PsychoΔelica

I agree, with bands that focus more on screams, growls and other hellish noises lyrics are hardly relevant. But calmer bands such as Merry, or MUCC, or 12012,  for example, put a lot more emphasis on the lyrics in varying levels of depth. Unfortunately most of us do have to rely on the translator to get the gist of what the song is about, and even then it can be hard to understand/lose somewhat from the original meaning. But I think there's still room for interpretation.  I wish so many wouldn't just follow the herd.

I think most of us, who have been listening to Japanese music for a while should understand some phrases.

I started listening  to japanese music in order to improve my language skill. Even though I'm currently studying Japanese at university, I still find difficult to translate song lyrics, but at the same time I feel guilty for listening to certain songs without having a clue about the meaning. I feel like I can fully appreciate artists' effort. Regarding screamers, in my experience at a certain point you can understand what they are saying - at least, some lines - but, yeah, maybe you are right saying that in this genre you are more focus on other things that on the song content. As far as I'm concerned, I must admit that, while I'm listening to Japanese music, I'm usually more focused on the sound and the visual than on the meaning.