Thank you! I always struggled with timing but started playing alongside a metronome which helps so much - It's shockingly difficult to stay in time with blastbeats otherwise! I also record in Reaper and chunk it into 4-8 bars, using the "repeat" function. This lets me just keep playing until I'm happy with it and select the take that I want. (quick edit: I record while the metronome plays over the drums, just to be clear).
I use EZDrummer 3 for the drums, deathmetal plugin and some EQ adjustments. Nothing too fancy. It's all based off MIDI tracks so I can edit the beats in realtime, export from Guitar Pro, or base them off the included libraries.
Also I didn't want to spam but here's my first original song, I'm really happy with it! Even managed a small solo (not good enough for anything too flashy, but it felt like it needed it so I tried to include something).
Would love to add a bass track and some vocals but 1) Can't afford a bass, and 2) I'm too shy to practice singing hahaha
Whoa that's great! I could easily see that being a part of a death metal song. You're kind of inspiring me here to put more time into my own recording instead of just playing along in Rocksmith all the time. With some good vacation and holiday time off coming up it'll be a great chance.
It's the same for me with the blast beats and faster tempos. I can keep in time pretty well if it's slow, but as soon as I start playing 16th or 32nd notes it gets really tough. I checked out EZDrummer, and it certainly looks like it's easier to put down some sweet beats with that than Hydrogen. Christmas present for myself?
Bandcamp put out their best metal albums of 2022 list and I think they did a pretty good job. All great albums and worth a listen. The Ashenspire album right at the top was a huge standout for me too, Nansarunai is always fantastic if you like old-style black metal, and what the article says about the Ripped to Shreds guitar work is spot on.
I need to get back to listening to recent releases. I've been back-filling my '90s death and sludge catalogues.
Since today is my last working day of the year and I'm not getting anything done anyway, I figured I'd waste some time by posting for you fine folks in the metal thread! Instead of the usual top 10 list or whatever, how about just some of the more interesting and especially different releases I came across in 2022? Maybe you'll enjoy them and maybe you won't, but I hope you'll at least say, "whoa I've never heard anything like that before!" I have really enjoyed all of these this year.
Crestfallen Dusk - Crestfallen Dusk. This one answers the question that I'm sure you've asked, "what if black metal but also hillbilly blues?" This is possibly the most unusual one in the list here. There are ample guitar bends and sections that are completely bluegrass, and I'm all in for it.
Papangu - Holoceno. This one actually came out in 2021 but I only heard it for the first time this year, and it's quite a debut from this Brazilian band. I can't describe it much better than the blurb on their Bandcamp page: "Blending influences from sludge and zeuhl, Papangu's fluid sound is sieved through an unique mesh of prog, stoner rock, post rock and the rhythms of Northeastern Brazil, sounding as if Mastodon and mid-70s King Crimson had teamed up to concoct a Magma-like soundtrack to an anti-Bolsonaro play by Ariano Suassuna." I don't know who Ariano Suassuna is, but now I really want to watch one of their plays.
Vampiroteuthis Infernalis - Vampiroteuthis Infernalis. This band's name is the scientific name for the vampire squid, and they really went all in on that theme for their debut album. The sound is like a black metal band ventured to the bottom of the ocean and the microphones were on the outside of the submarine. An album that begs to be heard in a similar situation: in darkness and alone.
Lune - Hymns to the Lunar Realm. This one answers the question, "what if black metal, but performed by a cathedral choir?" If anything can be described as "epic" it would be this album. Another one with an apt band name. It's like traveling through space on your way to the moon, with the sun at your back and the stars in full view through the windows.
Ashenspire - Hostile Architecture. I mentioned this one a couple posts up, but it bears repeating. This Scottish band really put something special together here, full of emotion and struggle. The album's description says it well: "...a sonic exploration of the ways that subjects under late capitalism are constrained and set in motion via the various structures that uphold stratification and oppression in urban contexts." I don't know exactly how you turn that into music, but Ashenspire has somehow done it.
Chest Rockwell - Mentis Oculi. This is a one-man band that has somehow combined progressive music with a black metal tinge that really works. One of the few albums this year where after I listened to it I just went back to the beginning and played it again, multiple times. There are tons of layers and interesting sounds, so much so that you hear something new every time you listen.
Thank you! I always struggled with timing but started playing alongside a metronome which helps so much - It's shockingly difficult to stay in time with blastbeats otherwise! I also record in Reaper and chunk it into 4-8 bars, using the "repeat" function. This lets me just keep playing until I'm happy with it and select the take that I want. (quick edit: I record while the metronome plays over the drums, just to be clear).
I use EZDrummer 3 for the drums, deathmetal plugin and some EQ adjustments. Nothing too fancy. It's all based off MIDI tracks so I can edit the beats in realtime, export from Guitar Pro, or base them off the included libraries.
Also I didn't want to spam but here's my first original song, I'm really happy with it! Even managed a small solo (not good enough for anything too flashy, but it felt like it needed it so I tried to include something).
Would love to add a bass track and some vocals but 1) Can't afford a bass, and 2) I'm too shy to practice singing hahaha
That sounds awesome, man. Well done!!
For bass parts, check out ujam’s bass plugin. Basically lets you program midi notes for bass. I really like the Rowdy version for my metal recordings. https://www.ujam.com/bassist/rowdy/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIh46Owc-N_AIVDwWtBh0qJw09EAAYASABEgLWIPD_BwE
Just listening to a bunch of highly-rated stuff I missed in 2022 from across a bunch of genres, and stumbled upon Backxwash today.
Ahem. Whoa.
I'm not even close to a metalhead, and that was awesome.
We'll see how far I get into this Artificial Brain album tomorrow.
Backxwash is awesome! The perfect intersection of metal, hip-hop and industrial
Moving this back from the Android thread - d4m0, I have listened to some Temple of Void before. For me, Perilaxe Occlusion is kind of unique in my experience, although I do see them fitting in with some of the "weird death metal" that I enjoy like Tomb Mold and Blood Incantation. Perilaxe is so fast, and so precise and technical, that I almost equate them to analog electronic music, in a weird way - realizing that it's all guitars, bass, and drums. Dunno, that's just how I think about it.
Yeah, I have to agree, it's hard to compare them to too much else out there. I really hope they can get out and tour someday because I bet it would be a hell of a show. They're in Ontario so hopefully Boston wouldn't be too much of a stretch!
I'm heading out to Boston tomorrow to see Rotting Christ, Carach Angren, Uada, and Gaerea in what is sure to be a good time. I forgot to mention the last time I was out there, a couple months ago to see Liturgy, it also happened to be the first-ever live show for Umbra Vitae, a sort of death metal supergroup. They kicked ass. None other than Stephen Brodsky was in the audience, and I got to meet him! Had a fun and awkward conversation about playing guitar.
In weird death metal, the debut album from Theophonos from a few weeks ago is fantastic. I really love his guitar tone.
Theophonos is the guy who was previously releasing albums as Serpent Column.
He said in this interview last year that the Serpent Column project is no more, and he'll now be releasing as Theophonos, which thanks to this post, I see he now has. Can't wait to listen to it. I LOVED Serpent Column.
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