Our latest auditory offering brings you an interview with vocalist Chris Grigg of black metal ensemble Woe. Chris explains how, departing from the individual focus of his earlier work, examining mental anguish and depression, Woe's most recent release draws attention to broader threats to humanity, some of which we thought we'd vanquished long ago.…

In this episode, lyricist Jeff Young leads us on a journey through Weald and Woe's "castle metal". Drawing on his background in theatre, Jeff crafts castle metal lyrics by exploiting black metal's heightened sense of drama and aesthetics to reflect on personal struggles and existential dread within a medieval narrative. His lyrics adopt familiar fa…

In this episode, we interview Brenner Moate of “bimboviolence” outfit, Brat. Looking at Brat’s album covers, decorated with tea and cake, a Pomeranian dog and the iconic Motorola flip phone set against bubblegum pink hues, listeners are poised to anticipate familiar 90s and 2000s pop lyricism. But in speaking with Brenner, we soon learn that this i…

In this episode we interview returning guest, Jason Peppiatt about his new project, Domination Campaign. In differentiating Domination Campaign from his longstanding work with Psycroptic, Jason explains that, in contrast to Psycroptic’s modern technical death metal approach, Domination Campaign draws on Jason’s traditional death metal background. M…

In this episode our guest, Ross Sewage, talks to us about his lyrics for Exhumed and Impaled, and speculates on the lyricism of Ghoul - a band that he is familiar with, but definitely not a member of. Sketching the lyrical landscape of each work, Ross explains how Impaled probes the space between life and death, detailing grotesque medical experime…

In this episode we chronicle Will Smith’s work with diverse death metal projects including Artificial Brain, Biolich, Reeking Aura, and most recently, Afterbirth. Departing from death metal’s love affair with gore, many of Will’s lyrics capture images of mental illness, invasive insects, and filth. Though such scenes would not be out of place in yo…

In our first episode of 2024, we interview Ruttomieli about the lyricism of his symphonic black metal project Moonlight Sorcery. Ruttomieli's work exhibits a perfect marriage of music and lyrics, both which honour the spiritual origins of the black metal genre. Weaving stories of witchcraft and myth, his lyrical poetry both guides their listeners t…

Welcome to our 50th episode! In this very special episode, we interview vocalist Himari Tsukishiro and Ricky Wilson of Isiliel. Drawing on Ricky's translation skills, we explore how Himari's background as a Japanese idol has shaped her journey into the world of symphonic metal. A self-described "metal baby", Himari's relative inexperience in metal …

Speaking with Joe McGuigan and Philly Byrne, this episode takes as its point of departure a tweet written by Philly about Gama Bomb's lyricism, stating “interesting fact: most metal people who criticise us for being 'un-serious' or 'goofy' didn't grow up during a *civil war* like we did. Go ahead and write your wee songs about hatred and murder: mu…

This episode investigates the dark lyricism of James McBain's solo-project Hellripper. James initially describes his lyrics, laden with satanic, occult, and antichristian themes, as written primarily in service of compatibility with Hellripper's black and thrash metal music. But don't be fooled, those that care to peer behind the curtain of black m…

Our interview with Serena Cherry begins with the vocalist setting the record straight on Svalbard's common mistyping as a hardcore band, instead offering post-metal, black metal, and even post-rock as more suitable alternatives, demonstrating how her music, and accompanying lyrics, are notoriously difficult to set against a single genre label. As o…

In this episode, we speak to vocalist Kyle Schaefer about his lyrics written for technical death metal band Fallujah as well as his progressive solo-project, Archaeologist. In our interview, we explore the evolution of Kyle’s lyrical approach, moving from writing the lyrics for the a small portion of Archaeologist’s songs that are non-instrumental,…

In this episode, we interview Garry Brents about his solo nu-metal project, Memorrhage. Listen as Garry guides us on our journey through 90s/00s nostalgia, combining lyrics about mechs and video games with a distinctly nu-metal sound. Garry explains how his revival and reimagining of nu-metal finds him stepping away from the genre's stalwart themes…

In this episode, we speak with Jason Peppiatt of Australian technical thrash and death metal band, Psycroptic. Looking back over the lyrics he has composed for the band since 2012, Jason discusses how he departed from the prosaic narrative-driven sci-fi fantasy lyrics written by drummer Dave Haley and former vocalist Chalky, instead developing a ly…

In this episode we speak to not just one or two but four bandmembers - Alex, Damian, Jamie and Matt - about how they collectively write lyrics for progressive death metal project, Horrendous. Although their name might conjure the images of blood and gore that death metal is most known for, the band's lyricism could equally be described as romantic …

In this episode, we talk to Terry Vainoras – the multitalented guitarist, vocalist, lyricist, and saxophonist of doom/death metal outfit, Subterranean Disposition. Terry guides us through the process or writing music that is decidedly experimental, featuring unexpected combinations of recognisably 'metal' lyrical themes, including death and rebirth…

In this episode, we interview Sam Dillon of Australian sludge-metal project Lo! Sam tells us how he concocts lyrics that pull from his obsession with natural history and animal folklore, weaving together the surrealism of organic evolution and the realism of myths and fables. Sam details how, by exploiting his advanced palate for word-eating, he la…

Welcome to the 40th episode of Lingua Brutallica! To celebrate this milestone, we present a very special episode featuring Paul Masvidal of genre-defying Cynic. Paul takes us on a guided tour through the enormous breadth of lyrical material he composed over the span of his 35-year career in the industry. He details how the lyrics that accompanied e…

This episode presents our interview with Simon Barr of Dawn Ray'd - the anti-fascist black metal project looking to strike back against far right provocation in the scene. Though his lyrics engage with fantasy and escapism, Simon's work is also overtly anarchist in the way it explores common struggles of the current time. At the same time, Dawn Ray…

In this episode, we speak with Louis Thierry, vocalist and lyricist of Parius, whose lyrics work to transport their listeners or readers to a place beyond the world they know - most recently, into outer space. Though Louis' lyrics have previously drawn inspiration from various media, including the Ender’s Game novels, Eldritch horror, and Greek myt…

Episode 37 features Dan Cooley – vocalist of folk-inspired extreme metal project, Foretoken. In this episode, Dan takes us through the myths and legends, drawn from diverse contexts including Russian, Chinese, Greek, Norse, Irish and Persian cultures, that inspired lyrics composed for Foretoken’s two complementary albums – Ruins and Triumphs. Dan e…

In this episode, we speak to progressive death metal vocalist Chaney Crabb about her work with Entheos. We begin by unpacking how Chaney's continual self-auditing has produced style shifts in her writing over time, starting with the staccato format of their first release (The Infinite Nothing) and moving to the more cohesive approach adopted for th…

This episode features vocalist Stan Liszewski of death-metal-leaning hardcore project Terminal Nation. Tackling capitalism, fascism, organised religion, and human destruction of the planet, Stan's lyrics focus on confronting real-world issues in our current society. Turning away from common metal themes of high fantasy and violent gore, Stan explai…

In this episode, we speak with Mirai Kawashima of Japan's legendary experimental black metal band, Sigh. Extracting influence from classical music, jazz, and even hip hop, Sigh's lyrics and music present a three-decades long exploration of Japanese religious stories, occultism and death. Mirai discusses how his perspective on these themes has chang…

In this episode, we speak with vocalist Nekrom about Heruka's elegant black metal lyrics. Written in Italian language, Nekrom's lyrics typify the beauty of layered contrasts. First, the poetry of Heruka's lyrics, embodied in soft and fluid rhyme, contrasts with their vocal production, featuring harsh and distorted black metal screams. Moreover, Nek…

In this episode, we discuss Misery Index's punk and grindcore-infused death metal, with their vocalist, Jason Netherton. Drawing on his working class background, Jason's lyrics pose questions about the capitalist system - in particular, who benefits from it and who is exploited by it. Singing from the collective 'we' perspective, Jason's lyrics dra…

Bringing us our first insight to the genre, in this episode we talk to Katie Davies about writing lyrics for mathcore. Moving away from the ocular dissection described on their EP, Katie's lyrics for Pupil Slicer's latest album, Mirrors, offer unexpected vulnerability detailing experiences of inner turmoil and psychological distress. Their stories …

Our interview in this episode focuses on the writing of drummer Jason Nitts and bassist Alex Damske - the dual lyricists of progressive death metal project Warforged. Focusing on the band's 2022 release The Grove: Sundial, Jason and Alex describe how, in taking over responsibility for Warforged's lyrics after the production of their first album, th…

In this episode, we interview drummer and lyricist Vincent Tweten of death metal project Phobophilic, who presented some of the most diverse and thought provoking lyrical content we've yet discussed on this podcast. Vincent's lyrics address themes ranging from Lovecraftian horror to human consciousness and philosophy. Leading us through a brief int…

This episode presents our first look at extreme metal in China by interviewing vocalist Lynn Wu and drummer Anthony Vanacore of convention-defying progressive metal band Ou. Drawing on Anthony's exceptional translation skills, we discuss how Ou's music and lyrics are born of a collaboration between Anthony's heavy musical roots and Lynn's backgroun…

In this episode, we talk to husband and wife vocal duo, Riikka and Toni Hatakka of Finnish genre-defying band whose music has been variably categorized as melodic doom metal, progressive gothic post-doom metal, and even just depressive metal. Through our discussion, Riikka and Toni unpack the unexpected difficulties of writing metal lyrics in their…

In this episode, we unpack an approach to lyric-writing that’s totally different from that featured previously on the podcast by talking to Chris and Stony of party slam project, Party Cannon. Unlike other bands we’ve spoken to in the past, Party Cannon does not publish any of their lyrics, and in most cases, doesn’t even write them down. In our in…

Our 25th episode brings you an interview with vocalist Austin Lunn of Panopticon. This episode functions as a second pair part to episode 24, featuring Aaron Carey, and commemorates the split album released by Panopticon and Nechochwen in 2020. Our discussion with Austin brings forth a distinct but equally compelling perspective on blackened folk m…

This release brings you part two of our interview with Aaron Carey of Nechochwen. In this segment, our topic of discussion turns to particular lyrical practices and how these patterns are connected to Nechochwen's thematic focus on native American history, culture and mythology. Shifts in Aaron's lyrical approach across albums, including shifting f…

For Episode 24, we sat down with Aaron Carey of Nechochwen for what ended up being a THREE HOUR chat about his blackened folk metal features lyrics that address native American history, culture and mythology. While we are no stranger to long episodes here, we decided to do something unprecedented for Lingua Brutallica: split the episode in half. In…

This episode presents our interview with Frank Albanese - guitarist and vocalist of New Jersey's arcane progressive blackened death project, Hath. Although Hath is often described as having lyrics referencing dark souls lore, Frank discusses how this was more of a consequence of time crunch for their first release than a vision for the band. Rather…

In this episode we talk to Undeath's guitarist and lyricist Kyle Beam, the first of our interviewees whose lyrics seriously engage with such well recognised death metal themes as gore, murder and, well, death! Kyle details his recipe for unpretentious lyrics that tell a good-humoured horror story and allow the listener to draw on their own imaginat…

This episode brings to the fore the combined lyrical prowess of The Amenta's Cain Cressall (vocals) and Tim Pope (keyboards, samples). When approaching their lyrics, Cain and Tim draw on a diverse array of linguistic resources to engage in language play. Refusing to submit to presumed linguistic 'rules', the two lyricists wear their linguistic repe…

In this episode, vocalist and guitarist Jono Colliver from hard rock/metal outfit Dr Colossus embiggens us with his presence. Dr Colossus is best known for it's jocular yet affectionate retelling of episodes of the show from which the band derives it's name - The Simpsons. Although the Simpsons appears as unusual source material for metal lyrics, J…

In this episode, we speak with Karina Utomo about her longstanding work with extreme metal band High Tension, and her more recent undertakings with experimental project Rinuwat. While these projects may appear to discuss distinct contexts at first glance, Karina explains how both are vehicles for her exploration of different aspects of her Indonesi…

In this interview, we speak with Andy Walmsley of death metal project Beyond Grace, based in Nottingham, England. We sink our teeth into in depth discussion of how Andy constructs lyrics addressing key questions about the nature of humanity, morality and choice that, whilst theoretical, are nonetheless very clearly grounded in the real world contex…

In this episode, we speak to vocalist and drummer Kat Shevil Gillham of Enshroudment, Lucifer's Chalice, Nine Altars, Uncoffined, Winds of Genocide and Thronehammer. Focusing on her work with doom metal group Thronehammer, we talk to Kat about how her deeply descriptive lyrics immerse the listener in a multisensory experience of ancient battles fou…

In this episode, we interview Canadian heavy metal journalist, music and culture critic, and PhD candidate, Laina Dawes. Laina has written extensively about the social, cultural and political aspects of the extreme metal community, most notably in her book ‘“What are you doing here?” A Black Woman’s Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal’, first publis…

In this episode, we conduct our first exploration of multilingual lyrical practices by talking to Simon Girard of Quebec's progressive technical death metal project, Beyond Creation. Although Beyond Creation's work engages consistently with themes of good and evil, and the nature of humanity, Simon explains that writing lyrics in English and French…

This episode presents our first retrospective interview. We talk to Rory Lane, drummer and lyricist of currently inactive New Zealand band Set on End. In this interview, we take the opportunity to explore this uncharted perspective on lyric-writing by asking Rory to discuss how his views on metal lyrics have changed throughout his time working with…

In this episode, we speak to vocalist, storyteller and self-described nerd, Stevie Boiser of Inferi, Ashen Horde, Equipoise and Tethys. Focusing on his work with Inferi, Stevie details how he navigates these three roles across his four bands by integrating complex wordplay, including rhyming, alliteration and cryptic phraseology into narratives ins…

In this episode, we return to the New Zealand metal scene by interviewing Matt Hyde, the vocalist of Wellington's sludge metal band Beastwars. Throughout the interview, we touch on the changes in Matt's writing style over time, how he has learned to weave his personal experiences into his music, and the ways that songs can become "spells". Further,…

This month's episode presents our first plunge into the Canadian metal scene as we talk with Oliver Aleron, the vocalist of technical death metal band Archspire. Throughout the interview we discuss how writing lyrics depicting detailed sci-fi-inspired narratives represents Oliver's approach to metal as a space to escape the more mundane reality of …

In our tenth episode, we interview vocalist Stace Fifield and guitarist Stu Minchington, of New Zealand avantgarde progressive death metal band Blindfolded and Led to the Woods. We explore their diverging approaches to writing lyrics for different songs and how this is influenced by the role assigned to vocals as more of a percussive instrument or …

For the tenth anniversary of the book "Metal Rules the Globe", Episode 9 brings you our second academic interview with Dr Jeremy Wallach, an anthropologist at Bowling Green State University in Ohio who specialises in Southeast Asian popular musics. In this episode, we explore Jeremy's research on several Southeast Asian metal scenes, presented in "…