After having analyzed a bunch of power metal songs to see if it was really about dragons, I wondered for a moment what could be the next step. Actually there was two next steps. The first one was to augment my power metal dataset from 58 bands to 506 bands. The second one was to use this dataset to generate power metal lyrics.

Let's have a look at the following lyrics.

Beacon Of The Valkyries

The night is dying

The sun is rising

The clouds are closing in

The battle is on

The countdown is done

The twilight is near

The battle is on

The blood on the altar is now

The blood on the altar is now

The sun is rising

The sun is rising

We're calling for the warriors

We're calling for the whispers

We're calling for the warriors

We're calling for the gods

Beacon of the valkyries

Beacon of the valkyries

Beacon of the valkyries

Beacon of the valkyries



What do you think? Pretty metal huh.

It was one of the first lyrics produced by the model I fine-tuned on my power metal dataset.

The dataset

The new dataset I prepared contains 10 times more bands than the first one for a grand total of 508 bands. With that amount of data, I hope to capture the spirit of what makes a good power metal song.

The model

At first, I had the idea of creating the following lyrics generators and compare them:

HMM,

RNN,

transformer.

Since less is more and I wanted to do something with what is considered the state of the art, I decided to go with a transformer model, and more specifically the GPT-2 , a model created by Open AI.

GPT-2

GPT-2 is a transformer model. This type of model is usually made of stacks of decoder and encoder blocks, piling up like smart pancakes. In the case of GPT-2 , we use only decoder blocks. Inside these blocks, we find something called self-attention . I could try to explain all of this but other people did it better, so if you want to know more please go to the References section.

Fine-tuning

My understanding of what is happening here is that it is more about continuing the training of the model than a classic last layer freeze and re-train that last layer type of fine-tuning.

To fine-tune GPT-2, I had to format the lyrics to confirm to what the model is expecting. Other than that, I ran as is the code for training GPT-2.

The results

The Seeds

The model can take as an input a few words. I've decided to seed it with the titles of one of my favorite music albums of all time: Serpent's Egg by Dead Can Dance. Dead Can Dance is not a power metal band but a dark wave / world / gothic / something type of band.

Bonus Tracks

Angel Of The Morning

Poem of the Priest

The Flame And The Water

Giants Of The Light

I generated for each title 3 outputs and cherry-picked myself the most coherent or relevant one. A few times, when more than one set of lyrics generated were great I saved them. These lyrics are in the bonus tracks.

The album

The Host of Seraphim

Come with me and you will see the sunrise

Bring the Angel to my eyes

Fight the night and survive the day

Hear the call of the Seraphim

I was named by the fortress of the underworld

The Archangel of the Light

Shining in the light of the night

And I am the Angel of the morning

All the angels will be here

Sons of angels

All the children of angels

All the gods will be here

Come with me and you will see the sunrise

Bring the Angel to my eyes

Fight the night and survive the day

Hear the call of the Seraphim



Ring Of Fire

The pit is closed for me

The pit is filled with rage

The fire is burning deep inside

This is the pit of fire

The bell is ringing

This is the price for my soul for eternity

No more words for peace and love

My soul is burning with fear

I'll face the world inside me

The pit is closed for me

The pit is filled with rage

The fire is burning deep inside

This is the pit of fire

The bell is ringing

This is the price for my soul for eternity



Severance

You're standing up

Looking for a sign

Give it one second

Tell me what's wrong

Let's just call it insanity

Guess the time has come

Take your leave

From the heathens

Seconds are testing your faith

You're standing up

Looking for a sign

Keep it up

Tell me what is wrong

Let's just call it insanity

You're standing up

Looking for a sign

Give it one second

Tell me what's the wrong

Let's just call it insanity



The Writing on My Father’s Hand (part one)

I live in a world of spinning hearts

Where the living creatures were all in their minds

So long ago my father had told me

All this time and all the times I still remember

I can't help but to wonder

Should I cry for a reason

When I was young and weak

I saw the writing on my father's hand

And I now can't help but to wonder

Should I cry for a reason

When I was young and weak

Why can't I hear the voices

Of the wise men and the wise men

Tell me why don't you feel the pain

I live in a world of spinning hearts

Where the living creatures were all in their minds

So long ago my father had told me

All this time and all the times I still remember

I can't help but to wonder

Should I cry for a reason

When I was young and weak

I see the writing on my father's hand

And I now can't help but to wonder

Should I cry for a reason

When I was young and weak



The Writing on My Father’s Hand (part two)

The stories they tell are as untrue as they are untrue

And what is the truth, stay away from me

What will you do when you see the writing on your fathers hand?

What will you do when you see the writing on your fathers hand?

A man of innocence, who doesn't understand

On from the day his father succumbed to his disease

A thorn and a thorn and a thorn, have murdered the story of his life

His brothers and ones whom he lost but who survived

He feared the end of his life

His soul would not be washed away

In hot and cold he could not sit down

He felt his lust was strong

He felt his blood was cold

He wished his life to be free

His blood was cold

Forever and ever he would wait

For the writing on his fathers hand

The writing on his fathers hand

And the stories that he wrote are as untrue as they are untrue

"And what is the truth, stay away from me" I will cleanse the world of sin in all its filth

I will be your guardian, and feed upon it like a lion

I will destroy this virgin



In the Kingdom of the Blind

All the rest of the world is creating a scheme

To destroy the white sky

Stalking the dark land we'll find another way

This time it is by law

To attack the task

Of the ruler

And make him a stand

And then the world is plunged into darkness

Abandon all the right

To divide the World

Around us

So the ruler controls the world

And

He's the one who can't see

The future will end

Now we're ruined

Stalking the dark land

We'll find another way

The world is plunged into darkness



The One-Eyed Are Kings

Amore we'll make them die

Abandoned in the wild

Facing the dark

A militant priest

Reinvented from the grave

I've taken the path of the righteous

I've not only learned the truth but made all my friends fall

The One-Eyed Are Kings

Aeron, the one-eyed are kings

I'm the one-eyed are kings

Abandoned in the wild

Facing the dark

A militant priest

Reinvented from the grave

The One-Eyed Are Kings

Aeron, the one-eyed are kings

I'm the one-eyed are kings

Abandoned in the wild

Facing the dark

Holding the gate

The One-Eyed Are Kings

Aeron, the one-eyed are kings



Chant of the Paladin

Wield on yourself

The mighty warrior is glorifying the slain

The black sun has begun to set

The prince of the glory

Cries out for the might of the earth

The sun will light the way

Walls will fall down

Pushed by Lightning

The great hunter's one and only goal

The black sun has begun to set

The prince of the glory

Cries out for the might of the earth

The sun will light the way

Walls will fall down

Pushed by Lightning

The great hunter's one and only goal



Song of Sophia I

Where do you come from

Where are you going to stay

And where can you be? I don't know, I can't explain

I'm not the person you are

I am not the people you can't save

I can't say, there's no way I could make it through

I don't know, I'm not the person you are

I am not the people you can save

Don't you ever look at me

Don't you ever look at me

I'm not the person you are

I am not the people you can save

I am the man you can't save

I am the people You can save



Song of Sophia II

Into the forest

Inside the burning flames

Beware of this witch

She will make you fain alive

She is the witch of the night

She waits for you

While you watch her pucker

I am the witch of the night

I watch you through the flames

I am the witch of the night

I'm the witch of the night

I am the witch of the night



Echolalia

Bloody madness

I hit the ground

The air was full of fire

It took my breath away

The rain and the snow

I felt the burning of my soul

My soul would fade away

The chasm has found its way

To the place where I can feel

A break in time and time again

I am the winner of the trial

Hundred unknown gates

Are here everywhere

I've approached them all

And I may be in the time

When you'll see their evil

The time is only right

And I wonder how they've come

To make this journey

So far away

The northern land

Is full of fear

As I fall

I can't find a way back

To the river of life

I'm falling so

Too far

The winter was a long time ago

Now it's fading

And you won't see my eyes

In the coldness of the air

The chasm has found its way

To the place where I can feel

A break in time and time again

I am the winner of the trial

Silence speaks my name

The time is only right

And I wonder how they've come



Mother Of A Thousand Vows

Aproach to our mother

She's a liar, the tyrant, the poisoned name

I am the one who controls the world

Hell has no balance, no defence

You're the one who's fighting in the fight

I'm a leader, I'm the one who knows what's wrong in Hell

I'm the one who's calling the people

Hell has no balance, no defence

You're the one who's fighting in the fight

Your god is evil and you are the god

I'm your God, and you are my Son

Hell has no balance, no defence

You're the one who's fighting in the fight

You're the one who's fighting in the fight



Ulysses The Serpent

As I walk through

The portals of dark and light, Look at the glow of the moonshine

I've seen in time what the blackest of black can be

Cursed I felt the calling

I am the Serpent of the Ethereal

Cursed I felt the storm

Open the doors to your realm

Came the promise of a new life

The lure of your hand

Has bled the ground

Killing warlocks and captives

Cursed I felt the calling

I am the Serpent of the Ethereal

Cursed I felt the storm

Open the doors to your realm

Came the promise of a new life

The lure of your hand

Has bled the ground

Killing warlocks and captives

Cursed I felt the calling

I am the Serpent of the Ethereal

Cursed I felt the storm

Open the doors to your realm

Came the promise of a new life

The lure of your hand

Has bled the ground

Killing warlocks and captives



Bonus Tracks

Angel Of The Morning

The battle cry of angels

The sound of the wind

In color the colors of our light

Rid of the beast, robed and armored

To the realm of the dark

Some say it's so real

We will fight, we will win

We will create the future

Until the end of time

The battle cry of angels

The sound of the wind

In color the colors of our light

Rid of the beast, robed and armored

To the realm of the dark



Poem of the Priest

He's the one who is the one

Who is the one who knows

We may die in vain

We will chant with our eyes

When time is near

And darkness comes to the end

We'll dance in the river

We will pray for our lives

But not for our souls

We are to be free

We will chant at the flames

But hear them sing

We will attack from the top

The sacred Priest

He's the one who is the one

Who is the one who knows

We may die in vain

We will chant for our lives

But not for our souls

We are to be free



The Flame And The Water

Before the dark we conquered

And then we felt the fire that we

Killed

And the sea of sand

We could feel the pain

Walk of glory

The only way is to fight

Now the Gods

They will we fight

To bring you

With their will

Speak the language of the gods

Together with the earth

And the dragon will fly

To bring you the fire and the cold

So it's easy and so easy

Wings of hope

We can feel your mind

Now the Gods

Will we fight

To bring you fire and the cold

So it's easy and so easy

Wings of hope

We can feel your mind

Now the Gods

Will we fight

To bring you fire and the cold

So it's easy and so easy



Giants Of The Light

My eyes are filled with confusion

My mind is trying to shatter

The one who's been lost inside

Like the dragon in the midnight sky

I searched the sky but I cannot find

The god of the dark

My eyes are filled with confusion

My mind is trying to shatter

The one who's been lost inside

Like the dragon in the midnight sky

I searched the sky but I cannot find

The god of the dark

Like the dragon in the midnight sky

I searched the sky but I cannot find

The god of the dark

And I can not find my way back home

I search for my way back home

Before I can say a word

I fall into a deep sleep

Like the dragon in the midnight sky

I searched the sky but I cannot find

The god of the dark

Like the dragon in the midnight sky



Conclusion

I was surprised that the finetuning of the metal lyrics worked so well. I shared a few lyrics with my head-banging friends and their reaction was unanimous: they loved what was generated.

This is opening so many possibilities to artists and creative people. It is possible to become one-person band (no pun intended). Music generation is still young and singing voices never produced anything good but who knows? Maybe in a couple of years we could hear something close enough to the reality. If so, I will start my band 🤘🤘🤘

References