Quick answer: Choose a subgenre and its tempo: doom crawls around 50 to 80 BPM, heavy and groove metal sits around 90 to 140, thrash runs 160 and up. Describe the riffs (down-tuned, palm-muted, galloping), the drums (double kick, blast beats, half-time breakdowns) and the vocal (clean, gritty, shouted). Write short, punchy lines; long verses get buried under heavy guitars.
Genre guide · Metal
Metal with AI: riffs first, then the weight
Metal is built on the riff. Down-tuned, palm-muted guitars and drums locked to them carry the song, and the subgenre decides whether that riff crawls or gallops. Name the style, describe the guitar and drums, and tell the generator what the vocal should do.
- Tempo
- Doom 50 to 80, heavy and groove 90 to 140, thrash 160+
- Feel
- Tight riffs, double-kick runs, half-time breakdowns
- Harmony
- Minor keys and modes, power chords, chromatic riffs
- Core sounds
- High-gain down-tuned guitars, bass, double-kick drum kit
- Vocals
- Clean and soaring, gritty and shouted, or a mix of both
Defining traits
What makes it metal
- 01
The riff is the hook
In metal, the guitar riff is often more memorable than the chorus melody. Describe it in plain terms ("chugging palm-muted riff", "galloping riff", "slow crushing riff") so the generator builds the song around it.
- 02
Drums that lock to the guitars
Double-kick runs, blast beats and half-time breakdowns follow the riff note for note. Naming the drum technique sets the intensity more reliably than words like "heavy" or "brutal".
- 03
A deliberate vocal choice
Metal ranges from operatic clean singing to harsh shouts. MusicVivo's vocal settings cover presence and gender; describe the style you want in the prompt and compare takes, because extreme vocal styles vary more between generations.
Try it
Prompts that work
PromptMetal120 bpm
heavy metal, down-tuned chugging palm-muted riffs, double-kick drums, soaring melodic guitar solo, powerful clean male vocal, epic chorus about standing your ground
PromptMetal140 bpm
metalcore, heavy breakdown with half-time drums, fast palm-muted verses, shouted gritty verses and a clean melodic chorus, male vocals
PromptMetal64 bpm
slow doom metal, crushing fuzz-heavy guitars, huge slow drums, droning bass, mournful clean male vocal, dark and heavy
PromptMetal132 bpm
symphonic metal, distorted guitars with orchestral strings and choir pads, double-kick drums, operatic female lead vocal, cinematic and dramatic
Substyles
Tempo by substyle
- Doom metal50–80
- Heavy and groove metal90–140
- Thrash metal160–200
40125210 bpm
Doom metal
50–80 bpmSlow, crushing riffs with lots of space between hits and a mournful or chanted vocal.
Try this style →Heavy and groove metal
90–140 bpmMid-tempo chugging riffs that make heads move, big choruses and guitar solos.
Try this style →Thrash metal
160–200 bpmFast, aggressive picking, galloping riffs and quick, punchy drums. Short songs, lots of energy.
Try this style →
Prompting
What to write, what to skip
Works
- Name the subgenre and describe the riff in plain words.
- Pick a drum technique: double kick, blast beats or half-time breakdown.
- Say which sections are clean and which are gritty.
- Generate several takes; vocal intensity varies between them.
Doesn't
- Just "heavy metal song" with no tempo or riff description.
- Long, wordy verses over fast riffs.
- Asking for a real band's sound or singer by name.
- Stacking orchestra, synths and choir when you want raw metal.
Go deeper
Guides for this genre
- From Lyrics to Rock Song: Guitars, Grit and TempoHow to get a real rock arrangement from your own lyrics: choosing the rock style, tempo, guitar language and vocal grit, and writing lines that survive loud drums.12 min read
- How to Choose Vocal Gender, Style and LanguageA practical guide to vocal settings in AI songs: lead versus soft vocals, male or female, language choice, vocal texture words, and when an instrumental is the better pick.12 min read
- AI Music for Indie Games: Loops and ThemesA game developer's guide to AI music: building a soundtrack list, generating menu themes and level loops that repeat cleanly, stingers, intensity layers and licensing.12 min read
- Drum Patterns Explained: Kick, Snare and Hi-HatBasic drum patterns for rock, hip hop, trap, house, reggaeton, drill and more, written as 16-step grids, with the exact words to describe each one in a prompt.15 min read
- Why Do Some AI Songs Sound Robotic, and How to Fix ItThe common causes of flat, mechanical-sounding AI songs, from crowded lyric lines and missing stress to contradictory prompts, with a diagnosis table and the prompt and lyric changes that help.11 min read
Questions
The short answers.
- What BPM is metal?
- It depends on the subgenre. Doom metal crawls around 50 to 80 BPM, heavy and groove metal sit around 90 to 140, and thrash often runs from 160 to 200. Breakdowns frequently drop to half-time inside faster songs.
- Can AI do screamed or growled vocals?
- You can ask for gritty, shouted or harsh vocals in the prompt, but there is no dedicated scream setting, and extreme vocal styles vary more from take to take. Clean and gritty-clean vocals are the most reliable. Generate a few variations and keep the best one.
- Can I use AI metal tracks in a game or video?
- Paid MusicVivo plans include a commercial license that covers uses such as games, videos and streams. Set vocals to none for an instrumental version you can use under gameplay or action edits.
- Can I get separate guitar or drum tracks?
- Partly, on paid plans. MusicVivo delivers a finished, mixed song as an MP3 with cover art and a synced lyrics file, and paid plans can split it into four AI-separated stems: vocals, drums, bass and instruments. Guitars land in the instruments stem, and expect a little bleed between stems.
Related genres
Try a neighboring sound
- RockDistorted or jangly guitars, live-sounding drums and loud-quiet dynamics; the style sets the tempo.
- CinematicOrchestral and hybrid scoring built around an arc in time: swells, hits and endings that match a picture.
- SynthwaveRetro 80s synths, arpeggiated bass and gated snares around 80 to 118 BPM, usually with a neon-night setting.
Write a metal song around a riff
Free to start. Describe the riff, drums and vocal, paste your lyrics, and get a mixed track with cover art.
Make a song