What’s “Dad Metal” and how can I write some of my own?

Hello again. The past week had a lot of funny conversations about “dad metal” and the various descriptors of it. One prime way to find “Dad Metal” is to turn on a radio station and just listen to the bands on there. It’s just hard rock/diet metal like Five Finger Death Punch and Disturbed, among many other bands. These bands are wildly successful with many people that love them. They are also gateway bands for a lot of people to get into heavier and more intricate metal and music. I’m sure you’ve met more than a few people that think that Disturbed or FFDP are the epitome of all that is metal. Let’s take that energy and have some fun with it.

All you need to be able to write this music is to tune your guitar to a drop tuning – I use drop C in this track which is, from lowest to highest, CDCFAD – and do your best to make it sound like you tried really hard to make it heavy but ended up with a song that makes people think of dads moshing while holding barbecue utensils and other “dad” paraphernalia.

Let’s give the track I wrote a listen and then discuss it.

Listen here:

How did I write this track?

I started out sitting down and chunking out some low rhythms on the lowest string and then writing them down in Guitar Pro. I wrote a small handful of riffs and then decided to just cycle through them for the beginning and then let the song write itself from there. By that i mean I used what I had to generate the rest of the material that I made besides the chorus. Most the material for the song is based on the rhythmic unity between the guitar, bass, and bass drum.

After the initial riffs were written and presented, I added in the other instruments and wrote all of the music for the whole band as I went. The chorus is just a few chords that I let ring out which directs the focus more to the vocals while using the guitar to fill out the harmonic space underneath. I used power chords (root and 5th) for the chords but their triadic names would be Cm Ab G Db.

From that point, I just recycled all of the material to finish the song and added a solo over top of the post chorus riff. My partner mentioned to me that she imagines a bunch of dads moshing awkwardly during that section which helped solidify to me that I had written a “Dad Metal” song.

What are the lyrics and what are they about?

Here are the lyrics:

Verse

Don’t tell me what I’m thinkin’
Cause I already know
I know you’re not that stupid
So stop puttin’ on a show

Prechorus

Ideals laced with
Madness, and this
Can’t last another day

Chorus

Ignore the facts
You know the game
Put on the act
One and the same

Another page
Another lie
Make sure
No one makes it out alive

Verse

I know just what you’re thinkin’
That I can’t think on my own
I guess you are that stupid
All along I guess I’ve known

Prechorus

Ideals laced with
Madness, and this
Can’t last another day

Chorus

Ignore the facts
You know the game
Put on the act
One and the same

Another page
Another lie
Make sure
No one makes it out alive

I wrote these lyrics very quickly based on some current events but I made them, more than less, generic enough to fit what anybody wants them to be about. Though I wrote them about a very particular topic, it is a better experience for others to be able to interpret lyrics however best fits their feelings at the time they’re listening. As a writing exercise, try writing about a very particular topic but then making your lyrics general enough for anyone to interpret what they want.

Parting thoughts

Though this song was written as kind of a joke, it still has some good things to practice for improving your picking hand technique like with the fast palm muting riff as seen below:

This song is at 120 BPM so is one of the benchmarks for sixteenth note picking. If you can’t get the riff tight and correct at 120 BPM right away, start at 60 BPM and work your way up in small increments of 1-3 BPM each or every other time you repeat it. After you have the riff memorized, play it on different strings to see how it feels and to get a little bit more practice in on single string lines with constant alternate picking.

Another writing technique to notice, if you haven’t already, is how powerful it is when the whole band is playing the same rhythm in one aspect or another. You’ll notice in the beginning when the band joins in, the guitar, bass, and bass drum are all on the same rhythm. This is a great way to tighten up sections with your own band(s) and works well for finding any rhythmic strengths and weaknesses throughout your group and/or your own playing.

Here’s a little list of what you can use to make your own “Dad Metal” song based off of “No One Makes It Out Alive”:

• Guitar intro
• Band joins with same riff/intro music
• Present some more material you’ll use later
• Drop down to drums and bass for verse
• Bring back guitar for prechorus
• Stretch out the chords for the chorus
• Play one of the riffs you presented earlier for a post chorus riff
• Play the verse again with the whole band
• Repeat prechorus and chorus and maybe change it up a bit
• Use the post chorus riff to build either into a bridge or as a bridge/solo
• Wrap it up with a prechorus and a chorus that repeats then close it off with your post chorus riff

Thanks for taking the time to check this out. I really appreciate all of your support and would love to hear what you thought of the song and if you have any requests of topics for future posts.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out my services and contact me so we can get together and help make your musical path more clear and direct to where you want to go.

Take care of yourself, be kind to yourself, have a laugh or twelve if you can, and have yourself a great week.

All the best,

– Matt