There are 3 main components to what makes a song heavy: vocals, instruments, and lyrics. Most songs in metal will have all 3 of these. But there are many bands, who across their entire discography, have many songs that comprise of only one or two of the components. These songs should still be considered heavy, and here is why.
Vocals
Harsh vocals might be the most iconic part of metal music. From being called “screamo”, to non metal heads always questioning “How can you listen to that? Can you even understand them?” The screams used in metal are notorious and will always be a defining trait to the “heaviness” of a song. Even when the extreme vocals are thrown over acoustic sections in songs (the break before the final chorus in The Lonely Deceased by The Black Dahlia Murder comes to mind) or a vocalist will upload a cover of a pop song with their screams, it adds weight.
Look at Phil Bozeman (Whitechapel), Will Ramos (Lorna Shore), David Simonich (Signs of the Swarm), and so many more vocalists who push the boundaries of what we think the human vocal cords are capable of. The exploding instruments and dark lyrics help elevate the heaviness, but when you isolate the vocals, it will still make your scrunch your face and blurt out “that’s fucking filthy”*.
*Note, for those not familiar with compliments in metal music, saying a breakdown is “disgusting” or a vocal performance is “filthy” are some of the highest honors you can bestow.
You will hear three main types of screams in metal (with a plethora of different styles). There are the low, guttural screams you hear from vocalists like George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher (Cannibal Corpse) and Ben Duerr (Shadow of Intent). High screams, sometimes referred to as fry screams, are commonly heard from Bryan Garris (Knocked Loose) and Trevor Strnad (The Black Dahlia Murder, may he rest in peace). And then you have the in between lows and highs, aptly named “mid”, which Sam Carter (Architects) and Johnny Crowder (Prison) leverage often.
Most vocalists use a variety of these screams, masterfully weaving the different styles together as though they are spiders, hoping to entangle the listener within a beautiful web of sound. When the instruments are silenced, and meaning is removed from the lyrics, you are still left with the melody from the vocals, which a harsh as the screams can be, are still incredibly heavy. If you replace the singing from Fruit Salad by the wiggles with pig squeals and low growls, that song is gonna be having you running a one person circle pit in your room.
Instruments
Instruments are the easiest way to make a song heavy. Blast beats from the drums, low base lines reverberating within your chest, and the chugging of guitar riffs on top, anyone with half a brain will agree that the song is heavy. You don’t even need to use low tuning on the guitars to make the sound thicker; there are countless metal songs written in E standard that will blow your socks off, just look at Like Callisto to a Star in Heaven by Trivium or Master of Puppets by Metallica (on album, since they drop the tuning lower for live performances).
It is very common for bands to release instrumental albums in metal. Rings of Saturn, even before splitting with their vocalist Ian Bearer, was known for releasing instrumentals of all their songs. And bands with no vocalists like Animals as Leaders, or solo guitarists releasing additional music like Andy James, all showcase how heavy the instruments are within metal, and how songs without the shrill screams can be just as heavy.
Even the age old debate between core lovers and core haters* is tabled for discussions about heaviness within the instruments. Sure, there will be arguments about breakdowns between those two groups of people, but they will still set their differences aside for the rest of the song and agree that a black-hole was opened in their living room while listening to the song.
*Core is a sub genre added to the end of some genre names (ie. Death Metal turns in to Deathcore) where the identifying trait is having a breakdown within the song. Disillusioned in a Discordant System by Acrania (genre: grindcore) or Romance is Dead by Parkway Drive (genre: metalcore) have perfect examples of breakdowns. And I honestly can’t see how anyone could hate them.
Even when you have beautiful, clean singing over the instruments, or the lyrics are about rainbows and sunshine, the chasm created by the instruments will make the song heavy. And being the riff bitch I am, I absolutely love when bands will create earth shattering instrumentals and overlay them with angelic singing, which is quite common within power metal bands like Orden Ogan and Sabaton.
Lyrics
This will be the most controversial of the three, but I will stand firm in the belief that lyrics along can make a song incredible heavy. Metal is known for songs about touchy and taboo subjects. From politics, religion, death, and depression, there are no topics off limits, and the bands will sure as hell let you know where they stand.
Bands like Dayseeker and Slipknot have plenty of songs that are heavy, purely from the vocals and instruments. But they also have a handful of songs that while the vocals are lighter and the instruments are softer, still leave a crater in your chest from the impact. Specifically Snuff by Slipknot and Drunk by Dayseeker come to mind. These songs grapple with love and lost and the aftermath, along with the coping mechanisms that follow. So yes, while these songs don’t have blistering riffs and deafening breakdowns, the lyrics carry these songs over the threshold and into the realm of heaviness.
Lyrics are a huge reason why metal heads have such strong bonds to the bands they listen to, and why there is such a deep kinship within the communities. The lyrics have shown us that we are not alone in our feelings, and no matter how isolated we may feel, there is at least one other person who has felt the same way. You are not alone.
So, ten toes down and with my full chest, I will say that lyrics alone can make a song heavy. Which does open Pandora’s box to other genres, and I am steadfast in my belief. I consider any genre, from folk, to pop, to rap, etc. can be just as heavy as a metal song based purely on the lyrical content. But since I am not as well versed in these genres, please comment your favorite songs, from any genre, in the comments to help expand my musical knowledge. And hopefully you were able to find something new and interesting from the list of bands from this post, maybe even a song or two that will be added to the daily rotation.
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