*EDIT* If you take Dream Oblivion, from 0:55 to 1:15 - see what I mean? Why do they add these too familiar bits to the songs? If I hear anything like this in a DT song, I go "oh no, not again!". The song is otherwise excellent, its really fresh, it doesnt sound like anything theyve done before. But then comes this bridge, which to me sounds way too reassuring.
That's a mini-breakdown. It's hard in low quality (
here's a HQ youtube clip), but maybe you missed the keyboards? I don't think that we'd be having this discussion if one guitar was grinding away while the other played a kickass lead over the top, because that is something called "death metal". It's weird to hear a keyboard lead in death metal, but I don't think that section even applies to what I was talking about. It's something completely different; it's got melody to it.
Here is a link to
Mind Matters. Note that entire intro is one guitar grinding, while the other plays the lead. Awesome, and the same theory as the section in Dream Oblivion, just guitar instead of keys. At 0:20, they are again just grinding, with keys on top, similar to Dream Oblivion.
At 1:20 begins one of the most technically challenging sections in a DT song. The first solo guitar part that you hear may not sound like much if you're not counting it (I missed it the first few times). However, the un-muted notes that make the melody are played on notes that are not the beat (this is called syncopation). It's tricky to play an asymmetrical rhythm like that but you can if you learn the rhythm really well. However the rest of the band does not support that rhythm in the section, which makes it challenging.
To explain, note the steadiness and heaviness of the next guitar section. It's simple, ugly four-on-the floor metal (which is the technique in question). Note that the guitar doesn't play every note, just enough to create an interesting interpretation of the beat. When the leads come back in, notice how un-muted notes in the lead actually play
every note in between the notes of the rhythm guitar. While the band is playing this kickass, heavy rhythm, the lead just plays completely off of the beat, in and around the rest of the chaos. It's fucking genius.
I fell in love with some parts of DT's sound early on, like the acoustic guitars, sweet leads, beautiful lyrics, and sometimes clean singing. I was a bit dismayed as I listened to more of their music and realized how much of it was that other kind of riff (try
this at 40 seconds: a more melodic grind). Really, though, it just took some time to come around to it. Once you realize where the genius of this band is, you'll love them just the same. See how they play that riff at the beginning of Blind at Heart by not just grinding, and not just grinding with a bit of melody, but by inserting these wonderful little chunks of 2x-speed grind (32 notes, if you know those) in the midst to add rhythmic interest. Listen to the weird timings on the grind in the beginning of Final Resistance. Try counting the intro to Format C: for Cortex, and you will understand the awesomeness of the time change when they start grinding out the next section.
Maybe DT is not the right band for you anymore, which may have been your point all along. You're absolutely entitled to that. I just personally found that listening more deeply to the technique that I didn't like helped me to understand it, appreciate it, and get a better idea of how it all worked in context.
But whatever you do, I just hope that no one walks away from anything this band has ever done without truly understanding how genius they are. That can take some time, and many listenings. In this instance, don't think that they grind because they can't do any better, or that they're out of ideas; they grind in ways that mortals can never understand. They use that common technique in unique and often innovative ways, stretching what metal can be.
