Starting with a melody usually involves playing around with some chords on the guitar and singing over it until you find a melody you like. This can be the start of either the verse or the chorus of your song. Starting with a riff usually involves working on the guitar until you come up with a good metal riff, something that’s both catchy and driving.
The basic song structure of rock and metal songs goes: intro, verse, chorus, verse, solo, chorus, chorus, outro.
Metal bass tends to follow the chord structure closely, valuing rhythm over melody. But you aren’t limited to that. Experiment with bass lines that follow the vocals, follow the lead, or do something completely different, but complementary.
Consider, for example, this verse by Vastum, “Our depths of joy in this saturation / In our polymorphously perverse constitution / The dissolution of our grief comes in libidinal death and the grace of mourning”. It deals with simple themes of sexuality, but uses verbose and unusual language. Consider the interesting use of extended metaphor in the song Anomalistic Offerings by Suffocation, “The pain is unbearable, but you continue making the incision / With drill in hand, you find the seed of the demon inside / Blood spews over the walls as you drill deeper,” in which cranial surgery is a metaphor for battling inner demons.
Record the band playing the song so you can listen to it more closely. That way you can spend time analyzing the individual aspects of the song on your own time.
If you want to write the song by yourself before forming a band, you’ll need access to drums, a guitar, a bass, and recording equipment, at least a microphone and a computer. Then you just follow the song composing steps one by one, recording each part before moving on to the next. If you want to start writing a song before forming a band, you can write just the rhythm guitar and vocal melody of the song. That will give the song a solid base that can be built upon once you’ve got some bandmates.
Another way to find band members is to place an ad on a site like craigslist. Make a posting explaining your mission to form a band, what kind of music you want to play, and what roles you’re looking to fill.
It’s also important that everyone in the band gets along with each other. If there’s some serious personality clashing in your band, it won’t last very long.
Death metal, which is characterized by down-tuned guitars playing fast, intricate rhythms along with growled vocals and dark subject matter. Power metal, which is characterized by fast tempos, melodic harmonies, and clean vocals. Black metal, which is characterized by cold atmospheres, satanic imagery, and raspy, harsh vocals.
