I just stepped out of the shower, so I could be clean and fresh for my metal music review. As I was getting dressed, I legitimately found myself wondering, "What does one wear to properly listen to metal?" I ultimately decided on an adorable if not slightly skimpy sun dress, because I figured it was the best juxtaposition my closet had to offer to what I was about to hear. That and I got tired of looking through my wardrobe. And it was clean.
I'm doing these reviews in parts because I want to give each song recommended, it's due time.
I want to say there was something brilliant about the lyrics of this song, but the only words I heard were "December" "We are In Flames" and "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR." And I listened to it twice. Right off the bat this brings up my quandry with the metal genre. So many bands employ the stereotypical belchy-roar singing style, making it impossible for me to understand what they're saying. On purpose. Why? Why don't you want your words to be heard? It makes me worry they're not very good. Not that I would know. Because I didn't understand any of them. So is that it? You're avoiding lyrical critique by avoiding lyrical comprehension? Well played, metal music... well played. ;)
My general issue with the screamy, growly, belchy style of singing is that I am a singer, with vocal training and such. And that style is SO BAD for your vocal cords. To me, hearing that is the equivalent of a blues musician watching someone take a limited edition Les Paul and smash it to pieces just for funsies. Sure, there's a certain entertainment value and showmanship to it. But all I can keep thinking is "WHY?! WHY would you DO THAT to your instrument?!"
Having that out of the way, let me go on to say that in this particular song, the lead singer's voice is either impressive or vexing in its ability to be extremely high pitched and extremely low and growly at the same time. Maybe it's unintentional and his voice just exudes overtones better than some.
The bridge shredding on the lead guitar was pretty good. But I've heard better.
The drumming was good if not, again, stereotypical "metal" drumming.
Metallica: The Unforgiven
I don't know if I would classify Metallica as metal so much as rock, but I have generally liked a lot of their songs.
On this song in particular, I feel like James Hetfield did a fantastic job on the sections where his voice went soft and gentle. Not just because it sounded pretty, but because he applies the emotion, vulnerability, and clarity of his message to his voice itself. But in the sections where he's singing more "angrily," I feel like he got lazy. I didn't feel it. At all. And that made me sad.
The guitar solo about 2/3 of the way through the song was good. I mean, it's not the MOST dextrous guitar playing I've witnessed, but it was decently high up on the list. And more than that, I honestly felt like the guitar was screaming forth with the same pain as the words of the song. I appreciate when musicians make instruments speak emotions for themselves.
Opeth: Bleak
Oh my face! What an emotional rollercoaster ride this song was for me.
Throughout the first 40 seconds of the song, my jaw was on my chest and I was thinking "I LOVE THIS!" Then a singer started belching into the mic and I got super depressed. So in the last 20 minutes of working on this metal review, it's clear I still don't like growly singing that forces me to look up the lyrics in print on a separate website.
But I'm glad I did because this line is awesome:
Break of morning, coldness lingers on
Shroud me into nightmares of the sun
Then I hit 3:30 of the song and there's actual singing. Beautiful singing. I mean it. BEAUTIFUL. It's haunting and it's sad and it's wistful and it's tender and without being loud it's so powerful.
Musically, this song is beyond a home run. All the instrumental components were just seamless and about as close to perfection as music gets. I am starting to understand why so many people I respect, love Opeth.
Children of Bodom: Are You Dead Yet
Um...how do people drum that fast?! The rest I kind of tuned out. Sorry.
Alesana: What Goes Around
OH GOD! This song is an unfortunate triple whammy of bad for me. This is probably my least favorite Justin Timberlake song. Then this song's vocals combine the annoying screaming style, with the even more annoying whiny emo singing style. Ugh. I am getting physically ill trying to stick this one out. I want to punch the emo singer in the balls to toughen him up, and I want to punch the shrieking harpy in the background in the throat to shut him up.
I decided to listen to 3 more Alesana songs just to see if I could give them a chance. I also watched a video of a live stage performance of theirs just to see if that would redeem them in my eyes. All they managed to do was come across as immense toolbags.
Sad. I wanted to like them because I really sincerely like the person who recommended them. But I can't. :(
GodSmack: Awake
They are good. Just metal enough not to be Metallica. But I can actually understand them, and appreciate their lyrics. That makes me genuinely happy. This song was a nice note to end this edition of my metal review on. It didn't hit me in the chest in a big way or anything, but I liked it enough to not turn it off if it came on the radio.
Korpiklaani: Vodka
Aaaahahahahahahaha! How much fun is this song?! Let me tell you. Ridiculously fun. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with just calling it like you see it. "Drinking's good for you." Sure! Why the hell not?! And as a final comment to the bad-ass-itude of this song, they fully integrate the accordion (and the accordionist is really good, too) into metal. I literally could not have asked anything more of this song. :-)
7 down, 16 to go. All I can say is I better be AMAZING at Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock after all this.
Death growls are an acquired taste... like drinking coffee without milk or sugar. Think about it more as an instrument than a method for delivering lyrics.
ReplyDeleteI still can't help feeling like it's the brutal abuse of an instrument. I guess in an effort to appreciate growly singing, I should just tell myself they all go through a lot of vocal rest and drink plenty of tea with honey when they aren't on stage. Lol.
ReplyDeleteWith so many of these growly singers, I would love to know what their "normal" (yes, I realize how incredibly subjective that term is) singing voice would sound like. If they have the melodic pipes to back up the growl, if you know what I mean.
There are death growl techniques to minimize damage to your vocal cords. Singers are also suppose to drink plenty of lukewarm water to avoid shocking them. Even still, yeah... it causes damage over time.
ReplyDeleteYou get the same effect in death metal with blast beats (which I'm pretty sure you'll hear in the vader song). This is basically a fast drum beat that is simultaneously hit with multiple drums (and sometimes a cowbell). The whole point is to create an explosive sound rather than a complex one. (Funny thing is... the first time someone did this was in a song by Atilla, Billy Joel's first band).