While I'm sure we could, and someone probably should, write a book on this subject, I'm going to start with one thing that I really love about this band.
One of the high points of musicianship occurs when a musician's hands and instrument fade into an ethereal link between his brain and the actual sound that he is producing. There is no effort to remember a riff, and there is no concentration spent on forcing his hands to play; he focuses solely on creating the sound perfectly.
I will probably never get over The New Build. The best place to hear the riff that I have in mind is at 2:18. It appears elsewhere, but the composition is stripped down here to expose it. The actual texture of the guitar is so abrasive that the only thing that makes it palatable is the speed of the picking and the constant muting. At the same time, that energy emerges every time the pitch shifts, but only long enough for the un-muted tone to register, to be cut off immediately. I find the effect mind blowing, like he's trying to control some force that erupts every time he gives it even the slightest bit of slack, without ever actually escaping his grip.
I point this passage out simply because it is an example of how lethally precise this band can be. Obviously, we've all heard astonishingly precise metal; the thing is, that precision is usually in synchronizing an entire ensemble. What makes DT stand out, though, is the sheer polish applied to each and every sound on an album. [/tirade]
One of the high points of musicianship occurs when a musician's hands and instrument fade into an ethereal link between his brain and the actual sound that he is producing. There is no effort to remember a riff, and there is no concentration spent on forcing his hands to play; he focuses solely on creating the sound perfectly.
I will probably never get over The New Build. The best place to hear the riff that I have in mind is at 2:18. It appears elsewhere, but the composition is stripped down here to expose it. The actual texture of the guitar is so abrasive that the only thing that makes it palatable is the speed of the picking and the constant muting. At the same time, that energy emerges every time the pitch shifts, but only long enough for the un-muted tone to register, to be cut off immediately. I find the effect mind blowing, like he's trying to control some force that erupts every time he gives it even the slightest bit of slack, without ever actually escaping his grip.
I point this passage out simply because it is an example of how lethally precise this band can be. Obviously, we've all heard astonishingly precise metal; the thing is, that precision is usually in synchronizing an entire ensemble. What makes DT stand out, though, is the sheer polish applied to each and every sound on an album. [/tirade]
