Best use of contrasting things? (Growly to clean, quiet to loud, etc.)

[anonymouswierdo]

'Y know how some bands, such as Fear Factory, alternate between a couple of types of vocals, some tracks switch between slow and fast or loud and quite? Well, what is the best use of that type of stuff you've come across? Have you never heard it done well at all?


Remember, neither the band nor the track has to actually be good, just the use of contrast.

 

[Solipsist]

Couple examples come to mind right now...

Amorphis (vocally, Tales From the Thousand Lakes-era, on a track like "Into Hiding" the transition from low death metal growls to clean vocals were pretty good and added some dramatic effect)

disembowelment (musically, on their only full-length album, I thought the multiple transitions between slow chugging doom-laden sections to fast crushing death metal sections worked out rather seamlessly, pretty much in a similar way to Fleshcrawl's debut album)

O yea, Phlebotomized deserve a mention as well (On their first album, plenty of diverse parts consisting of calm symphonic passages with violin and keyboard use alternating between heavy riff-packed death metal ones, plus they also have the growls to clean vocal transitions as well... really memorizing stuff)

 

[Hatebreeder]

Opeth changes from heavy to soft and vice versa quite well, and I like Bathory's transferrals as well.

 

[Wires & Waves]

the word youre looking for is dynamics btw

 

[anonymouswierdo]

the word youre looking for is dynamics btw

Why do you think it better than contrast?

 

[Demilich]

contrast:
7. opposition or juxtaposition of different forms, lines, or colors in a work of art to intensify each element's properties and produce a more dynamic expressiveness.

Works for me.

 

[anonymouswierdo]

contrast:
7. opposition or juxtaposition of different forms, lines, or colors in a work of art to intensify each element's properties and produce a more dynamic expressiveness.

Works for me.

Mmmmmm... I actually looked it up to check things before I used it.

 

[Demilich]

By the way, my vote goes to Colour Haze in terms of loud to quiet contrast, and just all around awesomeness.

 

[Susperia]

Hypocrisy

 

[Satanstoenail]

The singer from The Dillinger Escape Plan does great growly to clean and vice versa. They're a good band dynamically as well.

 

[Wires & Waves]

a few postrock band do the quiet/loud thing better than any metal band imo....and classical music of course

loud/soft dynamics in metal seem to tend towards the obnoxiously overwrought (opeth) or are ruined by shitty mastering with no dynamic range (opeth)

 

[cookiecutter]

Incantation has some nice fast/slow contrasts

 

[Satanstoenail]

Cynic are another band that are amazing at dynamic changes within tracks.

 

[Demilich]

How 'bout metal bands like Dolorian? At least on "Voidwards"?

Or the Sunn O))) / Boris collaboration?

 

[Dazed and Brutal]

Doesn't everyband do this in some way or another.

 

[Demilich]

Yea, but this guy is asking for the best, and if every band did it the best, that would just be fucked up.

 

[Wires & Waves]

Cynic are another band that are amazing at dynamic changes within tracks.

actually i agree with this

 

[metal_wrath]

Opeth changes from heavy to soft and vice versa quite well

.

 

[Demilich]

I've gotta say, some of Opeth's transitions (especially on later albums) sound so alike and forced that I end up finding myself wondering how insecure they must be as musicians never to deviate from their formula aside from tossing in a soft song every now and then. Just speculation, but... eh.

 

[metal_wrath]

Well, they have the 'Damnation' album, which has only clean vocals, so I would say they are very comfortable straying from their clean-harsh dynamic.