My Idol

Billy Cobham ... he's my idol ... an amazing jazz drummer , with many techniques in his pocket . Jus check out his work in Mahavishnu's Orchestra ... totally mind blowing stuff

mvikred 

Twisted Music

Wow, this has been one really long break from blogging. In the meanwhile, I have been listening to bands like Isis and the like. Ever since I heard Mastodon, which was a few months back, I have been on a quest to find bands with similar water-y themes. So I ended up downloading a bunch of albums by Isis, Pelican, Godflesh, Converge, Botch and Neurosis. While not much technique goes into writing the kind of music that Isis writes, it does take a vision to make music like that.
One band that has been on my playlist for a while is Necrophagist, a German death metal band. Believe me, music doesn't get more technical. They play the most twisted tunes. They are extremely fast and the most demented mind on the planet wouldn't come up with guitar solos as sick as the ones these guys play. So, if you think you've heard all, you should listen to Necrophagist.
Recently, I came across a thread on the forums of last.fm about extreme vocals in metal. Its really sad that a lot of people don't listen to metal because of the vocals. It takes getting used to the vocals before you start liking the vocals. Even in the end, its not necessary that you like the vocals, but thats the small price one needs to pay to enjoy some of the most beautiful music ever made. Before I digress into some other random topic, I stop here! More later..

Down with the 'Death'ly Pschedelia

Yeah , that was the exact feeling when i heard Cynic's 'Focus' . I've heard it a few times earlier, but this time it was beautiful, amazing and spectacular...totally mind-blowing. It was like I was lost in some kind of a beautiful world. And death metal bringing out this kind of effect was truely unique. The cover of Focus makes one feel, as though lost in some kind of a trance. Well no wonder the music had the same effect on me. The artwork precisely described the music. I've got only one album of Cynic, but after this album, I would try to get hold of some more. The growls along with some 'chant'ly kind of voice giving backing vocals sent me through the dizzy lanes with colours changing every now and then. The feeling was wonderful. One should listen to this album to know what i exactly mean. I dont know much abt the band or the members, but now i am gonna read up on them. Its really strange that jus one Good album in a band's career makes all the fans retrospect their earlier work, which if they dint get a break would've gone un-noticed. Who would have heard of earlier works by Edge of Sanity before Crimson, who heard of Nile's works before Black Seeds of Vengeance ... many such examples can be quoted within 25 years of metal. They are so many bands that do amazing work but are not known to everyone. Hence i request all the metal-heads to give these new and up-coming bands a chance, listen to their music and 'if' done well spread the word around. Untill you come across such a band , keep listening to metal and listen to 'Focus' for sure :)

mvikred

I took a nice little break after my exams. All I've been doing in smoke and listen to metal (and ofcourse, get drunk every night). I've been playing Sadus, Kataklysm and The Crown repeatedly like a fuckin retard. Sadus for those of you who don't know is the band of the almighty Steve DiGiorgio. That was before he started recording with Death and others. If you are into thrash metal, you will love this album. Needless to say, the bass on this album stands out. I love the album. Hope to get hold of more Sadus albums.

Kataklysm is one of those insane Canadian bands. Canadians are really mad aren't they? Strapping Young Lad, Cryptopsy, Rush are the ones that come to my mind immediately. Anyway Kataklysm is a very neat death metal band. The drummer is frighteningly fast. Is he fucking machine gun or what? The vocals are pretty ok and the guitarist churns out good riffs. One thing that I didn't like about the album "Serenity in Fire" is that there are absolutely no guitar solos. But the band fucking destroys because of the drummer. Overall, its a must check out band.

And finally The Crown! One more Crown album on my list. First it was "Deathrace King" . Now its "Hell is Here". Groovy death metal with amazing guitar and drum work. Any metalhead will love it.

Green Carnation

Have you ever heard about this band ?? . If you did, then i'm sure you wouldve also heard about their album called "Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness" . So whats special about this album. For starters, this amazing album has one song, and one song that lasts for 60 mins. Its the best Prog metal i've heard after Edge of Sanity's Crimson(Its the best...40 mins of pure bliss). Green Carnation is not metal exactly, its basically more on the heavy rock side, but few of their albums have a metal touch , especially this album has double bass rippin the speakers a no. of times. Though not really heavy like the death metal double bass, but , something jus enough to give it a heavy feel at the right moment. The song starts of with cries of a baby, and some avantegarde sounds which take one into a world of trance. This is as though the song is speaking to the listener. Setting the mood for the next 60 minutes to come. The next hour, is a scintillating ride on the rollercoster of the writer's emotions. He talks abt the weak , the strong , death, life and many philosophical doubts that linger in every humans head. Its more like a battle between hope and disappointment. The song ends with a rhetorical question, where he says

"If what I wrote was real
Could I then a God be?
Would what I see
Then be part of reality?
Would I then reach divine entity?"

The song has all the elements for a top notch, progressive metal song. The song has flute going on somewhere in between, a female vox which brings out sadness to perfection. Change of timing, melody, and one important thing for me especially was that the music changed according the mood of the lyrics. This especially has its effect when one sings along the lyrics. Trust me , its a journey you would nver regret. Once 60 minutes are over, you wonder how time has passed by. How come one hour jus slipped through as though it were 5 mins. Thats the effect of this song. I get lost in the song so much, that time blurs out of my senses every time i listen to this album. The bottom line being , this album is a MUST for any progressive metal fan (atleast someone who seriously thinks he/she is)

It feels like this song has a heart and brain of its own, it will interact with you on a personal scale. It's fucking hypnotic ppl. Dont believe me... then you should try it yourself. Go grab this album !!!

mvikred

I'm backkkk

I totally forgot abt posting here after my exams. But the latest news is that i started my drumming classes and i hope to get better once these classes are done. I am all enthu now and mostly i would be playing some nice stuff next sem. So sridhar , be ready dude :) . wats on my playlist ? , well ..... now i am listening to dark tranquillity's "The Mind's I" . A very good listen. Nothing spectacular , but a nice listen once in a while. Drudkh's The Swan Road has been growing on me. So is Mastodon's EP "Lifesblood" and their album "Leviathon" . Mastodon is very different from other bands. Got to know that , they define the genre - noisecore , along with The Dillinger Escape Plan and few other bands. Mastodon has killer riffs with some really intricate drum work by bran dailor. Yeah .... intricate, thts wat i said. Intricate cuz his rolls are so fast , and almost no roll is repeated in one song. Its like , his hands are moving all the time , there is no simple roll in any of mastodons songs that i;ve heard till date. enuf said abt mastodon, now i'm listening to morbid angel's blessed are the sick :) ... a classic death metal album. cya guys later.

Book of Saturday

Got hold of Tommy finally and gave it a few listens. The song "Sparks" is stuck in my head. Especially the part where John Entwistle starts his crazy bass line. Apart from The Who, I've been listening to some of my favourites like King Crimson and CCR. I think CCR and King Crimson are two highly underrated bands. These guys made some amazing music. CCR is the funkiest rock and roll band I've ever heard. Their riffs are just too cool. They were probably one of the earliest "jam" bands. Who can ever forget their classic jam on "Heard it through a grapevine"?! John Fogerty's vocals are just awesome.

And coming to King Crimson, this band is the best prog-funk-psychedelia combination ever. Its definitely one of the most innovative bands ever. All the members of the band amazing at what they do. Robert Fripp's riffs are crazy. There are just too many good songs to mention any one. Some of my favs would be Cat Food, Dinosaur, 21st Century Schizoid Man, Walk on Air, Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream.

The Dillinger Escape Plan (DEP) is another band that I've been hooked to for a couple of days. Their music is mostly hardcore with lots of jazz thrown in. This is the first hardcore band that I've liked so much. My earlier attempts to "like" a very famous hardcore band, Orchid, failed miserably. I didn't understand what the hell these guys were doing. But then there's a time when the band or the music just clicks with you. DEP is not another average run of the mill handcore act. For starters, these guys are incredibly talented. I've been listening to two of their EPs. The first one is called "Under the running board". The EP consists of 3 songs clocking 7 mins 33 secs in total! All 3 songs are brilliant and the album leaves you exhausted at the end of the 7 mins 33 secs. I think less is more in this kind of metal. Mastodon's EP Lifesblood did the same exact thing to me. Its like a mind blowing hailstorm which makes you want to listen to the album again and again and again! The second EP titled "Irony is a dead scene" has the eccentric Mike Patton (of Faith No More) on vocals. He is one of my favourite vocalists. This guy comes a close second to Devin Townsend in the "most insane musician awards" :) Just listen to any of his records with Fantomas, Tomahawk or Mr. Bungle and you'll go bonkers. Too bad Patton didn't stick around with DEP for their later albums. The jazzy breakdowns in all their songs make the music very interesting. Anyway be sure to check out these three bands and I'll be back with info about more bands that no one wants to listen to :D

Six Songs

I've been to these six songs over and over for the whole of last week. What they have in common is hard to explain, so I won't even try. Figure it out for yourself :P

.1. Harsh Kale feat. Ustad Zakir Hussain - Milan. This has to be the best fusion song I've ever heard and it's all the more better because most of it is based on the tabla, flute and drums (accompanied by lots of other instruments). The song is slow, but it's energy is amazingly contagious! I couldn't help trying to make a silly and corny story out of it, so I did. It's about this fellow in jail who escapes and all to meet his girlfriend. No one's sad even when he's in jail, everyone's just hopeful and not happy then. When they meet, they have everything (i.e. each other) and they run away to settle down in Sikkim.

.2. Dr. Alban - It's My Life. This is a GOD song!! The story: A girl running away from home to do her own thing (whatever it is). The scene is at the railway station when she's about to get into the train. Instead of everything being sad, the sun is rising and "It's my life" is playing :)

.3. Judas Priest - Breakign the Law. The ultimate rebellion song! The instruments get along together well to bring out rebellion with "hypnotic cool". The video's extremely funny with everyone looking like cartoon characters. The song is amazing anyway.

.4. Survivor - Eye of the Tiger. Now why would I say anything about this song? Anyone who's ever seen Rocky when he's training will know the song. If you're feeling down and need inspiration, this song is what you've got to listen to so it'll all be okay.

.5. Dido - White Flag. Her voice is good and there's lots of feeling in the song. The lyrics are very nice too in their own way.

.6. Gary Jules - Mad World. People who've seen Donnie Darko will relate to this song better. It's the song that plays at the end of the movie. It fits in perfectly even though it wasn' t meant to be in the movie and was actually the second choice (U2's MLK was first). The lyrics are amazing and you can fee the amused sort of frustration in the singer's voice.

Ok, this post turned out to be much more pointless than I thought. Sorry :P

The Crown

I've been spending a lot of time posting on this blog lately. This time its about an other Swedish death metal band called the "The Crown". Their album "Deathrace King" grows on me everytime I play it. Its definitely one of the catchiest death metal records of all time. I've heard a lot of people call their music "Death Rock". People have written about their obvious Motorhead influences. Well, I haven't really heard Motorhead, but I think I'm gonna have to start. Coming back to The Crown, their riffs are too catchy. With classic heavy metal solos and very good vocal performace by Johan Lindstrand. I think all those guys who hate/are afraid of/don't care for death metal would do good by listening to this band. A lot of the music on this album is more like heavy metal than death metal, except for the vocals though. I was searching for some album reviews on the net, and found this interview of their bassist on metalstorm. An excerpt from the interview:


10: According to your personal experience, what would you advise a young band that is just starting in metal music?

Quit! It is not worth it! This is only for those who HAVE to do it. For the possessed who have no other choice or option...and they do not take advice.


Wow! That was interesting. Anyway, I got hold of 2 other albums of this band. But this album is so catchy and it won't leave me...

Storm

I've been writing code ..well, atleast trying to write code for about 10 hours. All the while I had Devin Townsend's Accelerated Evolution playing in the background. I've heard the album a few times before but today it really kicked me! Hence the post. I'm a big fan of his other projects Ocean Machine and Strapping Young Lad. Its very difficult to pin this kind of music to a particular genre. It has elements of rock, prog, metal and techno music. If you are a Strapping Young Lad fan, then you'd be utterly surprised at how different Devin's other side projects are. Devin's voice is excellent throughout the album. In fact, sometimes I feel that this guy has the most powerful voice in the realm of rock and metal. The only other vocalists that I can thnk of, with such commanding voices are Chuck Schuldiner, Phil Anselmo, James Maynard Keenan and probably Eddie Vedder. If there was such a thing as "the most insane voice ever" award, it would go to Devin anyday. (I love giving these awards for some reason :) He sings beautifully along with the music and suddenly double bass kicks in and Devin goes berserk, after a few seconds everything is pleasant again! The music is almost surreal. This is not the kinda music that you'd want to sit down and analyze. This isn't even the kinda music that has cool guitar leads and drum work. Its really emotional music. You can hear it in Devin's voice and in the melodies. It might take a while to start liking the music. Needless to say, this music is not for everybody.

OPETH

GOD

Deliverance >>> GOD

My Arms , Your Hearse >>>> GOD

Blackwater Park >>> GOD

Morningrise >>> GOD

Damnation >>> GOD ; In My time of Need >>> GOD GOD GOD !!!

Ghost Reveries >>> GOD

Melody, Lyrics >>> GOD

Martin Lopez >>> GOD

Micheal Akerfeldt >>> SUPERGOD

OPETH >>> GOD

I've been listening to this band a lot recently and one word that keeps coming to my mind all the time is 'GOD'

Listen to them first and then comment.

mvikred

Fever Dog

Watched the movie "Almost Famous" for the 4th time last weekend. Crazy movie. My rock n roll spirit is back again! The Stillwater song "Fever Dog" is stuck in my head. Love the vocals and the riff and the intro. A fuckin cool song! Pearl Jam's McCready played the guitar in the movie. For one full day, I heard just Led Zeppelin and Hendrix. I so desperately wanted to listen to Tommy, but couldn't get hold of it. I love the scene where young William takes out the record of Tommy and finds a note in it which says "Listen to Tommy with a candle burning, you will see your future".
Today, I watched "Atom Heart Mother - The Ultimate Critical Review". More Floyd. Looks like Floyd had done everything way before their time. Ron Geesin is the mastermind behind all the weird stuff that you hear on Atom Heart Mother. For some reason, his name does not appear on the disc's credits. This post is more like a movie review. Anyway, saw this other movie last weekend. Its called "Dead Man" starring Johnny Depp. The movie was awesome but what was more awesomeo was the guitar playing in the background in all the scenes. All throughout the movie I was thinking that the scene wouldn't be the same without the guitar. Later I found out that Neil Young played the guitar. Neat! Enough of rock n roll. Back in the Opeth mode. Listening to Blackwater Park. Hail Satan!

Pelican

This is a recent discovery. About a month back, I downloaded a couple of albums of this band called Pelican. I had obviously read the reviews of the band before downloading the albums. I always do. And I always make sure that I read lots of them, because I believe that I can trust the collective opinion of 10 reviews. Anyway, one of the two albums is a self-titled EP and the other is a full length album titled "Australasia".

To start with, there are no vocals on the album! Its all instrumental. I was initially very unsure of what kind of stuff to expect. Because instrumental metal albums come by very rarely (I'm not talking of the Malmsteen types here) I thought I'd try this out. And it turned out to be one of the most innovative bands I've ever heard. They don't have lightning fast leads. Infact, they don't have any guitar leads on their songs. Neither do they have amazing drum work. But what they do have in all their songs can't be put into words! Its beautiful heavy, downtuned, crunching guitar riffs. Some of the most mesmerizing riffs I've ever heard. Yeah thats the word! Mesmerizing. I've hrd the two albums countless times until now. And everytime I listen to the songs, get lost. I have visions of ships, oceans, far away lands, wars and giants! Brilliant stuff.

Now thanks to reddy's 2 day subscription to rapidshare, I could get hold of a couple of albums of this band called Isis, pioneers of this kind of music. These guys have vocals though. I can't wait to listen to the new stuff, but I'm still hooked to Pelican. I'm alone in my wing, almost everyone's at home. And my speakers are blaring Pelican. Its an awesome feeling :)

Do you know wat Dweeb Metal is ??

Surprised ?? ... Even i was sometime back when i came across this site , which claims the origin for this new subgenre of metal. So what exactly is Dweeb Metal. It's defined by the website as

'It is progressive / symphonic / avant-garde gothic / black / death metal, particularly heavy, melodic and with female vocals. My two all time favorite bands in these genres are Lacrimosa and Tristania. Some other favorites include (in alphabetical order) After Forever, Arcturus, Artrosis, Devil Doll, Dreams of Sanity, Finntroll, Forgotten Silence, Golden Dawn, Hollenthon, Nightwish and The Sins of Thy Beloved.'


If u read a bit on the website , that this name came on the perpetual motion message board cuz this person called Chris Mictchell (the person who named this metal) posts a lot on that board on the kind of music mentioned above, with the username 'dweeb'


Wierd isnt it ? ... Crazy ppl naming more genres as though we needed more :)

crazy crazy ......... super crazy

mvikred

Scariest Song

I dont know how many of you actually have one...................I am listening to Cannibal Corpse right now. I mean I really dont get it ? , why do these people actually write about such gore stuff. If you look at them as not a gore metal band by excluding their lyrical content rom the songs, Cannibal Corpse is one helluva band. They write such gruesome stuff that it totally freaks me out everytime i muster courage to read their lyrics to a new song. Now i dont read their lyrics, but i just listen to their music.

Infact because of their lyrical content they have been banned in many countries from performing, printing lyrics or even displaying cover images of their albums. Now, coming back to scariest song i've heard. Its a song written by Cannibal Corpse from the album 'The Bleeding' called 'She asked for it'. If u have the courge to experience the feel of it then go ahead and read it . It makes u feel like you are a Murderer, committing that act as you read. The music blends in well with the lyrics giving it that horrifying aura. Most of their songs have lyrics talking about killing, blood, and stuff which everyone would feel disgusted to even talk abt. Few of their other songs are titled as 'I cum blood', 'Fucked with a knife', etc . This band featured live in the movie Ace Ventura : Pet Detective. I actually have to watch this movie again , jus to make sure they are actually there in the movie cuz I dont remember seeing them. And another surprising fact is that Cannibal Corpse is Jim Carrey's Favourite band.And he wanted them in the movie. Can u believe that ? :P

Many people mistake their gore lyrics and the style of vocals to these people being big time suckers at music. Even most of the avid heavy metal fans , who listen to Maiden , Metallica etc dont tend to like these ppl , jus cuz they portray obscene stuff and talk abt the darker aspects of life. But if u look at them as musicians, every single one of them is talented to the highest level. And the music they make, sounds amazingly melodious at times. Their music is very complex and technical in most of the songs(all the instruments).

I dont know why i wrote so much about Cannibal Corpse , when actually i should be talking abt scary songs. There are many other songs , which need not necessarily be scary due to the lyrical content, but give an eerie feel with its music. There are few songs by Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath , names of which i cant recall right now :D, scared the shit outta me wen i first heard them. But after listenin to bands like Canibal Corpse , Carcass , Anal Cunt, Anal Blast... all those songs (by Floyd and Sabbath) look like gnomes(silly and small ... what a wierd comparision).

Anyways, I am sitting at home right now hoping to have fun for the next week. Dont worry, Sridhar and Pritam i'll try to get some grub.

Cya later , But please do mention your scariest song in the comments ... i've very curious to know :)

mvikred

Fav longest songs

I said I'll post later. But what the hell, couldn't resist :) I'll try and write about the songs which clock over 10 minutes. And this post could be looong.

Where do I start? So many out there. I think its easist to start with the ones that started it all. Pink Floyd. If someone asked me which one of the Floyd albums I liked the most, I wouldn't be able to answer. As I said earlier in one of my comments, it'd be a tie between The Animals, Wish you were here, The Dark side of the moon and The Wall. WYWH wins hands down when it comes to the length of the compositions. Shine on you crazy Diamond features the band in all their glory. Their ability to compose these psychedelic melodies is simply unparalleled. And one such melody which lasts for 13 freaking minutes is pure bliss.

My next favourite would be Opeth. These guys have done it all, from releasing some of the heaviest albums of all time to creating something as beautiful as Damnation (which has only clean vocals and clean guitars). If you aren't familiar with this band, this is how their albums are usually structured.. they have released 8 albums and just one (Damnation) clocks less than an hour. And the average length of each song (I'm guessing) is definitely around the 10 min mark. "The Night and the silent water" (11 mins), "Black Rose Immortal" (20 mins), "Blackwater park" (12 mins) and many others are not just songs, they are mind-expanding epics.

Next "The Doors" comes to my mind. Who hasn't heard the genius of Jim Morrison in songs like "The End" and "When the music's over"? Of course, I'm coming to Porcupine Tree next. This band is the modern day Floyd for me. Some of their songs (read "Voyage 34", which has 4 songs each clocking 13,17,19,13 mins) could be shamelessly Floyd-ish. But who cares! The band has moved on and went on to create some of the most trippy music ever. The band is experimenting more and more with each new release. Steven Wilson (vocals/guitar/effects/etc) is just God. The most trippy bass-lines award goes to this band! With the most laid-back and spaced-out jams, you wouldn't need a joint to get high, believe me. Their songs "Russia on Ice", "The Sky moves sideways" prove this!

Would you believe me if I told you that there's a math-metal/neo-thrash/whatever-the-hell band that made a song 21 mins long? The band's called Meshuggah and the album's called "I". Its pure chaos from the word go. Some of the most insane music to be ever recorded! I totally agree that this is not a band meant for everybody to appreciate, but once you connect with their music, its a whole different play ground with just one player in it... Meshuggah. These guys from Sweden are just mad. I can imagine them going into the studio for recording "I" telling each other, "lets kick the ass of every other band that ever existed" :) If you have any doubts on how talented these people are, I'd just quote Mr. Lombardo of Slayer say Tomas Haake is the best drummer in the world currently and if that doesn't mean nothing to you, go eat your shorts. And the "most extreme music with almost no vocals" award goes to Thordendal's side project "Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects".

There are some more bands on my mind right now, like Edge of Sanity and Green Carnation who have released single-song albums of lengths 41 and 61 mins respectively. I can just go on and on about Edge of Sanity (the band's name is so perfect!), but I'd just suggest you to get hold of the fucking album and a beer. Make sure no one's watching, close the door, switch of the lights and thrash around like a mad dog until you fall asleep.

2112

Rush - 2112.

This isn't going to be a long post. I'm not sorry and I'm guessing you aren't wiping away your tears either :P

The song, not the album, is what I'm talking about. 20+ minutes of Godgiri is what 2112 is about. There's a silly science fiction story that the song is supposed to talk about, something about some priests taking over the world blah blah blah. That's not important. What is important, is that, without really knowing any of the details of the story, you still get a feel of what's happening while listening to the song! The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth.

The song is of course, by Rush, so everyone plays whatever they play amazingly well and with clinical precision! That's what I sometimes dislike about progressive rock: the fact that they're so intent on technical brilliance that they lose sight of the feel of the song. 2112, however is a happy exception to that rule, with music that....oh wait, I've already told you about the feel.

Neil Peart is the only band member whose name I remember. He's the drummer, by the way. Supposedly one of the best drummers in the world and famous for matching the guitar note to note (so to speak), he seems to do infinitely tricky things with the drumset through the course of the song. Jacob's Ladder, with it's unusual count in the second half of the song, is another song where you can see Peart's GodGiri.

The bass is also God! I'd been told (even before I began to notice bass in songs) that Rush's bassist was one of the best ever and with this song, you can atleast see that he's eligible for the title. The keyboard and the guitar are both too cool, creating the whole sci-fi atmosphere better than any words that Asimov ever wrote ;)

I just read on wikipedia that Neil Peart wrote this song. Drummers are too cool!

So here is the Title bar Mr. Sridhar

How i wish i cud get high and fucking head bang , but cant do it .... if i'd try that right now then the floor wud be a mess, all thanks to my leaking nose . This fucking cold is not letting me do anything. Not even letting me type this fucking blog with both my fucking hands. Ok enuf abt my frustration now. Lets jus move onto music, the main reason for this blog and blah blah blah( I know that u guys know that this is a place for music .. blah blah blah).. damn i'm so sick . seriously i am sick . I know i'm pakaoing u ppl , so now i'll actually move onto music

Now as Sridhar mentioned , I was totally hooked onto Atheist for the last week. If u chk my scrobbler page then u wud see that i have been listening a lot of Atheist. Now apart from Unquesitonable Presence, I have been listenign to a lot of other stuff. Let's now pick one band , that most of them wudnt know abt ...... Aeon and their album 'Bleeding The False' is one of the most brutal and fast paced album i have heard in the recent times. The lyrics though arent very intellectual and dont contain a deeper meaning. But the music is good.They have amazing riffs for few songs and the drumming..... the drumming needs a special mention. I dont know the name of the drummer , but I did read his interview and trust me this dude is amazingly fast. Almost all the songs in this album have blast beats for like 99% of the time. Now that doesnt mean that this guy has loads of talent. But one thing this guy surely has is stamina and energy , to keep going at the the same tempo for 3 mins in a 3:30 song.

Since I anyways spoke abt drummers , let me clarify few doubts of pritam. I am no master of drums , so i might be wrong also but i am gonna write here wat i know . People might correct me in the comments section. Infact it wud be better if commented. Anyways, off beat is somethign that is not done usually or rather in a conventional pattern. Now suppose u r playing a snare on the 3rd beat in ur normal 4 by 4 pattern. Now in an offbeat , play the snare on the 4th beat. This is the basic off beat(I think:D ). But this can be done in a no. of variations and can bring out a cool effect. Especially wen chords change in a song , we can use these off beats to give it that little spice. Now , wat exactly are odd time signatures. Everyone gets confused with this. Even i used to and maybe i still am . But wat i know as of now is wat i am gonna talk abt. Odd timing is something that is not 4x4 or 8x8. Odd timing can be a 6x8 , 5x8 , 23x16, 13x16 and the permutations nd combinations can be infinite. So wat exactly do u mean by 5x8. Its simple , u r playing 5 beats in a normal 8 beat staff(8x8 has 8 beats in 8 beats) so this is wat odd time signature means. The bands that use this a lot are The Dream Theater, Meshuggah( A lot ) and sometimes even Death. Let me give an example. Try listening to Meshuggah's New Millenium Cyanide Christ. This song is the pinacle of odd time signatures, the best there is , and was composed by Tomaas Haake(Meshuggah Drummer... and my GOD :D) . He goes 4x4 on hands and goest 23x16 on legs for 5 bars and 13x16 on one bar. It sums up to 128 beats which equals 16 beats on 8x8 timing. This is totally a genius way to structure a song and to even physically cross the barriers of independence is a step higher. Thats abt Odd time signatures Pritam. Wat am i learning now ? ... i'd be lucky if i got time to even have a look at the drum kit man. I dont get time to practice. But at the moment , i am practicing the rudiments . The double stroke roll, the paradiddle and the flam. Along with that i am doing few of the double bass excercises. My stamina has increased right now . I can presently do a continuous double bass beat for 2 mins. But still it has to be increased. And then it is obvious that i have to also get better at hand work. Will take time. But i hope that i do it as soon as i can.

Lets get back to music. Apart from Aeon , i have also heard black water park by Opeth and the Mantle by Agalloch. Cant stop loving these songs, no matter how many times number of times i hear them. The mantle is so soothing, and Opeth bring out the best in music , in melody , in lyrics , in everything. The songs bleak , the leper affinity , dirge for november jus lift my heart to the blissful state where i can completely forget all the worries in this wretched place called IIT. Ive got one more friend of mine hooked onto Opeth. They are like magnet, once u listen to them , u r compelled to listen to them again and again and again .. and it never stops.

Chimaira ... have u heard abt this band ? .. EVER ?? common guys its an amzing band. Its a metalcore outfit from US of A. I was listening to their album called Chimaira(a self titled album). They have their own feel to all the songs, which marks the uniqueness of the band. The songs , nothing remains, comatose , salvation .. all are so well strutured with the right mix of rage , anger and frustration.


Well after a fucked day with labs and 2 quizzes the only thing i look froward to is, to listen to music once i get back to my room. It feels so good. Right now i'm listening to Aeon - Bow Your Head . I've also found this amazing black metal band called Abigor. And there are many other bands that need a mention , but if i write everything now , then there wud be nothing left for next time. I'll keep adding more , as an when i find something interesting. Untill then ...... Arrghhhh ... jus FUCK OFF

mvikred

I think reddy (being the head moderator and all) hasn't turned on the subject line thingy. Anyway, my computer has been down for like a week and its been awesome! I didn't download any new music and waste an entire week. Now its back up again, so..

Anyway, I haven't heard any new music in a long time except for this band called Atheist, about which Reddy has already posted. Before that for a week or so, I was hooked to this album called "Pleasure to Kill" by Kreator. Kreator is a thrash metal monster from Germany. Pleasure to Kill (PTK) was released in 1986, the same year in which Slayer's "Reign in Blood" and Metallica's "Master of Puppets" were released! And believe me, PTK is no lesser than the aforementioned albums. A killer album with no fillers :) Its again a riff galore! And many wild guitar solos thrown in here and there. Of late I have observed that its not the guitar solos that draw me to a band's music, but its the riffs. For example, bands like Mastodon and Tool that rarely have a real guitar "solo" have left an everlasting impression on me. Anyway, back to the topic! If you want a sample of the band, check out the song "Riot of Violence".

I haven't met too many people who are into Kreator. And all of you reading this posting, even if you are remotely interested in Thrash, (even if you are just into Metallica :D) please go listen to Kreator. And while you are at it, check out their album called "Extreme Aggression", one of my all time fav metal album. Who knows, may be it will open up a whole new world of metal for you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kinks

Looks like no band is as simple as they seem! :) What I formed my opinions from must have been the beginnings, and now that I've read about them, listening to their Greatest Hits is a whole new experience. It's easy to see which songs came later and which came earlier. You can actually see (figuratively speaking of course, since what you're doing is hearing) the changing feel and focus of the band with the changing times.

Of course, changing sounds for a band is not something new, but it's always interesting! Especially when band members change and (I'm guessing) the record company forces the band to maintain some semblance of it's original sound even though the musicians are different!

One band that truly grew with the times is U2!! Listen to October, Joshua Tree, then listen to Achtung Baby, then to Pop and then to All That You Can't Leave Behind and you'll see what I'm talking about. Ok Fine! I know you've heard all their songs before. I just can't stop talking about them because they're my favourite band!

And one band that had these discontinuous jumps in their music was Pink Floyd. I am a sincere believer of the fact that Pink Floyd is what Syd Barrett and Roger Waters made it. David Gilmour for sure was a great singer, great guitarist, a great songwriter, and a great composer. But he wasn't Pink Floyd. And that's that.

I've started rambling again! Shit, I can't stop writing about music once I start. Now, I want to start writing about Dream Theater and Rush and my strong opinions of Progressive Rock! Next post maybe ;)

Oh haan, the song that's stood out this time around:

Stevie Nicks - Edge of Seventeen. This is from the School of Rock soundtrack. I just love the drums and the energy that this song has. It's not that kind of song, I know, but I actually feel like throwing things when I hear this song! It's the ideal song for a lesbian pillow fight video!