What Musical "Idea" Is Your Favorite?

[Draehl]

(My knowledge of theory is admittedly limited, so please feel free to be more elaborate in your replies if you're so inclined) That said, within metal what is your favorite musical idea, trait, or pattern? A certain tuning? Breakdowns? Blastbeats? A particular type of soloing? Etc.

I'd have to simply go with prominent sustained notes. It's particularly common in my favorite genres of stoner & atmoblack. Be it a prominent bassline, or a rhythm guitar holding a sustained note or a slower/more drawn out riff while the lead solos or plays a faster riff over top of it. Or even when the drums take on more a narrative over top of the guitar such as parts of Nile's Unas, Slayer of the Gods. It's nothing particularly special or rare, but I'm just a sucker for it.

 

[Baroque]

Neoclassical guitar solos

 

[ProphetofHatred]

Does death metal count? Just the idea of playing fast and brutal as fuck?

 

[Dak]

I'm a sucker for metal with groove. Edit: I'm not sure if it's quite my favorite thing per se, but it's the most identifiable thing.









AnyBoltthrowersong.mp3

Anylambofgodsong.mp3

Etc.

 

[tagradh]

Transylvanian Hunger style minimalist tremolo picked power chord shizzle or Czral's dissonant Voivody blackened swing. The latter hasn't been imitated to nearly the same extent yet, sadly.

 

[0Marty]

Not really an "idea", more like ideology or mindset - get the most out of the least. Pick up the guitar and write a tasty riff, no crazy tunings, millions of pedals, or studying loads of scales and modes.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I'm probably butchering the exact terminology, but there's a certain thing where they do a these fast, choppy sections with measures that seem to alternate between groups of 2 and 3 in an irregular way, snare and bass drum particularly laying things down, that makes me lose all bodily control.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSrzAMrB6Ps#t=1m29s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqHtTKmzReU#t=1m21s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRMHdjPyqNU#t=56s (this one is slower and a little different, but gives me riffgasms all the same)

Also love a certain style of dissonant lead guitar that seems hard to find outside of a narrow window from the late 80s to the early 90s. The Thing That Should Not Be is the earliest song I know of with lead guitar like it, even if it only lasts three seconds. From what I've read these are apparently harmonized as minor seconds but I dunno, I try to keep note of certain things that just sound cool so I can try to rip them off should I ever feel inspired enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYJGt67Mwmo#t=3m50s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1h_j_SkieY#t=2m2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p444rqVXaD0#t=3m3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsUCm0X7Z3o#t=3m43s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhvXJU0rpOg#t=8m34s (for a non-metal example that scratches the same itch)

Also, any drum fills with lots of pauses and general jazziness feeling, especially if the song itself seems to lurch to fit the drums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXwPsR0eX4I#t=0s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGuwdGflYP8#t=42s

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Non-Gay Riffs.

 

[tagradh]

Also love a certain style of dissonant lead guitar that seems hard to find outside of a narrow window from the late 80s to the early 90s. The Thing That Should Not Be is the earliest song I know of with lead guitar like it, even if it only lasts three seconds. From what I've read these are apparently harmonized as minor seconds but I dunno, I try to keep note of certain things that just sound cool so I can try to rip them off should I ever feel inspired enough.

 

[CiG]

I cherish bands that attempt obscurity with production values, unorthodox riffing is also something I quite like, but I guess the idea I appreciate the most is epicness.

It's a trait that's kind of hard to pin down I guess, it can mean so many different things with different bands, but it's something you feel, perhaps a romanticism.

Non-Gay Riffs.

 

[Omni]

Probably the heavy metal riff.

 

[CiG]

Probably the heavy metal riff.

Could you post an example?

 

[Carpe Mortem]

Nobody's really mentioning vocals, but I'm a huge sucker for a slight vibrato, stinted. For example in Savatage's Hall of the mountain king or Satan's twenty twenty five. I just feel pure essence of metal in a clean, epic vocalization cut short into repetitive segments, its like a battle cry. Throw a repetitive growing drumline behind it, perfection. I sure does love me some new wah bum.

 

[Omni]

Could you post an example?

 

[WNxScythe]

Tremolo picking.

Also whatever the European folk (I guess) melodic sensibility is you find in a lot of black metal.

 

[Satanstoenail]

I think heaviness if my favourite part. Not necessarily meaning down-tuned bass-heavy slower stuff (although certainly some of that as well), just huge parts that make me go "phwoar, fucking hell" and pull some dumb metal face and make me wanna air guitar or air drum.

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

The guitar solo has got to be my favorite "idea" in metal. Nothing like a perfectly done solo.

 

[arg]

the idea of mutilating bitches and sodomizing their corpses

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

Chord progressions using the harmonic minor scale.

Chromatically descending bassline (aka lament bass)

Chromatic mediant chord progressions, such as when an E minor shifts to a C minor.

 

[The Ozzman]

I'm a sucker for metal with groove. Edit: I'm not sure if it's quite my favorite thing per se, but it's the most identifiable thing.

AnyBoltthrowersong.mp3

Anylambofgodsong.mp3

Etc.

Pretty much. If it doesn't have some type of groove it'll take me a while to get into it. It's probably why I like mid-era Obituary so much.