New progressive band needing professional opinions on single

[Ammeter]

Hey guys. We are a new progressive metal band called Ammeter starting up in New Zealand and I'm finding writing progressive metal a little tricky as the lead guitarist (and recorded this preview for u ppl on my comp) and we have just got a drummer and a bass guitar and we havent even had a jam session with them. My friend does also play rhythm guitar but I didnt record his stuff (nothing is set in stone..) and the bass is a shitty midi part i added in sonar 2 and it came out as a grand piano an octave lower i think. lol. And ive never played bass either...

Anyhow. We need some critics about this song. It is a russian-sounding instrumental called vodka. Any help and how to improve it is much appreciated. And yeah our drummer needs to get his ass into gear and also buy a double kick. I messed up two parts which should be switched so the 2 key changes are a bit miss and match (youll never guess - we used D harmonic minor and then went to B persian and back again If that isnt random i dont know what is hehe. Anyway i think i can eventually make it work and pull it off.

Download the mp3 here:
http://www.pcsoftware.co.nz/Vodka sneak preview - Ammeter.mp3

Thanks and enjoy,
Ryan
AMMETER!!!!

 

[Leper_/-\ffinity]

Well, I took the time to check it out, and the soft parts definitely are very nice, but I must say that the riffs were boring because there was no accompaniment. I think it is nearly impossible to critique a prog song without full accompaniment, because everything is really a strong part of the sound, but your Song definitely has potential. Since you have another guitarist, make this more interesting, and do some guitar harmonies somewhere, or do something interesting on the distorted parts. Do you have vocals for this music ready?? Ill be back to check this out again when you have added more, but very good for what it was. Or maybe atleast program some drums to it??

 

[Indiooo]

I wouldn't call it prog...

 

[kosh]

neither would I.

Well, I liked the beginning but when the distorted guitar starts it gets a bit confused. The drums are desperately missing which makes it hard to point out the structure of the song. Also (maybe due to the missing instruments) there is too much repitition and the riffs just follow one another without interesting breaks, transitions and so on.
Don't get me wrong, for a startup it's ok, but I would record or program the other stuff and work a bit on it. If you post it again then, I maybe can say more on that. mkay?

Kosh

 

[young lad]

i'm at school right now so as soon as i get back home i will reply again. i downloaded the song here on the computer and my teacher started screaming at me.

 

[Indiooo]

The way I see it, prog represents something not very common in terms of songwriting (not shred till you drop dead). Get away from the common structures in songs, write something a bit out of the ordinary. Of course there are elements that seem to be shared by various prog bands, like broken rhythm guitar parts, changing time signatures within the same song, and of course, the technical stuff. That, in my opinion is optional, not necessary at all.

About your song. I'd maybe label it thrash, not prog.

 

[Ammeter]

Thanks a lot for the feedback guys!
Hmmm yeah.. I guess it isnt progressive.. at least not at the moment anyway (cuz thats what i was having trouble with). Maybe the main problem is i went back to the original riff? So maybe I should just say screw that and change key and time signatures permanently. I seem to have no problem making up riffs anyway. My problem just lies in joining them up (any tips or links on this would be superb).

The song was originally indended to have no actual lyrics, maybe just random russian words yelled out (think megadeth - duke nuken theme, although its not progressive).

Also i know virtually nothing about drumming so am unable to add much (and then i lack the technology to render them from midi to wav properly - the bass used the only midi sound it seemed and im guessing thats a piano. The reason is my dad has the good soundcard that can record what u hear except it has shit midi. damn.)

So anyway I really want it to end up more like tool, although i realize the drums are probably their main instrument if I had to pick one (i guess they do all play an even part in the music). So I shall remember your tips and use them all.

Thanks!
Ryan