A common theme with most metal subgenres (Thrash, Death, and Power in particular) is their use of frantic speeds. Faster, however, does not always equate to heavier.
Most critics/aficionados agree that Heavy Metal was born with Black Sabbath's eponymous first album in 1970. Some argue that all heavy metal is simply sped up or slowed down variations on the rhythms and harmonies of Messrs Osbourne and company, particularly with their heavy use of the tri-tone sound. Whatev - it's all metal.
Though they didn't know it at the time, Sabbath was retroactively grouped into Doom Metal - slower, lower, and "heavier" than faster counterparts. Doom is the basis of all your slower varietals: experimental? Drone. Bit of Southern Rock? Sludge. Fuzzy and weed-inspired? Stoner.
Some examples:
Black Sabbath
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZaOmNT8iVE&feature=related
Crowbar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM2-iPAY2p4
Electric Wizard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO7VP34n2Ps
Sunn O)))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1HEiQJEmBg
\m/
Prof. Organgrinder
Saturday, July 16, 2011
South America: Sun, Sand, and Satan
First, let me get this out of the way, thank you Chile for giving us Tom Araya. We've never thank you properly. Tom and the rest of Slayer came out of the 80's Bay Area Thrash Scene, but as he was born Tomás Enrique Araya Díaz I'm including him here. SSSSSSSSSLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR!
Now, with that notable exception, most of the metal coming from t'other side of the canal is Brazilian in origin. And most of the metal there that's worth a damn comes from Max Cavalera. The greatest of these, for me, is Sepultura (from the Portuguese for "grave"). Beginning with thrash in the late 80's and ultimately producing some of the sweetest groove metal by the early 90's, Sepultura was a real turning point in my young life when I picked up their Chaos A.D. and later Roots.
Max and his brother Igor (how metal a name is Igor?) left the band in 1996 due to some unfortunate hard feelings between Max and the other band members. Sepultura soldiers on but lost the magic. But Max also gave us Soulfly, which just released their seventh album in 2010, and Nailbomb, a one-shot industrial/thrash beauty.
\m/
Prof. Chop Organgrinder
Now, with that notable exception, most of the metal coming from t'other side of the canal is Brazilian in origin. And most of the metal there that's worth a damn comes from Max Cavalera. The greatest of these, for me, is Sepultura (from the Portuguese for "grave"). Beginning with thrash in the late 80's and ultimately producing some of the sweetest groove metal by the early 90's, Sepultura was a real turning point in my young life when I picked up their Chaos A.D. and later Roots.
Max and his brother Igor (how metal a name is Igor?) left the band in 1996 due to some unfortunate hard feelings between Max and the other band members. Sepultura soldiers on but lost the magic. But Max also gave us Soulfly, which just released their seventh album in 2010, and Nailbomb, a one-shot industrial/thrash beauty.
\m/
Prof. Chop Organgrinder
Regional Focus: France
Of France's many fine cultural exports - cheese, wine, cinema - popular music tends to be left behind. Seriously, name a popular artist from France. Celine Dion? Nope, Quebecois - a Francophone, to be sure, but not French, and all her hits are in English. French pop tanks outside of Francophone nations, probably because it's in goddamn French. Spanish doesn't have nearly as much trouble - Latin singers exist aplenty in the states rather than wallowing in relative obscurity/American scorn.
So some boys from Avignon decided they needed to get métal en tant que baise
The metal scene out of France is small but it's gaining rapidly. 2010 in particular was a great year for the French Black Metal Scene. Apparently they learned a little something from all those viking raids out of Norway and Sweden a few hundred years ago, ie, dress yourselves up in corpse-paint and scream over buzzsaw guitars and the vikings will think you're one of their own. I'm a fan of the following:
Gojira
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5By-5mLHk4
Alcest (art-house shoegaze metal)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dwrrLb-uJQ
Celestia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PwGSebQA70
Temple of Baal (one of my current favorites)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9B_EbkevFM
Blut Aus Nord
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRZyUmk7vsQ
Deathspell Omega
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIPSqcGj--I
\m/
Chop
So some boys from Avignon decided they needed to get métal en tant que baise
The metal scene out of France is small but it's gaining rapidly. 2010 in particular was a great year for the French Black Metal Scene. Apparently they learned a little something from all those viking raids out of Norway and Sweden a few hundred years ago, ie, dress yourselves up in corpse-paint and scream over buzzsaw guitars and the vikings will think you're one of their own. I'm a fan of the following:
Gojira
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5By-5mLHk4
Alcest (art-house shoegaze metal)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dwrrLb-uJQ
Celestia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PwGSebQA70
Temple of Baal (one of my current favorites)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9B_EbkevFM
Blut Aus Nord
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRZyUmk7vsQ
Deathspell Omega
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIPSqcGj--I
\m/
Chop
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Daily Grind
Drumming is a truly artistic endeavor, to be sure. Rhythm is the backbone of music, and the drummer sets the beat. But drumming is also hitting, and sometimes hitting is less about finesse and more about how fast and hard you hit something. Napalm Death didn't invent the Blast-Beat but they were the chrysalis that led to its apotheosis: Grindcore. Adam MacGregor, in a review of Grindcore giant Agoraphobic Nosebleed, offers this description: "The blast-beat generally comprises a repeated, sixteenth-note figure played at a very fast tempo, and divided uniformly among the kick drum, snare and ride, crash, or hi-hat cymbal." It's not exactly creating a beat you can dance to, but it does get your heart rate up.
Like hardcore punk (which lends the "-core" to both this and many other subgenres) Grindcore's lyrical content is largely political. Cattle Decapitation and Carcass both use the genre to point out what they consider despicable human behavior (Cattle Decapitation's members are all vegetarian, for example).
Not always though. Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Pig Destroyer (both fronted by Scott Hull) focus more on violence, gore, and otherwise "offensive" content. Cephalic Carnage are famous for piss-taking, usually at the expense of other genres.
Of course, they got nothin' on the AC. If Anal Cunt doesn't offend you, you're a fucking liar. But, that's sort of their thing.
R.I.P. Seth
\m/
Prof. Organgrinder
Like hardcore punk (which lends the "-core" to both this and many other subgenres) Grindcore's lyrical content is largely political. Cattle Decapitation and Carcass both use the genre to point out what they consider despicable human behavior (Cattle Decapitation's members are all vegetarian, for example).
Not always though. Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Pig Destroyer (both fronted by Scott Hull) focus more on violence, gore, and otherwise "offensive" content. Cephalic Carnage are famous for piss-taking, usually at the expense of other genres.
Of course, they got nothin' on the AC. If Anal Cunt doesn't offend you, you're a fucking liar. But, that's sort of their thing.
R.I.P. Seth
\m/
Prof. Organgrinder
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Sleep=High on Fire + Om
Metalheads and weedheads shouldn't have much crossover. Metal trends towards loud, pissed, and action-oriented. Stoner rock wants to just, like, hang out...man...what? But, see, way back in the day on Master of Reality an Ozzy led Black Sabbath released Sweet Leaf. By the gods that's some heavy and weed-loving riffs.
Now, there's a great many Stoner Metal bands to choose from. Possibly slavishly devoted to the Sabbath riff is Electric Wizard. Can I have some more bass please? I didn't quite feel that vibration all the way up my rectum.
But, standing head and shoulders above all other Stoner Metal outfits are Sleep. That particular track is about a dragon that also happens to be an astronaut going to Mars. Also weed, I'm guessing.
Sleep's Magnum Opus, Dopesmoker, almost never saw the light of day. Apparently, short-sighted record execs felt a single hour long track was unmarketable. Pricks. The battle to see its release created strains on the band that led to their eventual break-up. It's last gasp was a live track packaged with the eventual release of Dopesmoker called Sonic Titan.
But, all is not lost. Soul-searching poet and bass player Al Cisneros re-emerged with Om - a unique blend of chanted vocals and heavy riffs - this is the Metal the Dalai Lama would listen to. Also, as a side project, the seriously awesome and wail-y Shrinebuilder.
Shirtless axe-wielding barbarian Matt Pike would go on to form the slightly heavier, sludgier High on Fire. Sweet Christ, Matt, don't ever fix those teeth - that's the heaviest mouth in metal.
\m/
Prof. Organgrinder
Now, there's a great many Stoner Metal bands to choose from. Possibly slavishly devoted to the Sabbath riff is Electric Wizard. Can I have some more bass please? I didn't quite feel that vibration all the way up my rectum.
But, standing head and shoulders above all other Stoner Metal outfits are Sleep. That particular track is about a dragon that also happens to be an astronaut going to Mars. Also weed, I'm guessing.
Sleep's Magnum Opus, Dopesmoker, almost never saw the light of day. Apparently, short-sighted record execs felt a single hour long track was unmarketable. Pricks. The battle to see its release created strains on the band that led to their eventual break-up. It's last gasp was a live track packaged with the eventual release of Dopesmoker called Sonic Titan.
But, all is not lost. Soul-searching poet and bass player Al Cisneros re-emerged with Om - a unique blend of chanted vocals and heavy riffs - this is the Metal the Dalai Lama would listen to. Also, as a side project, the seriously awesome and wail-y Shrinebuilder.
Shirtless axe-wielding barbarian Matt Pike would go on to form the slightly heavier, sludgier High on Fire. Sweet Christ, Matt, don't ever fix those teeth - that's the heaviest mouth in metal.
\m/
Prof. Organgrinder
Friday, May 13, 2011
Artist Feature: Ghost
Sweden's Ghost has the Tru Kvlt Black Metal community rather divided. Their debut album, Opus Eponymous, has an incredibly ear-worm-y quality; I haven't stopped spinning it since I picked it up. But as Black Metal goes, it's not exactly Mayhem. It's Black Metal with a, well, pop sensibility. But, shit, they sing about the Devil on every. single. track. One can understand the lyrics without having spent years developing an ear for deciphering the standard Black Metal Shriek - does that make it something else? Is it closer to Maroon 5 than Blut Aus Nord? I leave it to you.
Prof. Organgrinder
Prof. Organgrinder
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Thrash Basics
Thrash Metal is probably what you've heard of without realizing it. Characterized by speed and aggression, a common technique in Thrash is the palm-muted riff, which gives it its characteristic "chugging" sound. My first Thrash Metal album was Slayer's first full-length release Show No Mercy on cassette (yes cassette). It had a "Super-Saver" label slapped on it, which caused my father (Master Slaine Mac Roth Organgrinder, Esq.) to quip that it had "more chuck-a-chuck for your buck."
Differing from Death Metal (which Thrash predates by a few years), the vocals in Thrash are generally sung in a clear (though clearly angry) melodic shout. Chilean vocalist/ Tom Araya said of Slayer's most famous opus, Reign in Blood, that he wanted to sing clearly because the words were such an important part of the song for the audience to take away.
Slayer is my personal favorite of what's commonly called "The Big 4." Four American Thrash Metal Bands that have defined the genre.
Metallica
Megadeth
Anthrax
and once more, Slayer
There's a number of classics outside the big four, so be sure to check out Exodus and Testament if nothing else - I'm certain Professor Smythen-Wesson will have more to say on the subject.
Not to be outdone, Europe gave us their own epic shredders in the German 3.
Kreator
Sodom
Destruction
Noticing a trend? There's not as great a diversity of sound in Thrash as there is in Death or Doom - I'm not knocking it, mind you! But, unlike Doom which splinters into Sludge, Stoner, Drone, etc. and Death with can be Melodic or Technical or Doom/Death or Blackened Death (among others) diverge much from the Thrash formula and you're no longer listening to Thrash. Not sure why that is, it just is. All the bands highlighted here got started in the 80's and all of them are still touring and cutting albums - it's a formula that works. And there's still great new Thrashers emerging - here's a couple of greats that popped up in more recent years.
Municipal Waste
Warbringer
Enforcer
Gamma Bomb
Prof. Organgrinder
Differing from Death Metal (which Thrash predates by a few years), the vocals in Thrash are generally sung in a clear (though clearly angry) melodic shout. Chilean vocalist/ Tom Araya said of Slayer's most famous opus, Reign in Blood, that he wanted to sing clearly because the words were such an important part of the song for the audience to take away.
Slayer is my personal favorite of what's commonly called "The Big 4." Four American Thrash Metal Bands that have defined the genre.
Metallica
Megadeth
Anthrax
and once more, Slayer
There's a number of classics outside the big four, so be sure to check out Exodus and Testament if nothing else - I'm certain Professor Smythen-Wesson will have more to say on the subject.
Not to be outdone, Europe gave us their own epic shredders in the German 3.
Kreator
Sodom
Destruction
Noticing a trend? There's not as great a diversity of sound in Thrash as there is in Death or Doom - I'm not knocking it, mind you! But, unlike Doom which splinters into Sludge, Stoner, Drone, etc. and Death with can be Melodic or Technical or Doom/Death or Blackened Death (among others) diverge much from the Thrash formula and you're no longer listening to Thrash. Not sure why that is, it just is. All the bands highlighted here got started in the 80's and all of them are still touring and cutting albums - it's a formula that works. And there's still great new Thrashers emerging - here's a couple of greats that popped up in more recent years.
Municipal Waste
Warbringer
Enforcer
Gamma Bomb
Prof. Organgrinder
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