How to Make a Great Metal Album
Make sure you have enough songs to make an album., Try to use only the ones you think are the best, if your songs are long., Try to mix different sounds., Start creating., Add a cover in between the record to make it more attractive to people...
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Make sure you have enough songs to make an album.
8
- 12 would do just fine. -
Step 2: Try to use only the ones you think are the best
12 songs lasting over 7 minutes each would make the album kind of boring.
A normal album lasts from 45 to 60 minutes. , For example, 7 medium-paced songs, 2 thrash-metal songs and 1 or 2 ballads would make a good album.
Think of albums like The Number of the Beast
- Iron Maiden or ...And Justice for All
- Metallica.
You might notice that most of the structure shown later is based on a common Metallica album.
It is true, because Metallica albums are full with different styles that make a long album flow perfect and harmonically. , This is an example of what a "mixed sounds" albums would look like.
You can obviously arrange the order of the songs or have more of one style than other:
Introduction: (Optional) This could be any 1-2 minute instrumental, either slow or heavy.
Used to set up the mood for the album.
Think of Dialectic Chaos by Megadeth or The Ides of March by Iron Maiden.
Fast Song:
You can start with a heavy riffed, thrashy song that transmits energy to the whole album.
Possible single.
Think of Judas Priest's Painkiller or Slayer's Angel of Death.
Power Song:
This song can be medium-fast paced, with heavy riffs and kind of marching drum beats, catchy lyrics.
Possible single.
Think of For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Metallica or The Prisoner
- Iron Maiden.
Moody Song:
This song is "freestyle" in terms of speed and riffs, but it must carry the same mood from the album, a catchy element like a repetitive chorus or a great guitar solo would fit perfectly on this song.
Think of F***ing Hostile by Pantera or Beauty Through Order by Slayer.
Ballad:
This song is optional if your genre is heavier, like Slayer or Death or Black Metal.
This can be a potential single because it can be more suitable for people who don't like Metal.
Clean guitars and slow beats would do.
Most of the times they have multiple guitar solos, commonly slow solos, but you can throw a face-melting solo like Metallica's One or Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven.
You can alternate between heavy and slow parts of the song like Pantera's Cemetery Gates.
Power Song 2:
This song is to lift up the mood of the album, after a ballad it is recommended to use a medium paced song, or something between a ballad and a power song to continue going through the same mood.
Melodic Metal songs would fit better because of the constant harmony sections used in the songs.
Think of Prowler (Iron Maiden) or if you're going heavier, Gears of War (Megadeth).
Moody Song 2/Dark Song:
With Dark we mean a song that is written in a minor scale, or if you play in an alternate tuning like CGCFAD or Eb.
This can be medium paced, with the same mood of the album.
Possible single.
Think of Metallica's Harvester of Sorrow for Dark Songs or AC/DC's Back in Black for a Moody Song.
Power Song 3:
Heavy song, same mood from the album.
Think of newer music like Evile's Metamorphosis or Trivium's Like Callisto to a Star in Heaven.
Instrumental:
This is completely optional, but if you'd like to show your skills as a band, you can include an instrumental, that acts as a "bridge".
It can be of 2 minutes, or it can be going from 5 to 7 or even 9 minutes, depending on how much you want to show your skills.
Some of them are used by Opeth, that used for example a bridge song called "Requiem" in their Orchid album, or "Patterns in The Ivy" from their Blackwater Park album.
This is a common Metallica fixture too, with songs like To Live is To Die, Call of Ktulu or Orion, but also newer bands like Evile's Hundred Wrathful Deities, clocking at 11:16.
This can be the last song for the album, you can either go for a Power Song or an ending Fast Paced song.
For Power Songs think of One Shot at Glory
- Judas Priest.
For Fast Songs think of Metallica songs like Damage Inc. or Dyers Eve.
If you choose not to end the album with these songs, you can continue with the one below.
Ending Song:
This last song can be a slow, long song that carries an ending theme or either a song following the mood of the album, written in the shape of a Moody Song.
It can variate a lot, depending on the theme your album is about.
You can see a lot of examples:
Megadeth's Rust In Peace...
Polaris, In Flames' End of Things, Guns N' Roses' Rocket Queen, Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss, etc. ,, You can go straight with a single genre like Slayer's Reign in Blood, that goes at around 230BPM the whole album, so this is up to you.
Lyrically, your record can be about whatever you want.
But if your album is a concept album, you can use the first song to tell the beginning of the story and the ending to finish it.
Make sure you do it directly, unless you are planning a continuation of this album. -
Step 3: if your songs are long.
-
Step 4: Try to mix different sounds.
-
Step 5: Start creating.
-
Step 6: Add a cover in between the record to make it more attractive to people.
-
Step 7: Remember: you can change this formula to fit your desires as a musician.
Detailed Guide
8
- 12 would do just fine.
12 songs lasting over 7 minutes each would make the album kind of boring.
A normal album lasts from 45 to 60 minutes. , For example, 7 medium-paced songs, 2 thrash-metal songs and 1 or 2 ballads would make a good album.
Think of albums like The Number of the Beast
- Iron Maiden or ...And Justice for All
- Metallica.
You might notice that most of the structure shown later is based on a common Metallica album.
It is true, because Metallica albums are full with different styles that make a long album flow perfect and harmonically. , This is an example of what a "mixed sounds" albums would look like.
You can obviously arrange the order of the songs or have more of one style than other:
Introduction: (Optional) This could be any 1-2 minute instrumental, either slow or heavy.
Used to set up the mood for the album.
Think of Dialectic Chaos by Megadeth or The Ides of March by Iron Maiden.
Fast Song:
You can start with a heavy riffed, thrashy song that transmits energy to the whole album.
Possible single.
Think of Judas Priest's Painkiller or Slayer's Angel of Death.
Power Song:
This song can be medium-fast paced, with heavy riffs and kind of marching drum beats, catchy lyrics.
Possible single.
Think of For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Metallica or The Prisoner
- Iron Maiden.
Moody Song:
This song is "freestyle" in terms of speed and riffs, but it must carry the same mood from the album, a catchy element like a repetitive chorus or a great guitar solo would fit perfectly on this song.
Think of F***ing Hostile by Pantera or Beauty Through Order by Slayer.
Ballad:
This song is optional if your genre is heavier, like Slayer or Death or Black Metal.
This can be a potential single because it can be more suitable for people who don't like Metal.
Clean guitars and slow beats would do.
Most of the times they have multiple guitar solos, commonly slow solos, but you can throw a face-melting solo like Metallica's One or Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven.
You can alternate between heavy and slow parts of the song like Pantera's Cemetery Gates.
Power Song 2:
This song is to lift up the mood of the album, after a ballad it is recommended to use a medium paced song, or something between a ballad and a power song to continue going through the same mood.
Melodic Metal songs would fit better because of the constant harmony sections used in the songs.
Think of Prowler (Iron Maiden) or if you're going heavier, Gears of War (Megadeth).
Moody Song 2/Dark Song:
With Dark we mean a song that is written in a minor scale, or if you play in an alternate tuning like CGCFAD or Eb.
This can be medium paced, with the same mood of the album.
Possible single.
Think of Metallica's Harvester of Sorrow for Dark Songs or AC/DC's Back in Black for a Moody Song.
Power Song 3:
Heavy song, same mood from the album.
Think of newer music like Evile's Metamorphosis or Trivium's Like Callisto to a Star in Heaven.
Instrumental:
This is completely optional, but if you'd like to show your skills as a band, you can include an instrumental, that acts as a "bridge".
It can be of 2 minutes, or it can be going from 5 to 7 or even 9 minutes, depending on how much you want to show your skills.
Some of them are used by Opeth, that used for example a bridge song called "Requiem" in their Orchid album, or "Patterns in The Ivy" from their Blackwater Park album.
This is a common Metallica fixture too, with songs like To Live is To Die, Call of Ktulu or Orion, but also newer bands like Evile's Hundred Wrathful Deities, clocking at 11:16.
This can be the last song for the album, you can either go for a Power Song or an ending Fast Paced song.
For Power Songs think of One Shot at Glory
- Judas Priest.
For Fast Songs think of Metallica songs like Damage Inc. or Dyers Eve.
If you choose not to end the album with these songs, you can continue with the one below.
Ending Song:
This last song can be a slow, long song that carries an ending theme or either a song following the mood of the album, written in the shape of a Moody Song.
It can variate a lot, depending on the theme your album is about.
You can see a lot of examples:
Megadeth's Rust In Peace...
Polaris, In Flames' End of Things, Guns N' Roses' Rocket Queen, Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss, etc. ,, You can go straight with a single genre like Slayer's Reign in Blood, that goes at around 230BPM the whole album, so this is up to you.
Lyrically, your record can be about whatever you want.
But if your album is a concept album, you can use the first song to tell the beginning of the story and the ending to finish it.
Make sure you do it directly, unless you are planning a continuation of this album.
About the Author
Kyle Torres
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow pet care tutorials.
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