Modern (Nu?) Metal

[tallman]

Hello everyone.
I've had a curiosity for a while now:
I've been wondering why some guitarists are into modern metal (not the 80's shredder stuff- more like modern death metal)?
I am not personally a fan, but I was just wondering what some guitarists find attractive about this kind of music.

 

[JamesL]

Define what bands you are talking about...
:help:

 

[stratplayer1]

I second JamesL's notion there are many new or "nu" metal bands that completely suck, but others are awesome, for instance I loath slipknot i think they are the worst band in awhile, but I quite enjoy listening to the fall of troy, I really like the technical guitar work

 

[JamesL]

I second JamesL's notion there are many new or "nu" metal bands that completely suck, but others are awesome, for instance I loath slipknot i think they are the worst band in awhile, but I quite enjoy listening to the fall of troy, I really like the technical guitar work

+1!!!!!!!

The Human abstract has a lot of technical guitar too..

 

[Mor Paul]

I'll need to check out those two bands.

Wow. Slipknot has 2 people who are custom percussionists. They play beer kegs with baseball bats.

 

[JamesL]

I'll need to check out those two bands.

Wow. Slipknot has 2 people who are custom percussionists. They play beer kegs with baseball bats.

Slipknot is gross... But Max, I can recommend TONS of technical guitar bands..

 

[Xplorervoodoo]

There are all different styles of modern metal...

"Nu" metal is generally associated with the drop D, 3 chord, screaming/singing, rock/rap stuff.  At least to me it is.

When you talk about modern metal though, I think of bands like:

Strapping Young Lad - They have the whole "Wall of sound" thing happening, because Devin Townsend likes to mash just about everything in there that he can.  Plus, Devin does great vocals, and is quite a shredder, even though SYL doesn't really show it off much.

Crowbar - Speaking of "wall of sound"...  Also about the lowest tuning I've seen in a while.  Still, very powerful music.

In Flames/Shadows Fall/Children of Bodom - They're taking the twin guitar attack of classic thrash, downtuning it, and pushing it harder.

Tool/Meshuggah - It's all about the rhythm.  And for these guys, it's usually polyrhythm.  Very interesting stuff.

 

[m4rk0]

I'm not sure what's nu metal, nu punk or emo these days.. to me, most modern "rock" bands seem to be very similar.
I do like the fact that solos seem to be back again.. that is actually the part I like about your band James..
the only thing I can't get used to are the vocals.. not sure what it is though. (sorry btw I missed your gig in Plano last week)
I actually don't like the regular modern metal today either. sometimes I hear something I like, until the "grunting" (or whatever they call it these days) begins.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

It's fun just to go to the death metal concerts and start fighting for no reason or just windmilling for 1/2 hour straight.

Most of my friends are into death metal, and I like it too, but not as much. Just the idea of being technical and epic is really really cool.

 

[tallman]

thanks for all the response!  It's very interesting to hear from real fans of these kinds of music.
I was referring mostly (I'm unfortunately not very familiar with specific band names) to the type of music involving screaming (usually low pitched) vocals, extremely impressive/fast drumming, and guitars that are usually drop tuned and very  very heavy -this is the part I was interested in people's opinions/ reasons for liking because I, personally, have a difficult time discerning the skill of the guitar player/ what they are actually playing

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

thanks for all the response!  It's very interesting to hear from real fans of these kinds of music.
I was referring mostly (I'm unfortunately not very familiar with specific band names) to the type of music involving screaming (usually low pitched) vocals, extremely impressive/fast drumming, and guitars that are usually drop tuned and very  very heavy -this is the part I was interested in people's opinions/ reasons for liking because I, personally, have a difficult time discerning the skill of the guitar player/ what they are actually playing

Yes thats the stuff! I'm a fan of it. Low pitched screaming is growling. The guitar for rhythm is usually fairly simple but can get pretty wild, and then the lead is just sweep picking and very fast tremolo picking.

My neighbor Is one of those extremely impressive child prodigy on drums. He will just blow your mind to Pluto he's so good, he plays bass too but his drum skills are way better than his bassing. Both of which he plays is in death/black/screamo metal, his brother is also very skilled on the guitar.

 

[gnome]

my question is why woudl anyoen lsiten to 80's metal.... ughhh

when i think Nu Metl i think Korn... they had a couple of alright songs but mostly they sucked, they had a different sound though, drop tuning, really percussive sound


i don't really like much modern metal but i do like the way some metal bands construct songs, like the good old days of prog with lotsa key changes and weird time signatures

 

[m4rk0]

my question is why woudl anyoen lsiten to 80's metal.... ughhh

to me, british 80's metal bands such as Iron Maiden is true metal!
twin guitars, great melodies, great vocals, spectacular shows... what more do you want? it's timeless!

 

[JamesL]

I'm not sure what's nu metal, nu punk or emo these days.. to me, most modern "rock" bands seem to be very similar.
I do like the fact that solos seem to be back again.. that is actually the part I like about your band James..
the only thing I can't get used to are the vocals.. not sure what it is though. (sorry btw I missed your gig in Plano last week)
I actually don't like the regular modern metal today either. sometimes I hear something I like, until the "grunting" (or whatever they call it these days) begins.

It's cool If I remember right that's the show I didn't play due to food poisoning... 

To be honest, I always hated the vocals too.. But it's something that takes time and grows on you. The guy who scream their lungs out actually put their heart and soul into the way they express their lyrics (I'm not talking about the ones who scream 100% of the time). There's sooooo much energy present when they do what they do, it's quite amazing once you're able to get into it. For me and my band, and most of the bands with the wild guitar work, we grew up on 80's metal, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Led Zepplin, Etc... we just took the love for the guitar work and brought everything up to the next level by bringing back the solos, the harmonized guitar parts, and the rythems. Personally I didn't grow up on that kind of music, but it is something I like, I grew up on Pennywise, NoFX, Bad Religion, Weezer, Goldfinger, bands like that, more punk oriented. It might take time, but it is possible to grow into it.

 

[gnome]

my question is why woudl anyoen lsiten to 80's metal.... ughhh

to me, british 80's metal bands such as Iron Maiden is true metal!
twin guitars, great melodies, great vocals, spectacular shows... what more do you want? it's timeless!

oh yeh iron maiden are great (and they are supre fun to sing at karaoke) and there are good meal ands from the 80's but when i think of 80's metal i instantly think of all that shit hair metal adn mindless shred crap

 

[Xplorervoodoo]

thanks for all the response!  It's very interesting to hear from real fans of these kinds of music.
I was referring mostly (I'm unfortunately not very familiar with specific band names) to the type of music involving screaming (usually low pitched) vocals, extremely impressive/fast drumming, and guitars that are usually drop tuned and very  very heavy -this is the part I was interested in people's opinions/ reasons for liking because I, personally, have a difficult time discerning the skill of the guitar player/ what they are actually playing

I think the problem with these styles is twofold...

Sometimes the guitars are tuned so low that they're competing for sonic space with the bass and the drums.  Also there can be so much going on at the same time that it's hard to tell what's what.  Actually, now that I think about it, the big thing with a lot of death metal bands for a long time was REALLY crappy production values...  A lot of it sounded like it was recorded on a voice recorder.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

thanks for all the response!  It's very interesting to hear from real fans of these kinds of music.
I was referring mostly (I'm unfortunately not very familiar with specific band names) to the type of music involving screaming (usually low pitched) vocals, extremely impressive/fast drumming, and guitars that are usually drop tuned and very  very heavy -this is the part I was interested in people's opinions/ reasons for liking because I, personally, have a difficult time discerning the skill of the guitar player/ what they are actually playing

I think the problem with these styles is twofold...

Sometimes the guitars are tuned so low that they're competing for sonic space with the bass and the drums.  Also there can be so much going on at the same time that it's hard to tell what's what.  Actually, now that I think about it, the big thing with a lot of death metal bands for a long time was REALLY crappy production values...  A lot of it sounded like it was recorded on a voice recorder.

This is the main reason i'm not such a fan of it as most of my friends are. But it's still cool.

One of my friends plays guitar and he is very good at it, but he has absolutely NO ear for tone. On the amp it just all to 10 and away he goes. :laughing7:

 

[DanDeTora]

Hello everyone.
I've had a curiosity for a while now:
I've been wondering why some guitarists are into modern metal (not the 80's shredder stuff- more like modern death metal)?
I am not personally a fan, but I was just wondering what some guitarists find attractive about this kind of music.

I'll throw my 2 cents into the discussion.

"Nu-Metal" refers to mainstream metal of the mid-late 90's, e.g. Korn, Limp Biskit (sp?), Slipknot, etc. It is, to me, a cross of 80's metal (Metallica) with hardcore/thrash vocals and straight foward heavyness (Agnostic Front). Drop the wanking guitar solos and add in some heavy break-downs (1/2 time feel). Toss in some Anthrax/Public Enemy crossover and there you go...

As a guy who grew up listening to and playing in underground hardcore and punk bands, the NuMetal genre makes me ill. It's a mockery of all the is good and holy. Or something...

 

[Jorundr]

as a true child of the 90's (started school in 1990) only one "new metal" band really stayed with me: Deftones, still love them. korn and all the other stuff got boring...
Tool is not in my new metal category though. Tool is an absolute fav, saw them at roskilde, blew me away

+1 on the townsend stuff, he's got it

I grew up on Pennywise, NoFX, Bad Religion, Weezer, Goldfinger, bands like that, more punk oriented.

ah, me and my mates  get together once in a while and spend a night listening to our old time favourites from our teens, just play those god old cd's and drink "gammel opland" liqour.
great fun.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

as a true child of the 90's (started school in 1990) only one "new metal" band really stayed with me: Deftones, still love them. korn and all the other stuff got boring...
Tool is not in my new metal category though. Tool is an absolute fav, saw them at roskilde, blew me away

+1 on the townsend stuff, he's got it

I grew up on Pennywise, NoFX, Bad Religion, Weezer, Goldfinger, bands like that, more punk oriented.

ah, me and my mates  get together once in a while and spend a night listening to our old time favourites from our teens, just play those god old cd's and drink "gammel opland" liqour.
great fun.

Tool is awesome.