gaia, Mother Earth, who bore much of the world and its inhabitants prior to the Titans, including the cyclopes.

ROTTING CHRIST: "HELIOS HYPERION"
Helios is the God of the Sun. He was originally a Titan however. Hyperion was another name for the being, as the Lord of Light.

ROTTING CHRIST: "THRENODY"
This song references the River Styx, upon which the dead souls travel to the Underworld, and Charon, the boatman across the River.

KAWIR
The Greek band references several Greek deities on its Ophiolatreia album, with song titles such as "Rhea" (mother of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, etc.), "Poseidon" (God of the Sea), "Ares" (God of War), "To Pallas" (references Athena), and "Hephaestus" (God of the Forge).

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR: "BEHEAD THE GORGON"
This is a discussion of the decapitation of Medusa by Perseus.

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR: "THE HYDRA COILS UPON THIS WICKED MOUNTAIN"
The hydra was a nine-headed serpent that was killed by Jason in order to acquire the Golden Fleece.

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR: "HADES UNLEASHED"
Referring to the God of the Underworld.

SYMPHONY X
The American progressive metal band did an entire album centered around the adventures of Odysseus in trying to return to Ithaca, including run-ins with the Sirens, Circe, Scylla and Charybdis, and the army of suitors taking up residence in his home when he returned.

TRIVIUM: "TORN BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS"
A reference to The Odyssey. Scylla was a sea monster and Charybdis was a whirlpool that Odysseus had to navigate through as part of his journey. Similar to the saying "caught between a rock and a hard place."

TRIVIUM: "HE WHO SPAWNED THE FURIES"
This song refers to the Titan Cronos, who ate his children, including Zeus, to avoid his prophesied doom to his children. His wife Rhea fed him a stone instead of Zeus who was then raised in secret until he rose up against his father and freed his siblings.

TRIVIUM: "OF PROMETHEUS AND THE CRUCIFIX"
Referring to Prometheus, the Titan who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to the mortals. He was doomed by being tied to a rock and having an eagle eat his liver each day. Each day it would grow back.

TRIVIUM: "LIKE CALLISTO TO A STAR IN HEAVEN"
The nymph of Artemis, Callisto was transformed into a bear and placed among the stars after being raped by Zeus.

IRON MAIDEN: "FLIGHT OF ICARUS"
Icarus and his father Daedalus, the architect of the Labyrinth, attempted to escape from Crete by creating wings out of wax and feathers. Surprisingly, the wings worked, but Icarus flew too high and the sun's heat melted the wax holding the wings together, causing him to fall.

SEPTICFLESH: "NARCISSUS"
We'll finish with another Greek band. Narcissus fell in love with his reflection and could never look away from the pond he saw it in. He was cursed and turned into a plant.

Lyrics: H.P. Lovecraft

I am a huge fan of H.P. Lovecraft's work. Every major horror author of the last 75 years owes a debt to Lovecraft. Many times his influences are obvious in the works of Stephen King and Clive Barker, as well as others. His influence can also be strongly felt in the lyrics of many heavy metal songs. That's why we're here today.

ADVENT: "SHUB-NIGGURATH"
Where the stones lain,
thou will call his name

If thou know the Signs,
If thou know the Words.

When the Sun
Enter in the Ram,
And darkness are fallen,
Turn thy face
To the Northern Wind

Iah! Shub-Niggurath!

...Heaven can wait...
Great Black Goat of Woods
Worldly pleasures
I call thou!
...Waiting another day...

The sign of Voor
Rise in the sky
The seal is broken
The sign of Kish
Appear in the circle
The Gates are open
The Sign of Koth,
Elder thou watching,
Seals what was unfolded

Return on the Earth again!
Wordly pleasure!
Great Black Goat of Woods!

Kneeled thy body
By Archon of the Night,
Scent on the fire
The Seal of Blaesu
is tracing

I'll have their power
Becoming as a god
My soul is strong
I feel their stream
Growing within;
Black Horrors of the Night
Will kneel to me
I'll take their forces
and I'll order
Over them...

ZARIATNATMIX, JANNA, ETUTNAMUS,
HAYRAS, FABELLERON, FUBENTRONTY,
BRAZO, TABRASOL, NISA,
VAR-SHUB-NIGGURATH ! GABOTS MEMBROT!

Ancient creatures
Who sleep beyond the time
Appear through mist and fire
Without shape,
Out of cosmic void

Is my soul condemned
From here to eternity?

Now that I open the Gates
I see the horror
That come out of time and space...

The Horror... The Horror...

DEATH BREATH: "FLABBY LITTLE THINGS FROM BEYOND"
Vile beyond conception
Floating in the air
Made visible by science
They're around you everywhere

In loathsome profusion
Archaic and arcane
These jellyish monstrosities
Are fucking with your brain

Confused to a state of repulsion
You stare at the unnamable spawn
Keep still - Don't move or they'll get ya
These flabby little things from beyond

Beyond aesthetic standards
Fouler than the night
Paralyzed you're screaming
As they're going for a bite

With a malignant purpose
Too unholy to be grasped
You slowly start to fathom
That this is your final gasp

Lo and behold the abominations
You try telling yourself you've been conned
But as they pierce your flesh you acknowledge
The flabby little things from beyond

With your preternatural eye
You watch before you die
Sights so vastly profane
You've gone beyond insane

Confused to a state of repulsion
You stare at the unnamable spawn
Keep still - Don't move or they'll get ya
These flabby little things from beyond

ELECTRIC WIZARD: "DUNWICH"Dunwich child,
You know not your fathers' name.
Dope numbs the pain,
Ascend dark wooded hills to kane.
Your mothers' witches,
Burnt at the stake for sorcery.
You were conceived,
Upon the altar, rites obscene.

Child of Dunwich rise
You have your fathers' eyes
Child of Dunwich rise
End the world that you despise

Dunwich child,
Of whispered past now they'll learn.
High on the hill,
Black clouds gather now they'll burn
Bay at the stars.
"Why was I born at all?"
Hear voice of doom,
From other worlds your fathers' call.

Our time has come,
The end has begun...

SEPTICFLESH: "LOVECRAFT'S DEATH"
The cold comes
The rats in the walls break
The deadly sound of silence
As time decays
You try to name the unnamable
A whispererer in darkness

Our hound smells you
The haunter of the dark
Will come to take you to our realm
Your life, your books
March in front your closing eyes
Beyond the walls of sleep

Lovecraft in the realm of the dead

Obsessed with Necronomicon
The Arab's wicked dream
You found a path to Azathoth
And walked the Dagon's realm

Your friends were haunted too
Do you remember Charles?
Or haven't you heard
The music of Erich Zann
The call of Cthulhu we disguised
With notes and raving rhythms
To spread the seed of lurking fear
Into the heart of man

Lovecraft in the realm of the dead

Your time is out you saw too much
You used the silver key
You know too well that minds like yours
Can never rest in peace

You stared at the abyss
You'll never rest in peace

You'll never rest in peace

METALLICA: "THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE"
Messenger of Fear in sight
Dark deception kills the light

Hybred children watch the sea
Pray for Father, roaming free

fearless Wretch
insanity
He watches
lurking beneath the sea
great Old One
forbidden site
He searches
Hunter of the Shadows is rising
immortal
in madness You dwell

Crawling Chaos, underground
cult has summoned, twisted sound

Out from ruins once possessed
fallen city, living death

fearless Wretch
insanity
He watches
lurking beneath the sea
timeless sleep
has been upset
He awakens
Hunter of the Shadows is rising
immortal
in madness You dwell

Not dead which eternal lie
stranger eons Death may die

drain you of your sanity
face The Thing That Should Not Be

fearless Wretch
insanity
He watches
lurking beneath the sea
great Old One
forbidden site
He searches
Hunter of the Shadows is rising
immortal
in madness You dwell

Metallica also had an instrumental song called "The Call of Ktulu".

MORBID ANGEL: "THE ANCIENT ONES"
Locked deep beyond the gate
Lost within the stars
Realm of the ancient ones
Malignant ones
Against the light
Power of the blackened sky
Hateful spawn "We are the chasm depths"

Come forth ancient ones, Tiamat Kutulu
Rise, greet the cursed with your wrath
My enemies are yours
Twist their minds with your spells
Crush their souls
With your infernal grasp

A scorn from the Absu
Kutulu snaps his jaws
Cauldron burns and receives
Crushing the voice of the tyrants
Raise the horns in blasphemy

YYRKOON: "OCCULT MEDICINE"
Through the universal needles
The official healing knowledge spreads itself
Here in some dark and hidden places
Humans dedicate themselves
To morbid discoveries
Morbid experiments
And sleeps the occult... medicine

Studying the art of death to feel a morbid thirst
Old as the beginning of time
Mutilation creation of misery into the cave of hell
Into this diabolic place
And sleeps the occult... medicine

Steel instruments shine in
A lively light of green substance
Dead or alive
Bodies and souls are waiting for the contact with these macabre tools
They are only creations made alive

This is just a small sample. There are tons more.

Depressing Songs

Unlike the earlier post on this blog dealing with love songs, this was pretty easy. There are a lot of depressing songs in metal. Metal is a genre of extremes. Usually these extremes are towards the wrong end of the emotional spectrum. Angry songs are extremely angry and sad songs are extremely sad. There is not a whole lot of happiness in metal. That's not to say it's impossible, it's just not very likely.

Here's some of the more depressing songs in metal:

Anthrax: Bare
When your clock is up
And you rest for good
I will cut off my armpiece
Just like we agreed we would

One must live while one must die

While the other argues that
The world ain't fair
But then who ever promised
Anybody equal share
You might as well forget
What you gambled on
'Cause plans never go by the way they're drawn

Black Sabbath: Changes
It took so long
To realize
That I can still hear
Her last goodbyes

Now all my days
Are filled with tears
Wish I could go back
And change these years

Blind Guardian: When Sorrow Sang
I feel like screaming
But I can't breath in
Shall I wane right now
I will not leave this
World of living
Till she has said
Goodbye

Out in the cold
I still wait for her call
And her last kiss
It shall be release
I can't forget her
Her face will not leave
From the depths of my soul
I long for her

Candlemass: Solitude
I'm sitting here alone in darkness
waiting to be free,
Lonely and forlorn I'm crying
I long for my time to come
death means just life
Please let me die in solitude

Dark Tranquillity: Emptier Still
Emptier still
As time takes us farther
Away from the goals
By which we are measured
I know that I should have stayed true
To you and to me
But time never heals
So here alone I stand

So tell me are you lonely
Tell me are you mine

Draconian: She Dies
Two souls entwined together,
Still so alone.
Both you and I are shattered
And frozen in stone.

You begged for air from within this cold tomb with pain sharp as a knife
I now lie resting like a child on thy womb, gave back a part of my life.

Dream Theater: Space-Dye Vest
There's no one to take my blame
if they wanted to
There's nothing to keep me sane
and it's all the same to you
There's nowhere to set my aim
so I'm everywhere
Never come near me again
do you really think I need you

I'll never be open again, I could never be open again.
I'll never be open again, I could never be open again.

And I'll smile and I'll learn to pretend
And I'll never be open again
And I'll have no more dreams to defend
And I'll never be open again

Iced Earth: Melancholy (Holy Martyr)
I see the sadness in their eyes
Melancholy in their cries
Devoid of all the passion
The human spirit cannot die
Look at the pain around me
This is what I cry for
Look at the pain around me
This is what I'll die for

Insomnium: Last Statement
I may be gone in the flesh
But my love will stay here
I am always with you in spirit
So just stay strong

No one wins tonight
No one gets a closure
No one walks away victorious

But don’t forget me
Don’t you forget me
Burn a candle for me when you can

Into Eternity: One Funeral Hymn for Three
One last song for three
Sang to you from beyond
Funeral hymn
The end has passed
I now see so much clearer
Funeral hymn

Kamelot: Love You to Death
When they met she was fifteen
Like a black rose blooming wild
And she already knew she was gonna die

"What's tomorrow without you?
This is our last goodbye"

She got weaker every day
As the autumn leaves flew by
Until one day, she told him, "This is when I die"

Machine Head: Deafening Silence
She looked right into my eyes and said to me
The hurt that you try to hide is killing me
You drink a thousand lies, to freeze the past in time

I’ve tried to fill this silence up
But now it’s back again

See the pain in my eyes
See the scars deep inside
My god, I’m down in this hole again
With the laughter I smile
With the tears that I cry
Keep going down this road called life

Megadeth: A Tout Le Monde
A tout le monde (To all the world)
A tous mes amis (To all my friends)
Je vous aime (I love you)
Je dois partir (I have to leave)
These are the last words
I'll ever speak
And they'll set me free

If my heart was still alive
I know it would surely break
And my memories left with you
There's nothing more to say

Pantera: Cemetary Gates
The reverend he turned to me
Without a tear in his eyes
It's nothing new for him to see
I didn't ask him why
I will remember
The love our souls had
Sworn to make
Now I watch the falling rain
All my mind can see
Now is your (face)

Well I guess
You took my youth
I gave it all away
Like the birth of a
New-found joy
This love would end in rage
And when she died
I couldn't cry
The pride within my soul
You left me incomplete
Memories now unfold.

Sonata Arctica: Tallulah
You let my hand go, and you fake a smile for me
I have a feeling you don't know what to do
I look deep in your eyes, hesitate a while...
Why are you crying?

Tallulah, It's easier to live alone than fear the time it's over
Tallulah, find the words and talk to me, oh, Tallulah,
This could be... heaven

Testament: Trail of Tears
Can you hear them call?

See the sun as it's setting still
Tears fall from a warrior
Damn those who I feel
Set a trail to the promised land
Mother and child holding hand in hand
Through the snow or through the sands

The Sins of Thy Beloved: Until the Dark
I see you here
with me but I fear the day
for you
hear my dear
I watch the land
and the window fallen down
I feel the pain
inside of me like a cloud
no one can save me
the time will come for my death
I think of you and wish me into an another live
I see you here with me
but I fear the day for you

Type O Negative: Red Water (Christmas Mourning)
Wake up, it's Christmas mourn
Those loved have long since gone
The stockings are hung, but who cares?
Reserved for those no longer there
Six feet beneath me sleep

In Honor of Halloween: Songs About Monsters

Today, we have a list of songs about monsters. Good monsters, bad monsters, monsters, monsters, monsters. I decided not to list songs from albums that I have recently discussed, which is why there are no songs by Iced Earth, Denial Fiend, and Force of Evil here. The monsters are either movie monsters, or monsters from literature, or even completely made up.

Metallica: The Thing That Should Not Be: This song is influenced by the H.P. Lovecraft story The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
Fearless Wretch
Insanity
He watches
Lurking beneath the sea
Great Old One
Forbidden site
He searches
Hunter of the Shadows is rising
Immortal
In madness You dwell

Pro-Pain: Rawhead: Clive Barker's Rawhead Rex
Beyond the realms of death
Lies beneath the earth a beast
And all is well
As he rots in hell
But he's soon to be released
In myth made by man
He's dismissed but not deceased
And to the church he came
He saw, he maimed
And pissed upon the priest

Slaughter: The Dark: Alien movies, I think. There are no lyrics available as this song was previously unreleased but the lyrics pretty clearly deal with the Alien.

Lich King: Predator: Self-explanatory, again there are no lyrics available, but it's pretty obvious this is referring to the Predator movies.

Arch Enemy: I am Legend/Out for Blood: Vampires/zombies, or something. It may be a reference to the story/movie, but the lyrics aren't clear.
I will get to you
And take you down
Tear your insides out
Crush your soul

I am out for blood
Out for your blood

Black Sabbath: Iron Man: A man transformed into a monster while trying to save mankind. This has been adapted to the Iron Man comic/movie, but it really is not related.
He was turned to steel
in the great magnetic field
When he travelled time
for the future of mankind

Nobody wants him
He just stares at the world
Planning his vengeance
that he will soon unfurl

Now the time is here
for Iron Man to spread fear
Vengeance from the grave
Kills the people he once saved

Dark Angel: Hunger of the Undead: Zombies
Eternally black
In limbo I'm trapped
In silence I sound a plea
Light is no more
I feel not a thing
Undead, I need to break free
Listen
The silence deafens all the unheard screams
The darkness rips away all the unseen dreams
Numbness shrouds my soul I'm left to roam
Paralysis now my only home
Spiritual planes do not exist
Life in this realm I will resist
And break these bonds - These chains that lock my soul
Watch my growing fire burst through the wall
I need to grasp the earthen world again
Onto the realm of humans I'll ascend

Dark Fortress: Cohorror: This one is pretty original. Seems to be some sort of parasite.
Even in this gruesome revelation
The bottom drops from abyssal unreallity

Wrenching revulsion
Cracks my skull, kills me again
I know this epiphany
Wearing my own face
Who are you

Cohorror has laid its eggs in me
Parasitic larvae from beyond existence
Raven the remnants of my decaying humanity

Death Breath: Flabby Little Things From Beyond: Lovecraftian monsters from potentially any story.
Vile beyond conception
Floating in the air
Made visible by science
They're around you everywhere

In loathsome profusion
Archaic and arcane
These jellyish monstrosities
Are fucking with your brain

Cathedral: Hopkins (The Witchfinder General): Based on a Vincent Price movie wherein the title character hunts witches.
She rides to the sabbath
Veiled under silver light
To make love to the devil
Necromancer of nyte
Within the mystic forest
She sets your world alight
Her coven conjure the demons
Herald the sacrifice yeah

Lucifera Vampirella
She bares the mark of the devil

Devourment: Unleash the Carnivores: No idea.
Rising, from the depths of filth
the worms will grub this fucking world
Scavenging for flesh
Filthy
rotten
Creatures stalk consume the dead
Rabid beasts will tear the skin of
all the scumbags that dwell among us
Spewing spit from savage jaws that tear
the limbs from tortured bodies
Screaming masses destined to be strewn among
splattered seas of entrails
Feasting are these ruthless beasts that crawled
from the darkest pits of hell

Helloween: Reptile: Possibly some reference to 1970's horror movies about gators in the sewers.
Coming from the sewerage creepin' thru the pipes
Born from modern chemistry a thing that is alive
Growing in this rotten crap at places no one wipes
Eating rats and stinking shit and all it needs to thrive

High on Fire: Cyclopian Scape: Again, no idea.
Reptile race crossbred down through the golden age, human haze
Lemurian throne taken and usurped by the alien drones, controlled and honed
Atlantian keys sunken and destroyed by catastrophe, left wandering
Bloodline kings slither down through society's reptoid dreams
Cataclysm to the elder tribes
Anunnaki have survived
Continents underwater shrine
Ocean vaults holding time
Say ye grace unto the serpent line
Unveil curse and their lies
Contemplate the lengths they'll go to rule
As their fangs dig into you

Impetigo: Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue: About a man becoming a zombie.
The bleak sun rises through the smog stained clouds
The day begins in a very somber way
The stench of the dead in the Manchester morgue
The stench of sterilized deacay...
The hideous signal...
I open my eyes, livid with sweat
Obnoxious film... but where have I been?
Strapped to the table, burning fluids course within my veins
Mortific eyes cannot dissuide that I see...
My plight is realized, I am dead but I see...
I feel the pain of the rush of formaldehype,
The brittleness of my bones
And they said I would never live again

Iron Maiden: Fear of the Dark: Just a general story about fear of the dark.
Have you run your fingers down the wall
And have you felt your neck skin crawl
When you’re searching for the light?
Sometimes when you’re scared to take a look
At the corner of the room
You’ve sensed that something’s watching you.

Fear of the dark ,Fear of the dark
I have constant fear that something’s always near
Fear of the dark, Fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone’s always there
Iron Maiden: The Wicker Man

Kreator: Storm of the Beast: Not real specific.
Down darkness all around
The beast is leaving its bloody home
The smell of death is in the air
People die if he wants the throne

And they fall down, down down to their knees
Mercy is a word he doesn't know

Krisiun: Minotaur: The Greek beast and inhabitant of the Labyrinth
Howls of a demon queen, seduced to an enslaving desire
Inhuman passion to an animal lust, bathed on sperm, scorpions and snakes

The offspring of an aberration was cast, to unify god and man
Mighty child, half man, half beast, shall be thrown into the twisting maze

Lair of the Minotaur: The Hydra Coils Upon this Wicked Mountain: Another Greek monster.
Nine giant, monstrous snake heads
One of them, immortal
In a cave, beneath a dead tree
Lie mass graves, as far as you can see

Lord Belial: Succubi Infernal: Demons that have sex with men.
Obsessing succubi silently walks through the dark
Allure them holy men into depravity and lust
Stare into the haze- behold the creature of the night
Beware of her eyes which swallow your sight
Grotesque yet beautiful visions glorified by creature of the night
Succumb for the fatal beauty of the temptress of darkness

Megadeth: Hangar 18: Alien Roswell Conspiracy
Foreign life forms inventory
Suspended state of cryogenics
Selective amnesia's the story
Believed foretold but who'd suspect
The military intelligence
Two words combined that can't make sense

Moonspell: Wolfshade: Werewolves
You nightly birth. A requiem God can't forget.
For your life is just a celebration of his death
Without his thorns in her heart. She wears a shadow as face.
A werewolf masquerade. In her eyes the wolfshade.

Morbid Angel: Chapel of Ghouls: Ghouls attacking a church.
Ghouls attack the church
Crush the holy priest
Turning the cross towards hell
Writhe in [sings "with"] satan's flames

Crush the priest
The feeble church

Dead - your god is dead
Fools - your god is dead
Useless prayers of lies
Behold satan's rise

Naglfar: Feeding Moloch: Demon
Moloch, oh Moloch I call upon thee
I bring you gifts of atrocities
The sound of breaking bones
And the grinding of teeth
Moloch has awoken to feed
Devourer of infants come forth and bless me
With this killing spree I aim to please
Your spiritual essence now embodied in me
The blood of babies smeared on my cheeks

Necrodeath: At the Mountains of Madness: Another Lovecraftian creature, taken from the story of the same name.
The Creature appears from darkness
Breaking the ancient gates
Their minds are twisted with fear

Comes? Death?
They will die!

Ozzy Osbourne: Bark at the Moon: Werewolf
THEY CURSED AND BURIED HIM
ALONG WITH SHAME
AND THOUGHT IS TIMELESS SOUL HAD GONE
IN EMPTY BURNING HELL - UNHOLY ONE
BUT NOW HE'S RETURNED TO PROVE THEM WRONG (OH NO)
HOWLING IN SHADOWS
LIVING IN A LUNAR SPELL
HE FINDS HIS HEAVEN
SPEWING FROM THE MOUTH OF HELL

AND WHEN HE FINDS WHO HE'S LOOKING FOR
LISTEN IN AWE AND YOU'LL HEAR HIM
BARK AT THE MOON.

The Black Dahlia Murder: What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse: Reference to Castlevania video game about zombies and vampires, and other baddies.
Into the tower never go the horrors multiply
Gears can mince the strongest
Ones leaving heroes paralyzed
The rivers flow with poison
The sands swallow you whole
The ghouls that roam this darkened wood
Are thirsting for your throat

Unholy inversion of hope twisting the faith of the meek into hate
Driven insane by the dark one to bring forth the foul biddings he speaks
The undead are among us at dawn they shrink back to their silken beds
They dance by night and drink the blood of a child's broken neck

The Gates of Slumber: Ice Worm: Not sure if this is an actual reference or not.
Ancient terror, of the snows.
Wyrm of ice, where the north wind blows.
Hollow song, and alien form.
Frozen death, its primeval storm.

Songs to Listen to While Angry

This one was my fiancee's idea and I thought it sounded pretty good. Essentially, she wanted to know what my favorite songs to listen to while angry were. Since metal is a particularly aggressive genre, it's kind of tough to limit things to just a few. But here's an attempt. I have also posted a particularly scathing segment of the lyrics to give an idea of why the song is here.

ALICE IN CHAINS: GOD AM
Dear God, how have you been then?
I'm not fine, fuck pretending
All of this death your sending
Best throw some free heart mending

Invite you in my heart, then
When done, my sins forgiven?
This God of mine relaxes
World dies I still pay taxes

ANTHRAX: HY PRO GLO
Who, what, where, when, why,
How many ways can you lie
How many ways can you try
How many ways can you die
What am I gonna do
I can't look at you
What are you gonna do
You're no hypocrite

I bash my head against the wall everyday
You'd bash your head against a wall anyway
And then you turn to look to see if I care
But I can't, and I never did
What'd you expect me to give
You never deserved my respect

DEATH: SCAVENGER OF HUMAN SORROW
What pain will it take
To satisfy your sick appetite
Go in for the kill
Always in sight-prey
The time always right-feast
Feed on the pain-taste
Sorrow made flesh-sweet
Live how you want
Just don't feed on me
If you doubt what I say
I will make you believe

DEVILDRIVER: HOLD BACK THE DAY
Dig deep
Dig in deeper
You go where only fools
Fear to tread
You'll find devices to kill your master
Why not kill your maker instead
Leave it to the ones that own you
Leave it to those ones to disown you
Put faith & trust in the dusk
Do what you must do

DEVILDRIVER: BEFORE THE HANGMAN'S NOOSE
Truth be told the water looks cold
And the trees fly by as we drive
The sun goes down
Sometimes I wanna stay
Sometimes I wanna leave
Sometimes I gotta ride
Riding this rail I know what I'm on
But not now what I'm in for
This train to somewhere seems to never end
As far as I can tell..... Hell

Before all hell breaks loose
Before the hangman's noose
And as the sun goes down
I'll say
It's a good day to die, a good day to die

DOWN: LOSING ALL
I'm lord of misery
I'm king of the hill
I'm a broken man of the world
in a state of

my wrists are slit,
I'm losing all.
gun at my head,
I'm losing all.
my bones are broken,
I'm losing all
last time I had,
I'm losing all

EXODUS: A LESSON IN VIOLENCE
if you got something to say
then come my way
i'm guarded by satan
i'm riding on baphomet
i'll teach you a lesson in violence
you won't soon forget

the pleasure of watching you
is what i will get

JUDAS PRIEST: YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING
One life I'm gonna live it up
I'm takin' flight I said i'll never get enough
Stand tall I'm young and kinda proud
I'm on top as long as the music's loud

If you think I'll sit around as the world goes by
You're thinkin' like a fool cause it's a case of do or die
Out there is a fortune waitin' to be had
You think I'll let it go you're mad
You've got another thing comin'

JUDAS PRIEST: SOME HEADS ARE GONNA ROLL
The power-mad freaks who are ruling the earth
Will show how little they think you're worth
With animal lust they'll devour your life
And slice your word to bits like a knife
One last day burning hell fire
You're blown away...
If the man with the power
Can't keep it under control

Some heads are gonna roll

KREATOR: PLEASURE TO KILL
to night as i rise from my grave
black was the hole where i laid
stalking the city to seek out your blood
i love when it showers from my blade
your body is so pretty but how will it look
when my perverted lust is stilled
no one to save you no parents or friends
because they've already got killed

my only aim is to take many lives
the more the better i feel
my only pleasure is to hear many cries
from those tortured by my steel
the colour of your blood from your open body
is all i wanted to see
tasting the blood from your lips as you die
means satisfaction to me

MACHINE HEAD: DAVIDIAN
Burn my fist to the concrete
My fear is my strength
Power, rage unbound because
Been pounded by the streets
Cyanide blood burns down the skyline
Hatred is purity
The bullet connects at last
Let freedom ring with a shotgun blast

MEGADETH: ARCHITECTURE OF AGGRESSION
Born from the dark, in the black cloak of night
To envelope its prey below, deliver to the light
To eliminate your enemy, hit them in their sleep
And when all is won and lost the spoils of war are yours to keep

MEGADETH: CRUSH 'EM
Last one standing wins the fight
hear us scream and shout all night
down on the floor and eat the grit
this is gonna hurt a little bit

Heads I win, tails you lose
out of my way I'm coming through
roll the dice don't think twice
and we crush, crush 'em

METALLICA: BATTERY
Smashing through the boundaries
lunacy has found me
cannot stop the Battery
Pounding out aggression
turns into obsession
cannot kill the Battery
Cannot kill the family
Battery is found in me
Battery

METALLICA: HARVESTER OF SORROW
My life suffocates
Planting seeds of hate
I've loved, turned to hate
Trapped far beyond my fate

I give
You take
This life that i forsake
Been cheated of my youth
You turned this lie to truth

Anger
Misery
You'll suffer unto me

Harvester of sorrow
Language of the mad
Harvester of sorrow

METALLICA: DYERS EVE
Dear mother
Dear father
You've clipped my wings before i learned to fly
Unspoiled
Unspoken
I've outgrown that fucking lullaby
Same thing i've always heard from you
Do as i say not as i do

Innocence
Torn from me without your shelter
Barred reality
I'm living blindly
I'm in hell without you
Cannot cope without you two
Shocked at the world that i see
Innocent victim please rescue me

MISERY LOVES CO.: HAPPY?
Always want what I haven't got. Trying to be what I am not.
Killing things with this razor blade, makin' sure a price gets
paid. I'm happy with my misery. Please leave me be. There's
nothing wrong with me, you see. I'm happy with my misery.

OUTWORLD: WARCRY
Here's to your progress
A mask on avarice
Here's to you conscience, a weathered cliche

And as I walk through the filthy streets
Where all I loved has died
I'll raise my voice here into the sky
Now hear my War Cry

PANTERA: WALK
Respect, walk

Run your mouth when I'm not around It's easy to achieve
You cry to weak friends that sympathize
Can you hear the violins playing you song?
Those same friends tell me your every word

PANTERA: FUCKING HOSTILE
Come meet your maker, boy Some things you can't enjoy
Because of heaven/hell A fucking wives' tale
They put it in your head Then put you in your bed
He's watching say your prayers Cause God is everywhere
Now I'll play a man learning priesthood
Who's about to take the ultimate test in life
I'd question things because I am human
And call NO ONE my father who's no closer that a stranger
I won't listen

PARADISE LOST: FOREVER FAILURE
High times are courageous,
But it truth they suit no purpose,
Induced, reduced, unable and afraid...

Can you feel rejection,
And a lack of motivation,
And the joy you need, restricted and delayed.

Are you forever- loss of purpose in a passive life
Are you forever- pale, regarded as a waste of time

PRONG: SNAP YOUR FINGERS, SNAP YOUR NECK
nothing breeds more contempt for this world
than memories now formed every moment
a new seed is grown to no reason the
trouble unfolds for the trials of today
i'm no jury really don't care how you feel the pleasant notion of miraculous change
drifts into multiple jeers you want the good life
you break your back you snap your fingers you snap your neck

SEPULTURA: REFUSE/RESIST
Chaos A.D.
Tanks On The Streets
Confronting Police
Bleeding The Plebs
Raging Crowd
Burning Cars
Bloodshed Starts
Who'll Be Alive?!

Chaos A.D.
Army In Siege
Total Alarm
I'm Sick Of This
Inside The State
War Is Created
No Man's Land
What Is This Shit?!

SLAYER: SERENITY IN MURDER
Let me take you down without a sound
Dead before you hit the ground
Blood washes my hand can't understand
Sterilizing my pain

Washed away with crimson tide
By my hand I keep testing time
Quench the fire that drives my soul
Soothing me as death takes hold

TESTAMENT: TRUE BELIEVER
No use in praying forever shall I roam
Smoke dusted angels now: it's the only way I know
As I cross the line between bad and evil
Nothing can touch me now - true believer

Ash to ashe, dust to dust
All I ever wanted was power of the blood
Now look what I have done, what I have become
I'm the choosen one; never gonna take me
Never gonna change me, never gonna escape me now

Do you believe there is evil in my soul?
One final high is the way that I really want to go
As I cross the line between bad and evil
Nothing can touch me now - true believer

VADER: WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BLOOD?
WARLUST !!!
SCREAMING OUT ALL PAIN
MERCY DIED
IT'S GONE FOREVER

FEAR IS NOT MY ALLY
TOTAL ATTACK !!!!
I AM CONQUEROR
I SPILL BLOOD

HELL'S CHILD
IS THE NAME YOU KNOW
AND I ALWAYS RAISE MY SWORD
AGAINST THE LIARS

IN FURY
NOW I'M ASKING YOU-
WHAT COLOUR IS YOUR BLOOD?