Doesn't really matter for me that much, it's always nice to hear a band sing in their native tongue though.

I'm not picky, but I really enjoy harsh German vocals. It also helps that German is the only language (besides English) that I can understand. Some French vocals sound cool too, even though I'll never understand what they are saying.

Written by Konrad on 19.11.2009 at 20:05

I think it's also better for the lyrics to be in a language I can't understand if they're stupid. I have some Russian Pop songs that I listen to and if I knew what they were saying I would never listen, but because I can't understand it remains mysterious.

be happy you dont understand russian pop. some of it's just... ugh lol like.. Ruki Vverh. But some of it's really catchy!

Ah and to answer the topic it really doesnt matter to me. Though i prefer lyrics that are either in english or in russian cause i would be able to understand them.

Typically I'd say English, but I don't really mind that much as of late.

I like most of my vocals to be in English mostly, but if it's in another language I could care less. If the music is good, language isn't a big factor for me. Though it IS nice to be able to understand the lyrics.

The only language I hate in metal is french, especially as the kind of french they speak in Europe sounds extremely cheesy for someone like me.

Most bands who use my native language, German, don't do it out of conviction but because don't know enough English do use that. What I'm saying is that there are many German indie pop bands who are just masters of our Language and use it Goethe intended it, as art. Unfortunately in metal the only band who in fact use German to at least part of it's potential is Rammstein. And even they have been lacking creativity lately. All the others I know of (Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, The Excrementory Grindfuckers, J.B.O and others) just use it because it's theirs. It might be funny listening to the jokes of these bands but that's by far not as enjoyable as listening to serious, well written English lyrics by a good band. There are of course a few German metalcore bands such as Narziss who make good use of German. But I don't like their music.

So my vote goes to English. Mostly because I don't like not being able to understand lyrics. And translating Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Japanese or French lyrics is not the same as comprehending the meaning of a song while listening to it.

I'd say english.. I like to understand what they are singing so I don't have to look at the lyrics all the time. Usually I find it strange when I listen to music in other language, Unless its folk oriented music. To be honest I don't think folk should be sang in english. In most cases sounds weird.. so I like folk to be in their native tongue.

Since I am monolingual, and since part of the atmosphere for me is what the lyrics are saying, I gotta go with English on this one.

Written by corrupt on 28.05.2010 at 19:30

Unfortunately in metal the only band who in fact use German to at least part of it's potential is Rammstein.

what about Subway to Sally and In Extremo? their pretty kickass imo

Written by Valentin B on 29.05.2010 at 11:32

Written by corrupt on 28.05.2010 at 19:30

Unfortunately in metal the only band who in fact use German to at least part of it's potential is Rammstein.

what about Subway to Sally and In Extremo? their pretty kickass imo

Aaaw! I don't think I should go down that road with you again
No seriously, listening to these bands from a lyrical point of view is like reading prose for small children. The same holds true for the German songs of Sodom and other bands. The reason I've mentioned Rammstein is that they manage (or managed) to express the same dull brutality as other bands through words that sometimes just sounded beautiful. The result were songs of utter violence and beautiful metaphors alike. Which is nothing you can say about either of the bands you mentioned. Not that I knew all of their discography.
corrupt likes metaphors. In all languages. Only in German it's really easy to fuck up if you're not good with the language.

Written by corrupt on 29.05.2010 at 12:08

Aaaw! I don't think I should go down that road with you again

shit, i wanted to trigger a rant

anyway what i found out is that i have a much lower cheesiness-threshold with foreign languages, even ones i know pretty well like English or Spanish. if there was a Romanian-language version of Manowar i'm sure i'd hate them

I prefer English, but as long as they aren't too bad and the music is good, I'm for any language.

I prefer English; however, if it makes the song better use whatever language you want. I'm really not interested in an entire album in a language other than English though. But, a song or two is cool, especially if it has relevance to the story/lyrics.

Norwegian is to me the most beautiful singing language. But overall English is easier.

Usually english but i just love some of empyrium works in german .
french sound weird and funny !
oh and pleas somebody convince niklas kvarforth to write some english lyric

I'm American, so obviously everything MUST be in English. God forbid I learn another language!
Actually, I enjoy music in different tongues, ala In Extremo and Tyr.

Well as an American, English is obviously the language i prefer- but i do speak a little German and its cool if a band maybe trades off between the 2. German is a harsh sounding language so it can help add to a darker mood.:necro:

Mother Tongue! lyrics aren't usually that important to me, but i'd always prefer to hear them in the band's native tongue, even if that means i can't understand them. there are so many things you can say in one language that could never be fully expressed in any other language. non-english speaking bands who write their lyrics in english are just selling out their native tongues (and cultures) to widen their fan base.

Written by scrambles on 02.08.2010 at 07:00

Mother Tongue! lyrics aren't usually that important to me, but i'd always prefer to hear them in the band's native tongue, even if that means i can't understand them. there are so many things you can say in one language that could never be fully expressed in any other language. non-english speaking bands who write their lyrics in english are just selling out their native tongues (and cultures) to widen their fan base.

You have a very good point but that also depends on who writes the lyrics and the theme they have about it. I mean when i had a band we used to write our lyrics in english even tho our native language was spanish. It was up to us to choose, modify, and improve whatever we had as lyrics during the evolution of the song. I guess this happens to all the bands, there members comment whatever they think and so on during the practices in studio i supose.

I would say english fits the most because its 'knownish' nature. I mean the way it sounds makes it fit for music. Or at least it seems so.
On the other hand i could imagine the black or death metal bands such as Immortal, Bekhira and other black metal (or death) bands in their native but for other genres such as heavy and powerjust... can't think of it lol ( ie stratovarius in finnish? ! )

Are there any metal bands in pidgeon english or pig latin? That'd be tops.

I don't care but the band should sing in their native languedge (grammer Nazis help me) that's why the languedge of Perverse Imagery is Redneck Speak.

Written by SoulScarred on 15.12.2008 at 14:13

Well I prefer English just because I do understand it.
but somehow I got used to those Scandinavian languages, and they sound suitable to me most of the time now..
but as for my native language, I think I will really crack up if I saw someone growling in Arabic..haha
I can't imagine that

WTF!!!,, I now have another look at "METAL" from your imagine :-p

Written by Zombie on 20.05.2010 at 00:03

ALL ENGELESH ... ALL ZA TIME !!!

You must be joking!!

Written by SoulScarred on 15.12.2008 at 14:13

Well I prefer English just because I do understand it.
but somehow I got used to those Scandinavian languages, and they sound suitable to me most of the time now..
but as for my native language, I think I will really crack up if I saw someone growling in Arabic..haha
I can't imagine that

Well, you don't have to imagine at all... Check out this:
http://www.metalstorm.net/bands/album.php?album_id=47440
And listen to track 7 "Shunq". It's Karl Sanders, the guy from Nile... Although slightly different.

As long as vocals fit in pretty well its good,but somehow i prefer english ...dont know why also....

Slavic, Yiddish, Arabic and of course English, but i voted for "Doesnt matter as long as it sounds good"

In metal at least, the lyrics usually are meaningless to me. So I don't really mind. Having said that, I think a throaty language like Arabic or German could add to the music in terms of harshness. I'd love to hear something like Vio-lence's Eternal Nightmare with the same vocal melodies but in Japanese, it would just be so fucked up.

English purely because I find the effect of music on me is greatly enhanced when I can relate to it

Yeah personally I don't care much about the language and not so much about the lyrics most of the time, unless its talking about dragons and epic shit, can't stand it really... especially when I understand what they say Usually as long as the music rocks I don't mind.