For many bands, the use of religious themes is for aesthetic and symbolic purposes only.ДЄdditionally, some doom bands write lyrics about drugs or drug addiction. Others have incorporated occult and paganism imagery. Some doom metal bands use religious themes in their music, perhaps more so than other heavy metal bands Trouble, one of the genre's pioneers, were among the first to incorporate Christian imagery. While some bands write lyrics in introspective and personal ways, others convey their themes using symbolism вЂ“ which may be inspired by various types of literature. Often, they are pessimistic in nature, and include themes such as: suffering, depression fear, grief, death and anger. Lyrics in doom metal play a very important role. Doom bands with extreme metal influence typically favour growled or screamed vocals, while sludge doom vocalists usually employ shouted or strained singing. Epic doom vocalists usually sing in an operatic style. Traditional doom metal vocalists favour clean vocals, which are often performed with a sense of despair, desperation or pain. Another defining characteristic is the consistent focus on slow tempos. This produces a very 'thick' or 'heavy' guitar tone, which is one of the defining characteristics of the genre. Guitarists and bassists often times guitar tunings their instruments to very low notes and make a greater use of distortion. The electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit are the most common instruments used to play doom metal, although keyboard instrument|keyboards are occasionally used.

How to play doom metal