Danger and Dissonance

First Fall Danger and Dissonance Show is this Thursday from 12-2 on WMUC 88.1 FM!

the best type of metal singing

What type of metal singing do you all like? Screaming/growling like in death metal and black metal or singing like in traditional heavy metal, doom metal, power metal, and thrash metal?

Chuck Schuldiner - The Godfather of Death Metal

For those who don't know the lead singer/guitarist of the band Death, Chuck Schuldiner, is considered the Godfather of Death Metal. I found this site which is a tribute to him:
http://www.emptywords.org
It's a very great site that has a lot of information on Schuldiner and his works.

Bass Players in Metal

There are some exceptionally great bass players in metal music. I thought I would share a few that really stand out in no order:

Steve Harris of Iron Maiden
Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath
Cliff Burton of Metallica
Lemmy Kilmeister of Motorhead
John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin
Dave Ellifson of Megadeth

Ultimate Metal Guitar Magazine Special

This month Guitar Player magazine along with Rock House Method (a company that puts out instructional guitar and bass dvds), put out a special one-time magazine called “Ultimate Metal Guitar.” The magazine features guitar tablature from various metal players to help you master playing metal guitar. This magazine features prominent metal players such as:

Alexi Laiho from Children of Bodom,
Kirk Hammett and James Hetfeld from Metallica,
Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society and Ozzy Osbourne,
Joe Satriani of Chickenfoot,
Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, Rainbow, and Blackmore’s Night
Yngwie Malmsteen of Rising Force, Steeler, Alcatrazz, and the G3 Concert Tour And many other metal guitar players

It gives a good overview for anyone who wants to improve their metal playing or play in the specific style of It gives a good overview for anyone who wants to improve their metal playing or play in the specific style of one of the players mentioned above.

Unlike the thrash magazine article I discussed in a few entries back, it seems that there is a good balance of rhythm and soloing techniques in this issue. There are also more modern bands besides the classic metal bands.

In all it’s a great magazine and it retails for only $6.50, which is a good price considering most guitar magazines run for $7.99 these days.

Nachtmystium "Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1" Review

Artist: Nachtmystium
Title: Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1
Label: Century Media

Anyone who likes brutal metal that tries to push the boundaries of what is considered music rejoice! This album is for you. Nachtmystium takes aggressive and dark black metal and adds other influences to the mix resulting in an album that is aggressive, experimental, and energetic. A range of emotions on the spectrum of darkness, anger, isolation, and loneliness are conveyed through so many different ways on Assassins. The disc starts off with “One Of These Nights” which leaves the listener with sign of what is to come on the disc, great music! “Nights” gives way to “Assassins” which starts off the disc with a brutal edge “Assassins” also takes an unexpected but great turn after the 2nd chorus that leads to aggressive music without vocals and ending with synthesizer part. “Away From The Light” has a spooky and empty theme to it. “Your True Enemy” is a great song that conveys the anger that a person would feel when discovering their adversary. “Omnivore” has an a provocative march tempo and a foreboding guitar riff that makes you feel as if an evil thing is coming at you. “Seasick, Pt. 2: Oceanborne” has a saxophone part in it that makes every metalhead want a saxophone to become a permanent instrument in metal music. The song even sounds as if it could be in a video game or on a movie soundtrack. With aggression partnered with unexpected experimental ideas and a whole new outlook on brutal metal, “Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1” is a must have for any metalhead’s or music lover’s collection.

Young Widows CD Review

Artist:Young Widows
Title: Old Wounds
Label: Temporary Residence

Review:
Once in a while there is a time when most music that is out on the shelves is sounding all the same. It only takes a few great bands to break through this sound-alike sea. That’s where Young Widows come in. On their release Old Wounds, Young Widows prove that there is still good distorted rock music coming from the non-metal/hard rock camp. Their sound is very dissident and textured. Tracks such as Mr. No Harm, 21st Century Invention have a dissident and foreboding mood that makes the listener feel creepy and uneasy. While tracks such as Lucky Hardheaded, Delay Your Pressure, Feelers express real angst and anger. If this is a sign of things to come, then Young Widows are on the right track.

How to Play Thrash Metal Article in Guitar World June 2009

I know the article I am talking about in this post is from June of this year, but I was looking through my back issues of Guitar World (GW) and I found this gem. I believe this is a good article considering it talks a little bit about thrash metal, which is one of the substyles of heavy metal and the world of rock music in general. In addition, to mentioning how the style developed it also focuses primarily on how to play the style from various bands.This article from GW is titled "Thrash of the Titans: Want to Play Like Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and other Metal Masters? Take A Lesson From Our Comprehensive Guide to Thrash."

It discusses how the subgenre Thrash started and how it has evolved. The article starts off with a little bit of the history, but then goes into how to play like certain bands who are part of the Thrash Style. It begins discussing the guitar playing in Thrash with the Big Four (Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, and Megadeth), then it continues with the Old Thrash Masters (Exodus, Testament, and Annihilator), continuing with Groove Thrash (Pantera, Fear Factory, Meshuggah, Death, Cynic, and Necrophagist), and concluding with Soloing (Neoclassical: Metal Soloing, and Licks 'N' Tricks).

In addition to the bands, if a person is not sure of what kind of notes in music, or terms apply to thrash; those are discussed here too. For instaqnce they discuss what kind of musical modes and scales are used to play this style, what power chords are and why they are useful, what kind of amp you need, and how to get a good tone on your guitar to play this style.

This is a great article for anyone who wants to learn more about heavy metal. While some of these bands, are not thrash per say, the article gives someone who is new to the world of heavy metal, especially the thrash style, a place to start from.

Danger and Dissonance Myspace

Hey everyone,

Check out the Danger and Dissonance myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/dangeranddissonance

Gibson SG: The Guitar that Heavy metal was born on

Tony Iommi, the guitarist who is credited with the inventing heavy metal played a Gibson SG. For those who don't know he was the guitarist for Black Sabbath, the band who is credited with inventing Heavy Metal. Some say that all heavy metal comes from Black Sabbath. There are many metal groups influenced by Black Sabbath. Even the grunge movement was influenced by Black Sabbath.

Originally he was going to play Fender Stratocaster, but the Stratocaster pickup broke on him when he was recording. The only other instrument he had was an SG, which he used as a spare. And as they say, the rest is history.

Here are two pictures of an Gibson SG Standard:

Burning Shadows Album Review

Artist: Burning Shadows
Title: Into the Primordial
Label: Self-Produced
For those who enjoy metal, but have never given thought to power metal before, stop and take a look at this album. Unlike so many bands in the power metal genre Burning Shadows brings much new to the table. Each member does his own thing to create a unique sound. In “New Dawn Arise” the rhythm section brings some interesting surprises. Bassist Aaron El-Zeftawy plays an amazing, complimentary, and catchy bass fill in the beginning and end of the song, while drummer David “Warlord” Spencer plays a unique and unexpected drum beat pattern during the chorus. Guitarist Tim Regan and guitarist/vocalist Greg Jones rhythm and lead parts are just full of clarity and expression. All throughout the cd instances of musical brilliance are heard. Jones’ departure from typical power metal high pitched vocals works very well. His vocals pour out feeling and bring power metal down to a level that is both realistic and not over the top which can reach those who are not typical metal listeners. This way of singing stands out from all of the other cookie cutter male singers with high pitched vocal tones (most guys do not have a natural high pitched voice, their vocal center is in the middle). Samath has a great intro riff that automatically catches the listeners attention and ranks up there with some of the best classic metal riffs. In fact all of the riffs on this cd show pure musicianship. Definitely a band to watch out for.

Grindcore/Death Metal/Black Metal Music Article in the Washington Post

There was an interesting article on Grindcore, Death Metal, and Black Metal in the Washington Post Magazine that comes out on August 9, 2009. It is titled "Into the Darkness" and is written by David Rowell It can be found here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/31/AR2009073102026.html
I encourage everyone to check it out. It was a good read.
I’d also like to know what you think about the article. For example, do you agree with the reasons people he spoke with gave for what attracts people to this type of music So let me know what you thought of the article.

Saint Vitus Touring

I know this is a little late, but I just found this out: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_tours/saint_vitus_to_tour_east_coast.html. Saint Vitus are going to tour the East Coast. I really want to go to one of the shows!

Doom Metal

I have been listening recently to quite a few doom metal bands such as Saint Vitus, Pentagram, and Candlemass. Its definitely a different side of heavy metal. Its heavy yet slow. Most people think of heavy metal as fast music because of thrash. Doom metal does a really great job conveying depression, isolation, and loneliness in different ways than other metal styles, while conveying emotions that some non-metal genres don't.

First Danger and Dissonance Blog post

This is the first post for the official Danger and Dissonance Blogspot. Here you will find posts about bands and the following styles: heavy metal, hard rock, grunge, progressive rock, death metal, thrash metal, progressive metal, doom metal, hardcore punk, and anything else that has feeling, is loud, aggressive, or pushes the boundaries of rock and metal music . Information on the show will also be posted on this blog.