OK, today I’m debuting The List, the first of what I intend to be several semi-regular, semi-themed posts here at Loud Noises. When I do a List post, I’ll be coming up with (gasp!) a list of bands/albums/whatever centred on a particular theme. (I know, I know, real original. Shut up.) Rather than agonize over actually ranking whatever it is I happen to be listing, these are just going to be lists of stuff you should check out, in no particular order (although I will of course mention when I think something is especially badass or otherwise worthy of note). And to start the listing off right, I’m going to try turning you on to what I feel might be a somewhat underappreciated variety of metal: instrumental metal, which for the purposes of this post I’ve decided to call instrumetal (nice portmanteau, huh?)
What do I mean by instrumetal? Well, in a nutshell, I’m talking about metal without vocals. Whether they couldn’t find a vocalist, or have chosen to forgo one for artistic reasons, there are lots of metal bands out there kicking asses and banging heads completely sans singing. Here, for your aural pleasure, are four instrumetal bands I’ve been listening to a lot of lately.
- Blotted Science
I’ve just recently come across this tech-death supergroup, which includes members of Watchtower, Cannibal Corpse and Obscura among its current lineup, and I’m basically blown away by their latest EP, The Animation of Entomology. It’s super heavy without being just sonic bludgeoning, and super tech without being over the top.* Well, OK, it’s pretty close to the top, maybe thinking about how exactly to go over it, but it’s still a record that’s guaranteed to hold your attention for 24 minutes.
Tracks to check out: start with “The Near Dominance of 4 Against 5", a one-off from back in 2005 when Chris Adler from Lamb of God (yup.) was the band’s drummer, and then go with “Ingesting Blattaria”, the opening track from The Animation of Entomology. If you’re not hooked after these two, Blotted Science isn’t for you.
- Chimp Spanner
If there's one band on this list you've heard of, it's probably Chimp Spanner. Essentially the one man studio project of Englishman Paul Antonio Ortiz, Chimp Spanner is making waves in modern metal for its instrumentation in general, and for Ortiz's phenomenal guitar work in particular. Jazzy and proggy melodic, avant garde, experimental, strange and beautiful and heavy, all at once. If that last sentence was kinda all over the place, it’s only because Chimp Spanner is kinda all over the place, and maybe not for everybody. Personally I think it’s a great example of modern guitar virtuosity that’s both technically proficient and interesting and unique. Go on youtube and look up “guitar shredding”, or something similar, and you can see tons of guys (tons of depressingly young kids, really) who can shred. Paul Antonio Ortiz can shred tastefully. And he can do ambient and electronic stuff at the drop off a hat. Tasty.
Tracks to check out: “Supererogation”, hands down, should be your introduction to Chimp Spanner. Next, try “Bad Code”, which like “Supererogation” comes from 2010's At the Dream’s Edge. If either of these piques your interest, and you’ve got a little time on your hands, have a go at either of Chimp Spanner’s three part prog epics, “Terminus” (from At the Dream’s Edge) or “Mobius” (from 2012's All Roads Lead Here EP)
- Russian Circles
Of all the bands on this list, I'm probably least into these guys, but don't let that stop you from checking them out. It's not that they don't have some really cool tunes, because they do -- enough that I've got 3 of their albums. I think the reason I’m not more all about these guys might be based on how interesting a song they write. I've said before that shit doesn't have to be the most technical, the most complex, or the fastest to be cool, and I’ll say it again a million times, but hey, sometimes more is actually more, at least in terms of catching and holding the listener’s attention. If a Blotted Science record represents the culmination of the collective musical journey of a group of tremendously talented musicians at the peak of their command of their instruments, a Russian Circles record sounds a little more like you and your college friends jamming out your best riffs after a few bowls of some strong sativa. Again, don’t misunderstand - the guys in Russian Circles are all great musicians, and I especially like drummer Dave Turncrantz’s playing - it’s just that things can get a little jammy-sounding, a little wandery, a little meandery. (Yes, I know, neither of those are quite words.) Of course, maybe I’m just missing the point, because as Russian Circles often prove, “huge” and “epic” lie just beyond the edges of “wandery” and “jammy”.
Track to check out: Tough call, because even if it sounds like I’ve just spent a paragraph slagging on Russian Circle a bit, they really do have a bunch of cool stuff. “Youngblood” (from 2008's Station) and “Malko” (from 2009's Geneva) were the first two songs I heard that made me want to hear more Russian Circle, so maybe you should start there too. But don’t stop there: “Melee” (also off Geneva), “309", or “Batu” (the latter two being tracks from 2011's Empros) all present a reasonable picture of what Russian Circles is about: lots of ebb and flow to get lost in.
- Scale the Summit
I’ve also only just recently discovered these guys, reading about their latest album The Collective on a blog about modern metal guitarists (thanks blogs!), and boy am I glad to have stumbled across them. Sometimes instrumental metal runs the risk of being unfocussed when it lacks the nucleus of a singer or screamer (see: Russian Circles), but listening to Scale the Summit I never get that feeling. I can’t comment on the rest of their material (yet...I’ll get around to it...), but with The Collective at least Scale the Summit have written a collection of finely crafted songs that, cliched as it sounds, take the listener on journeys. They go places, from one point to the next, like self-contained little musical narratives.
Tracks to check out. Album opener “Colossal” sets the tone for The Collective, and is as good a place as any to start scaling the summit. Keep things going with “Whales”, then skip ahead to the proggy and ethereal “The Levitated”, and that’s base camp. Ready to push for the top?
- Honourable Mention: Metallica
In the truest sense of the term, I don’t feel right ending an essay about instrametal without making a most honourable mention of Metallica. Now, I can hear you scratching your head right now (yes, it’s that loud), so I’ll explain. No, Metallica is not an instrumental band, and yes, much of their recent material leaves a great deal to be desired (to put it politely), but the fact remains that they have recorded a number of truly Classic** instrumetal tracks. If you call yourself a metal fan of any stripe and yet have somehow never heard instrumentals “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth”, “The Call of Ktulu”, or “Orion”, STOP READING RIGHT NOW and go listen to those three songs, in that order, and bask in the warmth of what Metallica used to be (not to mention the heat thrown off by Cliff Burton’s bass playing). Right now. Do it. For reals.
Done with the Metallica? Good. Your other homework for today is just to go back and listen to some or all of the stuff I’ve mentioned above, see how it strikes you, and then come back and tell the class about it. Extra credit if you bring some cool instrumetal band of your own in for show and tell.
* my byword for over the top? Dragonforce. Straight up.
** that capital C is indeed on purpose. That’s how Classic they are.
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