Common Traits In Your Music?

[Draehl]

A lot of us here appreciate a wide variety of bands, but what about them as a whole do you admire? What common threads can you find within most of your music library?

I'll start off with a few...

-Hypnotic. Repetitiveness isn't a bad idea when done in a way that is almost trance inducing. Especially in Black/Folk Metal and downbeat electronic.
-Ominous. A certain negative or foreboding feeling about it.
-Longwinded. Short songs tend to change things up just as they're getting into the groove of a good riff. There's just not enough buildup to the crescendo later on.
-Moderate production. Too clean studio work tends to make the music sound fake. Intentionally grainy production gives me a headache.
-Instrumentally driven. Regardless the genre I prefer the bands which place less focus on the vocals. (As discussed in the Jazz thread)

Next!

 

[Dak]

-Technical.Stop/start, seamlessly working in rockin riffs with time changes, out of this world lead work.
-Fist pumping riffs/hooks. Pretty much sums it up.
-Melancholy. Regardless which metal subgenre, something that digs deeper and provokes thought.
-Brutal.Focused brutality sans stupid vocals.
-Epic. Not really definable.

 

[damnromulans]

Different things for different categories of music. In no particular order.

1.) Catchy and/or danceable: Memorable hooks and melodies and a beat you can dance to. Applies to all genres of all music except black and doom metal.

2.) Aggressive/energetic: Makes you run faster and harder if you are running. Similar to Dakryn's "fist-pumping" criteria.

3.) Epic: I shouldn't have to explain what "epic" is on a metal forum.

4.) Melancholy/beautiful: Invokes sadness, abstract artistic introspection, makes me want to write gay poems.

5.) Pig squeals: Absolutely essential to get my appetite up as I am going to enter next year's Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest at Coney Island.

 

[brooks55]

It doesn't have to be in all of my music by any means, but I am a huge fan of tremolo picking. It can be trance inducing if done right.

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

speed
High as fuck singers (as far as pm goes)
epicness

 

[unknown]

it's not enjoyed by the old school purist minded members of this board

 

[Saparmurat_Niyazov]

I don't tend to listen to a lot of similar bands, though I do tend to like anything that blends melody and aggression in roughly equal proportions.

 

[SkeletonWitch]

- Use of acoustic guitars : Opeth, Agalloch, Dissection, Uaral, Empyrium, Dysperium, and Drudkh are among my favorite bands

- Awkward emotional voices : A lot of people complain from the exaggerated weeping in "depressive black metal", Aaron Stainthorpe's voice, etc. I personally like this stuff.

- I like new Death Metal bands that play oldschool Death Metal, while not liking oldschool Death Metal per se : I enjoy listening to Hail of Bullets, Bloodbath, Ribspreader,while I don't particularly like Morbid Angel or Cannibal Corpse.

- I like my Heavy Metal with a dose of drama : Savatage, Virgin Steele, later Manowar, etc.

 

[Omni]

The most common trait in music that I like is integrity.

 

[King Richard]

I'm curious as to what that means to you.

 

[Alongside Death]

The bands which have most impact on me are those which can perfectly create a climate within a given song/album and convey it to the listener successfully.

 

[RedinTheSky]

Epic :

Diverse Riffage :

Like Omni says, Integrity. Some bands just have a generic presentation, Death Magnetic (Metallica) is a good example of this.

Variety in riffs and epicness are the most common traits of music I listen to. Technicality can be good, solos are nice sometimes... good production isn't a must, but being able to hear all of the instruments in the mix is.

 

[no country for old wainds]

- intensity of mood/emotion
- ambiguous--tends to be unsettled and unresolved, difficult to fully grasp
- explores what i'd describe as the underworld, meaning all the things everyday society attempts to hide or avoid
- loose and organic and natural as opposed to forced and mechanical and contrived (this applies to production too)
- avoids cliché or at the very least reimagines clichés in fairly fresh ways

 

[ArneZ]

speed
technical
agressive
atmosphere
catchy

 

[waif]

I like bands that can create atmosphere without seeming to try really hard to be atmospheric.

 

[Omni]

I'm curious as to what that means to you.

I'm using the literal definition of the word. Interpret that as you will.

 

[Episteme]

I'm a sucker for:

1. Dissonance: - Has to be well placed and well done, not just an all out dissonant attack with lack of riff structure or arrangement.
2. Melody: - Throw in a few catchy riffs and some nice unconventional melodies and I'll probably like it.
3. Intensity: - I like aggressive music, but it has to be balanced with the above 2 factors.
4. Narrative structure: - Not necessarily linear, repeated riffs are fine. As long as it's not verse-chorus-verse-chorus.
5. Production: - I don't mind raw production as long as I can hear all the instruments. Don't like mechanical sounding crap, and I don't like bathroom production.
6. Instrumentally driven: - Bigger focus on instrumentation, but if the vocals can work well with the instruments all the better.
7. Atmosphere: - Dark and brooding preferably, or fast and intense.
8. Epic.

 

[metal_wrath]

Genuinity, Deathly-ness, somberic futile-like mistful atmospherity, antidisestablishmentarianism

 

[arg]

aggression, brutality, speed, catchiness, grooviness, headbang-inducing.

and depending on mood either:
- rage-intensifying / hateful OR
- uplifting / positive

 

[meaperson333]

Really the only common trait I can think of is that each band us at least fairly original, and I can usually immediately tell what band is playing when it comes up in my shuffle.