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
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