082510

What's It Called?

Soilwork - As We Speak

What's The Story?

Soilwork are a heavy metal band from Sweden. As We Speak is a song that many of their fans affectionately refer to as "their pussy metal song". From 2002, it's on Natural Born Chaos, which was produced by Devin Townsend.

Who's To Blame?

A real life guitar hero with a Hetfield beard.

Why ♥ It?

The guitar in this song is so so heavy. The fact that the lyrics and synthesizers go for emotionally heavy only to help make the dirty, low guitar more effective. From the beginning and throughout the song, the post-processing process and guitar tech work in synchrony to make for a diabolical riff headlining the track throughout.

The scream of Speed Strid keeps up with the fast-paced verses, with the vocals in the chorus having a distinctively Devin Townsend creepiness in the their choral style.

The pre-solo bridge has a built intensity that the song plays with for 30 seconds or so. The palm muted guitar notes feel like a low, and the chords he plays feel like a high. With their powers combined the short riff constructs and destructs a great anticipation for what every metalhead is truly waiting for during a bridge: guitar solo!

The synth really reminds me of something, but I can't say what. Maybe someone could tell me? (Or maybe it just has one of those sounds that sounds like something previously heard anyways.)

Regardless, while death metal fans will spit on me for it, this is probably Soilwork's most attractive and accessible track, and anyone with any dabbling in metal should give it a listen.

081610

What's It Called?

Foreign Objects - Universal Culture Shock

(from Youtube today; Grooveshark is letting me down here)

What's The Story?

Foreign Objects are a death metal side project of CKY. Universal Culture Shock is the title track from the remastered, rereleased album in 2003 after Jess Margera & Deron Miller found fame with CKY.

Who's To Blame?

A beacon of journalistic integrity who's about to return from a 4-year hiatus.

Why ♥ It?

This track is able to take angry, energetic death metal and turn it into a very casual experience accessible to the average rock listener.

The intro chords are what you might expect from a death metal track; fast, heavy, effect-laden guitar chords, and spastic drums. However, at 0:20, a simple transition turns the track into a groove suitable for a city bus ride. The verse-chorus-bridge structure repeats a couple times, just enough to satiate. Then, suddenly at 2:42, there's a return to the intro's dissonant chords, which acts as a segue into a solo that manages both a meedly-meedly heavy metal style while maintaining a feel-good groove through simple, yet creative use of percussion. This fades back into the chorus, and then out with a well-placed wah pedal effect on the guitar.

In sum, this track is a weird one, but it's worth hearing to see what death metal does when it doesn't have the oft-maligned vocals. (Or what CKY do when they're not post-processing the tracks 17.4 times)