Darkness in Doom...

I am a Doom fan. I love the whole vibe of it. The grooves of Stoner Doom, the melody of Epic and Gothic Doom, the heaviness of Funeral Doom...I can find something I like in almost every sub-genre of Doom.

But as I get older, I have come to realize that there are certain elements of Doom I can't get into. When Stoner Doom gets off on tangents about alcohol or drugs, I can't relate. When Epic/Gothic/Funeral Doom becomes overtly centered on death/hate/suicide/morbid fantasy, I can't relate. Musically, I like it as heavy, "dark" and oppressive as it can get...but lyrically, I'm discovering, I have limits.

Lyrically, I prefer poetic/dramatic/ethereal/"open to interpretation" type lyrics. Whether it be TROUBLE's "Psychotic Reaction" or "The Misery Shows", or SOLITUDE AETURNUS' "Opaque Divinity" or "It Came Upon One Night", or any other broad-spectrum type lyric, these are the kinds of things I can latch onto because they're more open-ended and expressive. Even songs about deep struggle like "The Wish" or much of PLACE OF SKULLS' material, as "dark" as it may be, it still has a relatable element because everybody struggles with things big and small.

I can even tolerate/understand lyrics based on/describing/criticizing different religions because in that I can at least understand why someone would feel they way they do.

What I can't understand or get into is the whole "death" vibe. Just because Doom is dark and heavy doesn't mean it has to focus so much on death or hate.

Anyone else relate to this? Or am I just rambling incoherently?

Nope, I hear you loud and clear. When the subject matter becomes too "hopeless" or "wallowing", I can't get into it either. Certainly, we are all "doomed" in one respect that we all have to face death someday (both our own and of those we love) but to be utterly focused on it to the exclusion of all else seems pointless to me and usually I am not intrigued or interested in such expression, so I think you're right on.

I don't listen to much of the funeral/gothic variety of doom, but generally speaking, I've never been bothered by dark lyrics or subject matter, but that's just me. I don't often take lyrics of any genre to heart, with some exceptions of course.

Just like the post above, i don't get into the gothic doom approach much at all, i don't mind the death/doom stuff as long as they don't take themselves too seriously like Acid Witch would be a good example. I do find however that some lyrical themes in Doom are becoming cliched, cheesy or just downright boring. One of these is the endless amounts of bands writing song after song about smoking weed. Now i enjoy the occasional smoke myself but bands glorifying pot or any other drug in their lyrics shows a real lack of imagination and vision. Some of these bands i love musically but lyrically i find it so boring. I love lyrics to be dark but still based in reality. Solitude Aeturnus, Place Of Skulls, Trouble, Black Sabbath all wrote/write lyrics based around realistic themes. If i want a trip into fantasy i will dig out something like Cathedral because while they are a little pretentious, at least they are intersting to read. I also hate it when Doom bands resort to trying to be evil or satanic, one of the reasons i got into doom in the first place was that Doom Metal was not based around such adolescent themes.

couldnt agree more ed... drugs and politics seem to be a death knell for creativity and longevity in songs

Interesting thread,yeah,I think the genre is slowly killing itself because people have forgotten that great doom has to have all the elements that made it great to begin with.

Lets get it down to basics,what has classic doom given us lyrically.

1.The supernatural element,basically,God and satan.The struggle between good and evil.This is where doom started,in the tales of Black Sabbath.For the longest time a hallmark of doom was the struggle to understand the world and its evil,a search for God,or goodness,outside the rigid conventions of hypocrites in the church and religions empty rituals.satan was long presented as the personification of evil,in society,in politics,in war.
Not trying to preach,but a lot of modern doom has lost its lyrical soul.Like black metal and some death metal,many bands want to dismiss the concepts of good and evil.Too many have jumped on the black metal style bandwagon and seem to FOCUS on hating a God they don't believe in,which call me crazy,seems kind of pointless.

2.Depressive emotions,over in the Solitude thread I wrote how it is my opinion that some are just jumping on the trend and write lyrics with no real emotion behind them.The ones that do mean what they say ,I think the subject above is part of that equation.I think that the world has become too "learned",and has a glut of information,much of which is useless.There are certain forces in this world that seem obsessed with removing the elements of faith,mystery,wonder,the spark of life from everything.
Its like some are not satisfied with raising doubt or asking questions,which is what true faith and free will are all about,but rather lyrically killing God or the fifthteenth thousandth installment of "I hate God and he is to blame for my lousy life" c'mon get over it,besides it is really ridiculous when you read in an interview that they don't believe in God anyway.

3.Fantasy,Halloween themes,death -classic doom gave us tales of monsters,witches and wizards,visions of the reaper etc.Usually was presented in a narrative way,warning of evil,not wallowing in it or celebrating it.Sadly,I think it is a reflection of the real world,many people nowdays are violent and angry,not a lot of hope and the ones that are truly negative are the ones I mentioned above.The result of their and the rest of the worlds influence is the loss of faith and hope,the wonder,the magic of the mind and the heart,the whole spectrum of true emotions.There are a thousand tales left to tell ,but few left who can tell them with heart and soul.Just my opinion from what I have observed.

To elaborate further,if you look at the words of the genre's best lyric writers,Butler,Liebling,Chandler,Weinrich,Griffin,Wagner,Gabehart,Steadham,Fondelius- one common thread -DEFIANCE ! Not completely giving in to the dark side,yes life is sad but you can't dwell on just that all the time,you have to at least try to fight the demons.

Yeah it seems now that good lyrics are the hardest thing to come across in Doom Metal. There is hundreds of heavy bands out there that musically have all the riffs etc etc but are still sadly lacking in the lyrical department. Even more disturbing is that there is a large section of the Doom community that don't even care what a band sings about.

Also with the drug thing, there seems to be a lot of bands promoting the use of drugs more than their actual music. I think if you want to use drugs, it should be a private thing and not forced onto people via music.

These younger guys don't realize that if the lyrics are not there,they will not become "classic doom",ever.Take a band like Ahab for example,it is that funeral doom sound, but they have a lyrical hook,they have something that gives them a chance of being remembered years from now.These modern guys ,they are not rebels,they are not opposing the wicked world.They are wallowing in hate and death and substance abuse.

All of those listed above can write four lines and define the world,a lot of the new crop can write an entire song and say nothing.Its sad,because it is some of the coolest music around but the crux of the problem seems to be that many can play doom metal well,but few understand it.Doom metal has always been generational but the newest generation doesn't seem to be looking back at their elders in the lyrical department,only the musical department.

Its also pretty sad that some people have to be "high" to listen to Doom, i know people that gave up drug use and then in turn gave up listening to Doom. That is what sucks about the term "Stoner Rock", it gives the impression you must be a dopesmoker to be into the music. This is of course completely false.

SabbSteve wrote:

These younger guys don't realize that if the lyrics are not there,they will not become "classic doom",ever.Take a band like Ahab for example,it is that funeral doom sound, but they have a lyrical hook,they have something that gives them a chance of being remembered years from now.These modern guys ,they are not rebels,they are not opposing the wicked world.They are wallowing in hate and death and substance abuse.

All of those listed above can write four lines and define the world,a lot of the new crop can write an entire song and say nothing.Its sad,because it is some of the coolest music around but the crux of the problem seems to be that many can play doom metal well,but few understand it.Doom metal has always been generational but the newest generation doesn't seem to be looking back at their elders in the lyrical department,only the musical department.

Very true indeed, this problem is one of the downfalls on modern music in general. Even pop music from the 60's and 70's had for the most part better lyrics than 90% of the garbage that is spewed out today.

Earthdog,you seem to be a conneisseur of doom,based on the discussions here, and trying to get something positive out of this,any recommendations on any newer bands,are there any out there that are lyrically following somewhat in the footsteps of classic doom ?

Well i have been digging the new Sesta Maconi album "Where The Devil Dances". They are not total doom, more like Doom meets classic 70's heavy rock but they have good lyrics. I am also a big fan of Doomenicus and Dawn Of Winter, both those bands have a classic doom metal sound and style.

awesome album ed, and i used to think doom=high as well until i started listening to it again a year or so after i gave up drugs, to me it sounds better now than it did then

NapalmDave wrote:

awesome album ed, and i used to think doom=high as well until i started listening to it again a year or so after i gave up drugs, to me it sounds better now than it did then

Yeah i know when i gave up the chemical drugs and cut back on the booze i thought i wouldnt be able to get into some bands but i actually got into them even more, once my mind was clear and free again.