This is a sort of concise
course in listening to Heavy metal music. In these days where Hip-Hop and Rap are
the kinds of music in vogue (mostly among the youth), I don't know how far Rock
and Metal (the kind of music I grew up with) are well received. Still, I expect
at least some (among the youth, as well as the rock music devotees of yester-years)
to have interest in this. But now (at the time of preparing this write-up) with
the release of the soundtrack "Njeruppu da" (for Youtube link, see below) from
a Tamil movie, it's easier to many, at least among south Indians, being aware of
those riffs of Heavy metal. The first one third of that song to me sounds like it
belongs a Heavy metal genre (or variety) called Nu Metal -- which I'm not covering
in this write up; for reasons, see footnote*.
Aimed at those who are
used to enjoying Rock music, but still have not tried their taste for Heavy metal,
thinking it's to hash to listen to, here it is: Read on...
Introduction:
“Heavy
metal, genre of rock music that includes a group of related styles that are
intense, virtuosic, and powerful. Driven by the aggressive sounds of the
distorted electric guitar, heavy metal is arguably the most commercially
successful genre of rock music.” – states Robert Walser, renowned scholar
of the heavy metal scene. Heavy metal is a genre of music that has a thick, massive
sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic
beats, and overall loudness. Heavy metal is traditionally characterized by loud
distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, and vigorous vocals.
The bass guitar provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music "heavy".
In the technical terms of music, one of the
signatures of the genre is the guitar power chord, which involves just one main
interval, generally the perfect fifth, though an octave may be added as a doubling
of the root. Heavy metal is usually based on riffs created with three main harmonic
traits: modal scale progressions, tritone and chromatic progressions. Traditional
heavy metal tends to employ modal scales, in particular the Aeolian and Phrygian
modes.
In a nutshell, what I’m trying to emphasize
is that the harmonic relationships in Heavy metal are often quite complex and very
sophisticated. The chord structures in Heavy metal has been found to be far more
complicated than in other kinds of popular music.
Understanding Heavy metal music is no big
deal. If you have a taste for ordinary rock music, then you have in you, a taste
to enjoy Heavy metal music. Here I'm presenting
a collection to gently progress you through a Heavy metal collection, from the lightest
metal gradually to the heaviest one in order. Before going seriously into the collection,
where a little bit of history, and the various genres are
explained, here are a few starters to bring you to the mood.
Starter menu:
For those familiar with popular western music,
the very term ‘Heavy metal’ brings to their mind, a song having style typically
like "Queen of the Reich" by Queensryche (Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_WUaMci6qo)
or “The Trooper” by Iron Maiden (Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G5rfPISIwo).
But Heavy metal is much much more diverse than that. That’s one of the reasons for
this write up.
As I have already said,
if you have a taste for ordinary rock music, then you have in you, a taste to enjoy
Heavy metal music. But heavy metal is like beer – one usually doesn’t have a taste
for it the first time they take it: one slowly develops a taste for it. Here are seven tracks in order from very-light to very- heavy samples of metal for developing the taste. The first in the list
is not a Heavy metal track – it’s just to bring one ‘into the groove’.
'Intensity'
(so to
say)
|
Track
|
Youtube link
|
Very-light
|
"Danger zone" – Kenny Loggins
|
|
Light
|
"Fool for your loving" – Whitesnake
|
|
Medium-light
|
"Turn the page " – Metallica
|
|
Medium
|
"Wings of the storm" – Whitesnake
|
|
Medium-heavy
|
"You've Got Another Thing Comin" – Judas
Priest
|
|
Heavy
|
"Wasted years" – Iron Maiden
|
|
Very-heavy
|
A
little history & some categories explained:
Heavy
metal music owes its origin to Western classical music, especially of that of the
classical music composer Johann Sebastian
Bach (1685–1750), the quintessential
forefather of Heavy metal. Other influences from similar classical music of the
Baroque period includes works by Vivaldi, Handel and Paganini. It's because most
of the early Heavy metal musicians were trained in and admirers of Western classical
music: this being true in spite of the fact that the use of the power chords --
the simultaneous articulation of two or more notes, composed of both the root and
fifth of a given chord and containing only perfect intervals between notes -- frequently
used in Heavy metal music is said to be going against the principles of classical
music, while the tritone chord (a diminished fifth, so to say, although
technically it shouldn’t be called so) is rarely used in the latter.
Composition
|
Played
by
|
Youtube
link
|
Toccata & fugue – J. S. Bach
|
Dan Mumm
|
The
term 'Heavy metal' originated from the song "Born to be wild" (Youtube
link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=CdiWEmTpwCY) by Steppenwolf in 1968; the lyrics
of which contains the phrase "Heavy metal thunder", although the song
itself was nothing more than Rock. In the song, the term referred to the roaring
sound of the motor bike. The term ‘Heavy Metal’, as used as the name of this category
of music was coined by Mike Saunders, a columnist of the Rolling Stones magazine,
in a record review published in November 1970.
What distinguishes
Heavy metal is its heavy and metallic riffs -- riffs are what makes Heavy Metal's
what they are. A typical Heavy Metal riff can be heard from time point 4:45 onwards
of the track "Bleeding me" (for Youtube
link, see below). In fact most Heavy metal listeners would consider that track to
be Heavy Metal only from that time point onwards. Another sample of a distinctive
riff is that of "Looks that kill" by Motley Crue (Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUtWHPZk7Es), right from its start. The starting
of the riff from time point 0:25 in “The Number of the Beast” by Iron Maiden (Youtube
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-iRf9AWoyE) is one grips you that it makes you
want to listen to the rest of it. Riffs can be from very shrill to very boomy;
for example, the track “Until it sleeps” (for Youtube link, see above) has a very
‘bass’-y riff, while in the track “Queen of The Reich” (for Youtube link, see above),
it is very ‘treble’-y.
Heavy metal is characterized by the use of distortion guitar, resulting in a denser
and more sustained sound. The signal line from an electric guitar to an amplifier
is mostly always pass through a series of ‘effects units’ (commonly known as ‘pedals’,
due to the way they are switched on an off or controlled during the performance),
one for each – like Volume pedal, Compression
(sustainer) pedal, Wah-wah, Distortion, Delay, Tremolo, Octave, Flanger, Phaser,
Reverb, Chorus, and many others. The Compression pedal is what makes the electric
guitar’s string pluck to sound sustained like a violin. It is the Distortion pedal,
among the pedals listed above, is the one which does what is being described here.
The main musical staple of Heavy metal is the power chord. This power chord together
with distortion is the thing: The power chord’s open quality allows it to sound
clearly even with high distortion, usually played in the guitar’s lower register
– ie., using the thickest two strings. On the other hand, a closed triad chord (the
usual major & minor chords and the like) in the low register played with such
high levels of distortion would have been almost completely unintelligible. This
is what makes power chords so important for Heavy metal musicians. This core
element that remained since the birth of the genre, represents the power in
this kind of music. Also, while the more mainstream forms of rock music
generally focus on the singers over and above the rest of the ensemble, Heavy
metal, on the other hand, emphasizes the entire band much more evenly.
Heavy metal music is also characterised by hard drumming, and fast guitar solos
(which they call ‘guitar shredding’) – the track “Call of Ktulu” is typical example having
all these, but however has no vocals.
Track
|
Band
|
Youtube
link
|
"The call
of Ktulu"
|
Metallica
|
Coming
to vocals, Heavy metal is characterized by high and powerful tenor vocals. The typical
vocal styles of Heavy metal singers can be (1) Harsh Screaming (eg. “Wings of the
storm” – for Youtube link, see above), (2)
Theatrical or opera-styled (eg., “Queen of The Reich” – for Youtube link, see above),
(3) Gruff (eg. “Ace of Spades” – for Youtube link, see below), or (4) Growl (eg.,
“Entire cosmic elements" – for Youtube link, see below). It can even be
(5) clean female vocals (as we’ll soon see). However, a track with the characteristic
Heavy metal riffs using distortion guitars and bass guitars, and hard drumming,
even if accompanied by ordinary rock singing style, can still be considered Heavy
metal. Metallica’s “Bleeding me” is an example of this (for Youtube link, see
below).
The first band to compose Heavy metal songs with all its hallmarks
was the Black Sabbath, from 1969 onwards, for reason which their music is known
to be belonging to the category 'Traditional Heavy metal'. The track included in
the collection below was released in 1971. Also its lead singer Ozzy Osbourne, who
eventually had set out on a career of his own, has earned the informal title ‘Godfather
of Heavy Metal’. Its contemporary Doom metal typically uses slower tempos and low-tuned
guitars, giving a much ‘heavier’ sound than other metal genres, with both the music
and the lyrics intend to evoke a sense of despair. Low tuned guitars are also popular
with Nu metal. Then there was the western classical music influenced Heavy metal
genre called 'Neo-classical metal', which featured medieval themes in the lyrics
and orchestra settings with baroque styled solos that matches the mood the theme
evokes. Ronnie James Dio, the lead singer of the band Rainbow (whose track is
included in the list below), popularized the ‘Sign of horns’ – a hand gesture
used traditionally in the Italian culture to ward off bad luck or the ‘evil
eye’ – which is often identified with Heavy metal.
Next came the popular "New wave of British Heavy metal"
genre (referred to in this write up as "New wave of heavy metal - UK")
under which falls bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Motorhead – although
Judas Priest also belongs to an earlier generation of Heavy metal, and credited
for breaking Heavy Metal away from its Blues influences, thus freeing it to have
a style of its own. They are also the ones first introduced the bickers’ ‘leather pants’ outfit that came to be recognized
as typical for Heavy metal bands. Their track
“Green Manalishi" (Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgnOJXIvu6s)
is also a good track for the category. The category of "New wave of heavy metal
- US" is only the US counterpart having the similar style, and therefore same
genre, of the ‘New wave of heavy metal’ – so to say – and not to be confused with
the "New wave of American metal", shown as a separate genre in many of
the ‘Heavy Metal Genealogy Chart’s found in the internet.
‘Speed metal’ is a genre
that originated from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and is extremely fast,
technically demanding, and musically intricate. Also came the other genres of Heavy
metal, like 'Glam-metal' from bands like Whitesnake, Motley Crue and Quiet Riot,
that greatly popularised Heavy metal genres as a whole – not only among the general
public, but also among the Record labels. At this point, I can’t help
mentioning a ligher sample – one may call Glam like -- by Metallica: “Turn the page”
(Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMqNFAU0tOw). Glam is Heavy metal for the ordinary
rock listeners. For a couple of tracks by Whitesnake, see the ‘starter menu’ above.
Symphonic metal combines the Heavy metal background with elements
of orchestral classical music, such as symphonic instruments, choirs or a full orchestra.
They often feature classically trained female vocalists, along with a male vocalist
performing the growl styled vocals. Yngwie Malmsteen’s performances are typical
of the Neo-classical cum Symphonic metal genre.
Medieval metal, also known as Folk metal, blends Heavy metal
music with medieval folk music, relying on instruments like hurdy-gurdy, shawm and
bagpipes.
The heavier genres of ‘Extreme metal’: like ‘Melodic Death metal’,
the ‘Power metal’ (very heavy but melodious, and not that ‘extreme’ too) and the
comparatively uneasy-to-listen-to genre called ‘Thrash metal’ (from bands like Metallica,
Megadeath and Slayer). “Queen of the Reich” mentioned above is an example of Power
metal. Most of the Thrash metal track are too harsh and not for everyone to listen
to. It’s more about speed and faster ‘beats per second’ than about music (eg.,
in my opinion, "Angel of Death" by Slayer, You tube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6_zsJ8KPP0). Metallica
however, later turned to creating more of the ‘New Wave’ kind of Heavy metal music,
a couple of which are included in the listing. But we should appreciate the Thrash
guitarists for developing the Palm-muting technique – an articulation effect that is produced
by plucking one or more strings while lightly resting the side of the picking hand
below the little finger on the strings – which creates a characteristic percussive
sound. In thrash metal, palm-muting is exclusively used with distortion, which allows
its percussive sound to project. Metallica, having their origins in Thrash metal,
has brought that influence, but toned down, into their 'New wave' phase too. You
may listen to their track “Welcome Home Sanitarium” (Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6Dfo4zDduI)
and notice that it starts off with a less-thrashy kind of style of Heavy metal
and switches to a full Thrash metal in the middle of the track. It seemed that
the first part of the track raises your adrenalin enough to prepare you for the
full thrash portion, just in case you are not accustomed to the latter.
Main
course:
Now
listen to the songs in the collection below, ordered, as before, from the lightest
gradually to the heaviest (ordered based on the included samples, not categories).
Links to Youtube are also given – click on it to listen.
Category
|
Song
|
Youtube
link
|
Doom metal
|
"Into the
void" – Black Sabbath
|
|
Glam metal
|
"Wild side"
– Motley Crue
|
|
Neo-Classical
metal
|
"Stargazer"
– Rainbow
|
|
Traditional heavy
metal
|
"Children
of the grave" – Black Sabbath
|
|
New wave of heavy
metal - UK
|
"Fear Of
The Dark" – Iron Maiden
|
|
New wave of heavy
metal - US
|
"Bleeding
Me" – Metallica
|
|
Speed Metal
|
"Ace of Spades"
– Motorhead
|
|
Power Metal
|
"Through
The Fire And The Flames" – Dragon
Force
|
|
Extreme metal
|
"Entire cosmic elements" – Deviant
Syndrome
|
|
Thrash metal
|
“Creeping Death”
– Metallica
|
|
Symphonic metal
|
Nightwish – The Phantom Of The Opera
|
|
Medieval metal
|
Nightwish – last of the wilds
|
|
Nu Metal
|
“Njeruppu da” – Soundtrack of film ‘Kabali’
|
Don’t
be confused with the discrepancy between the write up and the list – like, I noted
Metallica as one of the leaders in Thrash metal, and Motorhead as New wave of British
Heavy Metal, but in the list, their tracks appear under the ‘New wave' (in addition)
and 'Speed’ categories respectively. The case of Metallica has already been discussed
above. None of these bands are strictly a one-of-a-kind style bands. Most of them
experiment with the different genres of Heavy metal, but their majority tracks are
usually of that genre they are known to be associated with.
Apart from the style of music (heavy rhythm guitar and riffs),
the fast guitar solos are also wonderful to listen to. I personally like those of
"Wings of the storm", "Wasted years", “Stargazer” and “Call
of Ktulu". But that in “Through the
fire and the flames” is too fast to enjoy. Van Halen, though mostly considered a
Hard rock band, (and as Glam Metal by others), cannot be discredited for their contribution
to metal, especially the techniques for playing fast guitar solos (by guitar
tapping): the following track, though more Hard rock than Heavy metal, I just love
the fast and pounding riff “Judgment day”
(Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-eR35VoDOg). The track “For all it’s worth” by
Orpheus (Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaDx2FNGfxw) is another good one in the ‘Extreme’
category, that though has sections of Thrash-like metal sections inserted into an
otherwise Melodic death metal song. It’s also a track that demonstrates beautifully
how a piano can be beautifully integrated in Heavy metal music. And it is not fair
to discuss Glam metal without a mention of Guns’n’Roses. So here’s a good one from
their album ‘Use your Illusion –II’: “Civil war” (Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9VhD4SccSE).
The problem with being a Heavy metal admirer is that while I
(and most like me) like the music for the complex guitar riffs, the exhilarating
chord progressions and the fast guitar solos they provide, it’s commonly identified
as something sinister -- I’m forced to disassociate
myself from what’s commonly identified with those who are its fans for being
interested in wearing weird rings, lockets, T-shirts and head scarf – depicting
skulls, snakes, daggers, horned heads and scorpions. And to disassociate still
more from the notion that Heavy metal bands have something to do with some sort
of devil worship, a perception common during the 1980’s, but not anymore, I believe**.
The tracks included here are good ones in my opinion (except
Thrash metal of which I have no opinion anyway), at least one from each category;
which I believe you'll also enjoy listening to – at least in course of time. And
of course, I’ve skipped Nu metal, for reasons already made clear. So keep listening
from the ‘Very-light’ to the ‘Very-heavy’, in that order, taking your own time.
You’ll eventually get its grip. Listen, try and enjoy!
Any
comments, please post your reply.
Rahul
Leslie
Sept
2016 (Edited: Feb 2018)
Footnotes:
*
The reason for not including Nu metal in this write up, is better put by an eminent
Heavy metal documentarian as "They took a little bit of metal, a little bit
of Hip hop, a little bit of electronica, and as a long time Metal fan, I couldn't
stand it".
**It
common that heavy and extreme metal subculture is often identified (especially
in Europe): in the first place with deviant and excessive behaviour,
aggression; in the second place, Satanism and political rightwing extremism are
listed as well. It may become clear that the above mentioned simplification
naturally hides a more complicated picture. But I've read research papers on
the subject, stating that metal are more like (or rather) a rebellion against
the current social system and injustice. Of course, one can’t ignore that
there's Norwegian black metal, which at its foundations, is understood to be
the primordial Satanist kind of music. One can simply avoid listening to that
category.
My technical write-up's
- The Pushover Analysis, explained in its Simplicity
- Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG) Panel Building System
- Un-meshing the Finite Elements in Building Models
My
non-technical write-up's
My
other write-up's
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