Metal Monday #9

With this Metal Monday post, we've hit a bit of a milestone. I know it isn't much but this is the 50th post to be made on this blog, so here's to hoping that we can continue on with the same amount of consistency and flavour in the future. Meanwhile, I'm unusually tired so you'll have to bear with me for this post.

For the first track I'm going to go with something a little bit different to what you've become accustomed to. It isn't a huge leap in differentiation or anything but it might have some metalheads scratching their heads. The artist is Disturbed and the track to be featured is Stupify. I know there are many Disturbed haters out there but I can't help but like them. Their original album, The Sickness, is just one of those albums that never gets old. Practically every track on there has some degree of merit if that's what you're into. I think most people dislike them because of how successful they've been, selling over 11 million albums and debuting three consecutive albums at number one in the US. I don't understand this logic. Although there have been justified accusations of bands "selling out" (see: Metallica post-1991), the majority of them are entirely unfounded. When a band achieves widespread success they should be congratulated for such a feat, not ostracised. The reason I have chosen Stupify over the likes of Down With The Sickness or The Game is because I wanted to place emphasis on the overall quality of the album rather than the more well-known tracks. The Sickness itself is one of the most congruous and undeviating albums I've heard. Honestly, I had great trouble picking one track because each of them were potential candidates. I went with Stupify in the end because I think it best summarises the early years of the band. I wouldn't say it was the standout track on the album or anything but it contains many of the elements that make Disturbed who they are.

Disturbed - Stupify

The second track is by none other than All That Remains. This was an incredibly tricky one but I decided to go with And Death In My Arms, primarily because of the accoustic/classical guitar opening. All That Remains are a band who are split right down the middle in terms of a love/hate meter. The main reason for this is their album This Darkened Heart. With the release of this album, many considered the band to have engaged in a departure of style, due primarily to the fact that they adopted the use of clean vocals for it. Admittedly, the use of clean vocals in metal bands is something that leaves me a little disillusioned and underwhelmed (this is half the reason I'm not a huge Killswitch Engage fan), but All That Remains do it right by keeping the clean parts to a bare minimum and that's what I'm here to demonstrate. And Death In My Arms is just a great little number and it is one of their tracks that originally made me stand to attention. Like I mentioned earlier, the accoustic/classical guitar opening is just something I've always loved ever since hearing Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets. Thankfully, All That Remains have a similar template to Metallica in this respect, because the track jumps straight from accoustic to a relentless barrage of metallic music. While the drums aren't anything to write home about, they keep the tempo and the ruthless riffage does the rest. Though the vocals will most likely turn some heads, it is difficult to argue that they don't suit the music perfectly. Usually I'm not a fan of that metalcore style but even I have to admit that All That Remains really nail it. To make matters even more unyielding, there is a huge breakdown near the conclusion of the song which just kicks it into overdrive and takes this song to the next level.

All That Remains - And Death In My Arms

The middle track for today is by none other than Nevermore and it is the opening track of their album Dead Heart In A Dead World, Narcosynthesis. I've been meaning to write about Nevermore for quite some time but just haven't got around to it. There are few metal bands out there who can attest to the originality of this band. They could be described as the culmination of a melting pot filled with metal subgenres, as they incorporate aspects of thrash, power, neo-classical and progressive metal into their music. I'm not sure why I went with Narcosynthesis over any of the material from my preferred album, Enemies Of Reality. Don't get me wrong, Dead Heart In A Dead World is a fantastic album but I was introduced to the band through Enemies Of Reality, which got a serious amount of airplay on my CD player after its release in 2003. I guess I went with Dead Heart In A Dead World and Narcosynthesis, in particular, because the opening track not only does a lot of justice to the band as a whole but is also quite an uncompromising and forceful track, which is what the band are all about. People can glorify Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen all they want, but when it comes to hardhitting metal few play the guitar better than Jeff Loomis, a true underdog of the virtuoso musical world, especially given the fact that he plays a seven-string guitar and has an extraordinary sweep-picking technique. The track Nacrosynthesis makes use of this technique as well as odd time signatures. The rhythmic approach to the track is compelling because of these time signatures as it manages to keep the listener alert and on the edge of their seat contemplating what's coming next. The drums also add to this approach as they seem to have a mind of their own on this track, delivering a rudimentary pattern while still maintaining the flow, which makes the track stand out amongst the crowd.

Nevermore - Narcosynthesis

The fourth track is Deadworld by Shadows Fall. An interesting bit of trivia regarding this track is that whenever I get a new MP3 player or speakers, it serves as my 'test track'. I don't know why this is but it has become a recent tradition ever since I tried it out on an old IRiver MP3 player around the 2004/2005 mark. Deadworld isn't technically distinguished or anything. In fact, in spite of the level of proficiency within the band, this track chooses to go down the heavy as fuck route in favour of a skullcrushing riffs over abstract guitar techniques and pedal functions. While there is no denying this isn't for the faint of heart, you never really know until you try. It opens with a ferocious yet exceedingly well-composed guitar riff that sets the tone from the outset. The drums are concomitant to this guitar line because while they are fundamentally important to the structure of the song, they never protrude far enough to take the focus away from the guitar. On the vocal front, frontman Brian Fair does a good job of channelling and transcending this musical energy in the form of melodic death metal. Although personally I would consider his vocals to be a little on the soft side for the death metal part, don't underestimate just how low he can go. Deadworld is a good demonstration of how thorough his vocal range is.

Shadows Fall - Deadworld

The last track to be posted today is Closer by Nine Inch Nails. I know this track has become a bit overplayed in recent years but that doesn't mean that it doesn't deserve to be posted. Whilst I will be the first to admit that, with the exception of Pretty Hate Machine, many Nine Inch Nails albums are comprised of a lot of filler material, that doesn't in any way lessen their creative or artistic appeal. Closer serves a nice little manifestation of this appeal, because although like I said previously, it has become a little bit played out in recent years, it is still a great track that pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable in this day and age. In spite of the song being lyrically obscene, this level of obscenity is endorsed by the grinding industrialism of the track itself. Credit where credit is due; Trent Reznor is a genius of the musical world and one of the few people who is able to get alternative dancefloors dancing. Closer is a perfect example of this with its unusual musicality. Even in terms of industrial music, this track is just off the wall. Like much of the work of Nine Inch Nails, every time I listen to it I never know what to expect. It maintains a sense of contemporary descant amongst the surrounding chaos and turmoil.

Nine Inch Nails - Closer