Screaming & Growling

[Hepcat]

Singing, honestly, seems kind of silly to me compared to screaming. A scream is something real, something you find in nature. Singing, what's that supposed to be? What're you, a bird?

You're ignoring two details:

1. Singing, like birds, is or at least can be pleasant to the ears.

2. Singing, unlike screaming and growling, takes some talent.

 

[LG]

Singing, honestly, seems kind of silly to me compared to screaming. A scream is something real, something you find in nature. Singing, what's that supposed to be? What're you, a bird? Or worse, a bard?

I don't usually do this as a rule, but I can't believe you honestly posted something that simplistic AAG...Singing has been part of human culture for 1,000 of years, without Singing you would not have Screaming in your music collection. To suggest that singing is an aberration and that Growling/Screeching is more palatable is just plain wrong, and the numbers definitely back me up on that point.

Are there some bands that scream/growl/chant tastefully, yeah I don't mind Opeth, Ahab, even some Summoning on occasion, but as a steady diet I would go insane in a short time. Not to mention most of the subject matter of the Pitch Black Metal scene is depressing, sure they are preaching to their supporters, but just on a musical scale, that whole genre is not much fun at all. While I have gangsta-rap as the worst music?, ever recorded in history, this brand of metal is not much better.

 

[Slip'nn2Darkness]

I don't usually do this as a rule, but I can't believe you honestly posted something that simplistic AAG...Singing has been part of human culture for 1,000 of years, without Singing you would not have Screaming in your music collection. To suggest that singing is an aberration and that Growling/Screeching is more palatable is just plain wrong, and the numbers definitely back me up on that point.

Are there some bands that scream/growl/chant tastefully, yeah I don't mind Opeth, Ahab, even some Summoning on occasion, but as a steady diet I would go insane in a short time. Not to mention most of the subject matter of the Pitch Black Metal scene is depressing, sure they are preaching to their supporters, but just on a musical scale, that whole genre is not much fun at all. While I have gangsta-rap as the worst music?, ever recorded in history, this brand of metal is not much better.

I know I'm jumping in this late and didn't read past the first few lines but could you imagine the Benedict Monks screaming and growling their tunes.. Sorry guys.. Back to the topic at hand. That just made me laugh..

 

[Magic]

Thumper,

Monks do Scream and Growl. This monk is a big hit in Italy and his appeal is spreading. He is from a band called Fratello Metallo....he is pretty awesome

 

[Slip'nn2Darkness]

Thumper,

Monks do Scream and Growl. This monk is a big hit in Italy and his appeal is spreading. He is from a band called Fratello Metallo....he is pretty awesome

How did I know you were going to post those video's.. Thanks Magic.. you dulled my point.. But that's funny..

 

[AboutAGirl]

I'm with the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. Sprawling suite-like numbers make the answer to the "How do you define excess?" question pretty obvious.

Excess? That's a silly way to put it. That's the style of music that it is. If you don't like that style, take shots at it by all means, but to call it excessive is downright bizarre, if you ask me. The aim from page one is never to compose some catchy little piece of rock music, it's music that is based on (and judged by) its atmosphere, its subtlety and composure, its hypnotic rhythms, its fantasy, its ability to take you on a long, sprawling journey.

It's one thing for a rock band like Led Zeppelin to play a 25 minute drum solo or a 40 minute jam. It's quite another for a metal band to compose a suite. I don't mind either, but the ideas of punk rock scarcely apply to the atmospheric pursuits of extreme metal. It's two entirely separate sides of the spectrum. That's exactly like shouting at Mozart "Hey, how about some guitar solos, buddy?" At least rock bands like Zep and Floyd have some connection to punk rock, there's simply no precedent for levying such claims at a form of music that couldn't possibly be further removed from the fundamental goals of punk and pop. I take it you don't like classical, post-rock, prog? Heck, even bands like Robin Trower are all about the atmosphere and would probably receive derision from Johnny Rotten.

 

[Foxhound]

So I strolled on up to HMV on Yonge Street at lunch to have a look at some of the 180 gram pressings of Stones albums, of which they had a whopping total of one....

As I was leafing through the bins, I became painfully aware that the PA system was broadcasting solid growls overlaid upon some type of thrash metal. I tried to listen to the underlying melody and the innate hypnotic rhythm that AboutAGirl suggested would be there somewhere but all I could detect was a furious unrestrained attack on guitar strings and cymbals.

Having resigned myself to failure, I asked a staff member to identify the artist for me. It was As I Lay Dying. Okay. That's another to avoid then.

I paid for my copy of "God Knows I Tried" by Junior Kimbrough on Fat Possum Records and made my escape out the door.

 

[AboutAGirl]

You're ignoring two details:

1. Singing, like birds, is or at least can be pleasant to the ears.

2. Singing, unlike screaming and growling, takes some talent.

times one hundred trillion. Screaming takes as much talent as singing and sounds better.

I don't usually do this as a rule, but I can't believe you honestly posted something that simplistic AAG...Singing has been part of human culture for 1,000 of years, without Singing you would not have Screaming in your music collection. To suggest that singing is an aberration and that Growling/Screeching is more palatable is just plain wrong, and the numbers definitely back me up on that point.

Pardon me, sir, but that's not what I said. I said that singing seems silly next to screaming. Which it does, to me. I know that singing has occured likely since before history began and that modern screaming was an evolution of modern singing, I did never deny this. Who the heck said anything about what's palatable? If you don't like screaming, fine, but don't take it out on me. Human history means nothing to me. Screaming, growling, yelling, these are forms of animal emotion. They tap into arenas of nature which singing never can.

Are there some bands that scream/growl/chant tastefully, yeah I don't mind Opeth, Ahab, even some Summoning on occasion, but as a steady diet I would go insane in a short time. Not to mention most of the subject matter of the Pitch Black Metal scene is depressing, sure they are preaching to their supporters, but just on a musical scale, that whole genre is not much fun at all. While I have gangsta-rap as the worst music?, ever recorded in history, this brand of metal is not much better.

No fun? Wow. Can't say I agree, there. All it is is fun for me. I can respect the black metal that is just deep and hypnotic and what-have-you but there isn't a black metal song in the world that I listen to willingly other than those which I find to be absolutely enthrallingly fun. It's trim, heavy, emotional music, everything that rocks my socks. I put on black metal to get my rocks off.

 

[AboutAGirl]

So I strolled on up to HMV on Yonge Street at lunch to have a look at some of the 180 gram pressings of Stones albums, of which they had a whopping total of one....

As I was leafing through the bins, I became painfully aware that the PA system was broadcasting solid growls overlaid upon some type of thrash metal. I tried to listen to the underlying melody and the innate hypnotic rhythm that AboutAGirl suggested would be there somewhere but all I could detect was a furious unrestrained attack on guitar strings and cymbals.

Having resigned myself to failure, I asked a staff member to identify the artist for me. It was As I Lay Dying. Okay. That's another to avoid then.

I paid for my copy of "God Knows I Tried" by Junior Kimbrough on Fat Possum Records and made my escape out the door.

A gallant effort, friend, and I can't blame you for not understanding any of the intricacies of metal, but As I Lay Dying and thrash metal (of which they are not), are about as far away from the metal I was talking about as possible. Metal is a vast genre, easily equal in autonomy to blues or country or classical,. As I Lay Dying is a metalcore band, which is absolutely the least hypnotic or subtle form of metal perhaps other than thrash metal, which is like punk rock but with a technical fetish; incessantly fast and rough.

I'm not into the melodic stuff myself, so I can't exactly throw out something for you to illustrate everything I talked about. But I've heard it countless times and to get you a little closer to the goal post, here is some metal that is at least in the correct subgenres...

 

[Foxhound]

I take it you don't like classical, post-rock, prog?

I'm not sure what post-rock is. Had the question not come from you though, I would have been tempted to answer Dr. Dre, Insane Clown Posse and Britney Spears.

As far as classical, yes, I do indeed like classical. I have perhaps fifteen classical albums dating back to my high school days. My favourite composer is Beethoven followed by Tchaikovsky but my favourite single symphony is Dvorak's New World Symphony.

I like some prog, but not others. Without quibbling too much about the definition of "prog", the bands I like include Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, the Nice, Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Roxy Music, King Crimson, Supertramp and the Cars. Some of the ones I despise are Yes, the Electric Light Orchestra and Lighthouse, and I can't say I'm particularly keen on early Genesis although I'm trying to keep an open mind there in deference to Salmacis' Band of the Month thread.

Can I give a reasonable dissertation as to why I like some of these bands and don't like some of the others? No. Any dissertation would ultimately come down to value laden statements such as "I think they rock!" versus "Their music annoys me somehow". Another compelling factor would be precisely the time of my life when I was first exposed to these bands. There was a period back in high school when I gleefully embraced any band that I thought was expanding the boundaries of rock music. At some point though in the early seventies my cup ran over and I became more selective. I just went with what grabbed me right off the bat.

So are there any glaring inconsistencies to my taste in music? I'm sure all kinds can be pointed out. But so what? Whoever said that one's taste in music has to be internally consistent? That whoever isn't living in the real world.

BTW, I rather liked that Odinist track, much better than what I heard from I Lay Dying. I'll have to listen to the other links as well.