Metal Tune of the Week!

Okay...three premises to this thread:

1) I like metal.
2) Everyone else on the planet should like metal too.
3) GD over there turned me on to Godsmack's Re-Align years ago, and I still have Re-Align on my MP3 player. So you're welcome.

Of course, one quirk or problem with metal music is that there are so many bloody subgenres of it. How many subgenres of pop rock are there? None. How many subgenres of country-western are there? Maybe one or two. How many subgenres of rap are there? A few. How many subgenres of metal are there? Well, let's see...Gothic metal, black metal, thrash metal, death metal, industrial metal, symphonic metal (aka. opera metal), acid metal, doom metal, funk metal, glam metal, nu metal, metalcore, post-metal, power metal, Viking metal, traditional heavy metal...arrrgh, my brain! *SPLOOCH*

But considering how some of these metal subgenres closely resemble other non-metal genres, I'm led to believe that some pinheads out there have identified metal less as its own genre and more as a code word meaning "any music with electric guitars in it". By their way of thinking, GWAR could do a rendition of the Sesame Street theme with two electic guitars, Jizmak the Gusher on drums and Balsac the Jaws of Death playing bass (and doing a masterful job of it, as he always does), and it could be considered metal...nevermind that it's the freakin' Sesame Street theme!

(Of course, I wouldn't put it past GWAR to try a stunt like that, either. Those guys are still certifiably insane after 20 years, and I hope to catch one of their live concerts before they retire or break up or get abducted by a huge cosmic horror that they accidentally summoned or something.)

So anyway, there we are. Some metal tunes and subgenres I like, some I love and some...well, I'd rather Q-Tip my ears with a Brillo pad than listen to the stuff. Yes, Napalm Death, I'm looking at you.

So however much or little my tastes may vary from yours, I thought I'd be a completely self-centered prig and shove one of my choice metal picks in your face anyway, every Friday (Saturday in Oz). Who knows? I may just turn you on to some new tune to stick into your iPod. After all, metal music is a musical style capable of expressing a ton of passion; that passion is usually some form of anger, of course, but you might be surprised by the spectrum of emotion which metal is capable of expressing...especially once we start wading into symphonic metal's territory. If you ever needed proof that electric guitars and pipe organs were made for each other--even if they were made about 500 years apart--symphonic metal is it. And it's still one of my favorite metal subgenres too.

Will any of these tunes end up in the House of Ainsley campaign? Hmmmmmaybe. It depends. But as anyone who ever played Castle of Dragon back in the arcades knows, quasi-medieval fantasy and electric power riffs go surprisingly well together. Try to mentally insert Godsmack's "I Stand Alone" in that arena scene with Maximus and the tigers the next time you watch Gladiator. Just try it.

And don't let me hog the stage here, now. Chat and discuss as you may.

Oh, look! Another YouTube command!


March 5, 2010: Disturbed - Indestructible

YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

*dies of bliss upon hearing this*

*ressurects self to hear it again....*

BTW, I have all of their albums

And Symphonic rock/metal is great. One of my most favorite of the metal genres.

Ever heard of Apocolyptica?

Trouble is, the Australian music scene isn't as rich and you'd want it to be. We simply don't get symphonic stuff over here. Especially european stuff. All the emo crap gets over here though *sigh*.

And I'm definitely going to keep on this topic cos its something very close to my heart.

MUSIC!

Oh question: Are we allowed to put up our own links in this thread? Provided it's metal, of course.

Point of thought....

Does this song (Indestructable) pluck particular strings with you guys? (Ainsley and GD) as well as one of their other's (Deify)?

Wraith wrote:

YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

*dies of bliss upon hearing this*

*ressurects self to hear it again....*

So you like it, huh?

Wraith wrote:

BTW, I have all of their albums

Oh, you're a Disturbed fan? I wouldn't have guessed...at least, not until your reaction a couple of lines back....

Wraith wrote:

And Symphonic rock/metal is great. One of my most favorite of the metal genres.

Mine too. With a tank full of Nightwish (Tarja era or Anette era), Tarja Turunen (post-Nightwish solo career), Within Temptation, After Forever, Stratovarius and E.S. Posthumus, I can go for miles and miles. I'm not sure if the German metal band E Nomine is symphonic metal or Gothic metal or what, and I'm fuzzy on what subgenre Rammstein typically plays (though a lot of it sounds like industrial metal), but I dig their tunes too. And GWAR...well, those guys are all over the map; compare "Letter from the Scallop Boat" with "I'm in Love (With a Dead Dog)", "Je M'appelle Jacque Cousteau", "Gonna Kill You", "Penile Drop", "Battle Lust" and "Immortal Corruptor" (in which Balsac digs in with a magnificent leading bass solo) and you'll see what I mean.

Wraith wrote:

Ever heard of Apocolyptica?

Yeah! But I never really got around to listening to their tunes. YouTube and I might just have to fix that deficit....

Wraith wrote:

Trouble is, the Australian music scene isn't as rich and you'd want it to be. We simply don't get symphonic stuff over here. Especially european stuff. All the emo crap gets over here though *sigh*.

Well, at least Australia has the trusty internet to help you get around that block, eh?

Wraith wrote:

And I'm definitely going to keep on this topic cos its something very close to my heart.

MUSIC!

"Music is a language."

I think Mick Jagger was the one who said that....

Wraith wrote:

Oh question: Are we allowed to put up our own links in this thread? Provided it's metal, of course.

I don't see why not; help yourself! I was just trying to pace myself so the thread doesn't burn out too quickly, that's all. Metal tunes are a dime a dozen, but good metal tunes...not quite so plentiful.

(Yes, that's the nonexistent sound of me thrusting my accusing thumb at Napalm Death and Dimmu Borgir again. Sinergy too. I swear to Zeus, if you've heard one Sinergy song, you've already heard all of Sinergy's songs....)

Wraith wrote:

Point of thought....

Does this song (Indestructable) pluck particular strings with you guys? (Ainsley and GD) as well as one of their other's (Deify)?

Well, I've listened to Stupify, but it just doesn't grab me like Indestructible does. I have YouTube open in another window; I'll be right back.

...♪♫♪♫♪♫♪...

Yep...that'll do! I particularly dig the song's subtle slam on our nation's elected representatives. I don't care if they're Republicans, Democrats or friggin' Mugwumps; they're all corrupt, they're all foxes guarding the henhouse, they all suck, and if an alien meteor turned me into a superhuman tomorrow, I'd seriously consider turning supervillain just to throw the bums out (preferably way out, into the ocean), completely flatten the Capitol building, give Obama and Biden to the count of three to take off running before I start zapping them with my deadly eye lasers and fire breath, take over the White House and impose a new more-or-less benevolent monarchy just to get rid of this taxpayer-raping two-party system we have. A peasant like me, running the White House. Imagine the appalled gasps of utter terror from the mewling mouths of banker, lobbyist and career politician alike.

Okay, mini rant ends. Anyway, has it been a week already? Eh, close enough. So here's some of that Gothic metal I was talking about.



(Though I have to admit, I first discovered Tristania while I was skimming through Splatterhouse videos and found someone's animation, with Lionheart as the musical accompaniment. I still have a soft spot for the old Splatterhouse games, you see.)