Melodic death and Thrash writers: What can I add to my playing?

zezima940

New Metal Member
Dec 21, 2010
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Hey!

I can write both thrash metal and melodic death metal, but it sounds generic!

When I write Melodic death I use a lot of harmonized 3rds which is in my opinion the definition of Swedish Melodic death, and I also throw in fast single string picking to make it more death or black metali-sh but it sound too generic! :(

When I write Thrash Metal I play fast and angry, but with the generic characteristics of palm muting and power chords, and throw in fast single string picking to make it more death or black metali-sh here too, but it's been done before.

So my question is: Can you maybe give me some pointers to something new I can throw in? :)

Thanks! :)
 
If you like to use the techniques you described, there is nothing wrong with that, but then just spend more time on the arrangement of the songs. It's good to recognize that the harmonies and single-string riffs (I assume you mean tremolo picking in this case) have become generic, but that is mostly because they are used in a predictable fashion. For example, if you are working on the chorus of a song and want to add a harmony (usually 3rd as you said) to make it sound "big" without being generic, don't ALWAYS use the harmony. If you repeat the same riff four times, only harmonize the third repetition. If you are trying to add a black metal vibe on a verse riff, add the tremolo picking only to the last measure to build up to the next part.

Another thing I try to do is avoid playing every song in the same key. If you are tuned to E standard, consider playing the song in a higher key. Then, rather than already being "as low as you can go" because you have been chugging an open E for half of the song, you instead have some flexibility to go lower or higher, or perhaps add a lower harmony part instead of the predictable higher harmony.

I also like to experiment with droning a particular note or chord over another riff, which can be dissonant or melodic depending on what type of vibe you're going for. I especially like this for black metal.
 
If you know anything about theory, implement that too. Even if it's just a few small things. Adding a measure of 5/4 every now and then can go a long way in changing a song, especially in breakdown sections. Thru-composing (songs that have little or no sections that repeat) is something else you might want to look in to. Otherwise, what the fellow above wrote is spot on. \m/
 
Knowing theory is good, but when you write songs, make sure it comes from your heart. That was it will never sound generic. Writing Melodeath songs doesn't always need the 3rds to make it sound Melodeath, right? You can have your own brand of Melodic Death Metal. Same thing when writing solos.

That's how i do it. It's the same reason why my band (signature) doesn't have a single stable genre. Because i don't care, i just make the heavy music that sounds grand. I listen to thrash, melodic death, death, black, heavy, hardcore, crust punk, doom and alot more stuff. So i write and compose without thinking of any genre, because your influences will speak for itself when you make your music, with it best done subconsciously.

Composition and writing become hypocritical when you write for the sake of making it sound like <insert genre here>.

Hope this helped. :)
 
im not very good with theory and have no idea what playing a melody on the 3rd even means, but for my own music this is how I write and record.

we will jam out a song in parts and the drummer will go away and write the parts for it.

once i have the drum track i will start with a simple riff, maybe 5 chords in a simple progression, then i will record that same riff an octave higher underneath it. when i have that i will then play a melody in the same octave or higher than the 2nd riff, playing it more like a solo on usually just one string. this cuts through the noise of the other 2 riffs and stops the sound getting muddy. it also gives me a lot more freedom because now i can have the riff playing in 3 octaves and it means i can introduce enharmonic dissonance without it being chaotic or even very obvious, there will just be a part of the song that catches the attention but maybe you dont know why.

once i have this, i will mock up a vocal track that almost follows the melody riff, but not completely. i do not like when the song is too structured and 4/4. thats what makes it sound generic. allow for some improvisation and empty space in the song, not every second of it has to be DADADADADADADADADADAADA!!!! let the song breathe a little.

once this is the done then the bass will play yet a another riff, different to the guitar but following the same pattern, more or less. like when the guitar goes to F5 the bass might miss that or go to a G5 for half a beat. again, its not obvious but it breaks up the chugga chugga and hold the attention better i feel. often the bass will only play the 1st and 5th notes of the scale in a walking pattern.

i do not play guitar solos. they hurt my head.

once all this has been done, i double track the guitars, adding a little reverb onto one track and turning it down in the mix, but raising the treble in production. the vocals are always the last thing to be done and i usually do them live and in one. this means that the music bleeds onto the vocal track but i like that.

nothing will stop the music sounding generic if you dont have good riffs, but as its hard to come up with a truly original one, the best way to stop sounding stale and generic is to mess about with sounds and timings and dont get too uptight about structure and arrangements. let the song flow naturally and never stop whenyou make a mistake. my music is full of bum and dropped notes but i think it sounds alive and exciting because of this. music should be visceral and not intellectual. never spend more time producing than you spend writing and playing the song. try to get everything in one take and leave the mistakes in if theyre not too bad, or hide them with a grunt or scream.

i was once asked by a professional musician, who was impressed by my music but not my methods and lack of theory knowledge, what I would do if the bass player said he wanted me to play a 4/6 riff in Gm. i said I would kick him out of the band.
 
reading inazone's post, it looks like we use similar techniques and processes when writing, but our music sounds very different. his music is more structured than mine, but you can hear what he means about dissonance. the guitar sound is good and holds the attention, but it is not perfect and overplayed. the sound is more important than the technique