FatherAlabaster

Master Of Reality Scotch or Bourbon?

Honestly, today I was walking around wondering why I had such a long list. And wondering why some of my favorite stuff didn't belong there. But yeah, I really dug your response, it's exactly what I'm curious about: what opened a crucial door, what made you take your first step down a path. I always look back through the music I write to figure out where it came from, and sometimes I turn up whole sets of attitudes towards life that are based on nothing more than some dumb lyrics I heard when I was twelve.

I love Tool, although my favorite album is Aenima and I didn't really like the later stuff. I haven't heard Lateralus in years. It's odd to me how many of my favorite bands didn't wind up on my list. I guess for me it's not so much about whether I like them as it is about the impact they had on me, like Deicide - not my favorite death metal band at all, but they really changed things for me. These are great responses so far, keep them coming!

Hedningarna - Navdi-Fasa

You're lucky. I've recorded a few loud vocalists, and a few like me who tend to vocalize around conversation level. My clean singing voice is louder than my growl when I'm doing them both properly, which is something I've heard from guys like Akerfeldt as well. Everybody is different. When I was younger, I pushed hard for tone. Part of the reason I had to push so hard is because I would tense up my neck and chest, which is a pretty common thing people do when shooting for volume. So I was trying to be too loud, and at the same time creating a constriction that made it even harder to get volume, and I finally blew my voice out. I've seen bad advice on other forums where some people recommend trying to be as loud and push as hard as possible, and I really want to make sure the OP doesn't try to do that. Especially if he's already having trouble with pain and lack of endurance, he needs to learn breath control and relaxation, then focus on his tone, and just let his volume come naturally. If you can put a little time and money into voice lessons, it's a great idea. The guy at virtual voice lessons dot net (all one word when you type it in) has a lot of really good tips and exercises for clean singing, although he's pretty goofy and waxes a bit religious sometimes. I've enjoyed the online courses I've taken. Everything I've learned about clean singing has been applicable to screaming as well.

Though depending on the law over there it might also be called "statutory" something or other... Probably worth it in any case.

Don't leave without her number.

Ok, that song is badass but the video is giving Immortal a serious run for their money. But the part in the Immortal video where they're standing on that hill and then they all start headbanging together, that just brings tears to my eyes.

Yup, that's the one! So fucking funny it's a classic.

Faith No More - Land Of Sunshine

Drink more water. Do it beforehand. Your vocal cords take some time to hydrate. Also, it kind of hurts when you're starting off anyway, so just practice. If you start losing your voice, you're pushing too hard.

The only Burzum that I ever got into was Aske. I actually really like his vocals on that recording. In general I agree with RO, the music is weak and basically lives and dies by its necro production values. I'd have a hard time talking about him as a metal frontman, though, since he doesn't play any shows or have an actual band.

Try going to some local shows and making friends.

+1 to good advice from BAN. You need to learn to sing while keeping your neck and chest relaxed. Here are a couple of tips: 1) Take a few deep breaths while laying flat on your back, and see how it moves your lower abdomen but not your ribcage. That's the same kind of breathing you're shooting for when you sing. 2) Yell "hey" like you were yelling to someone across the street. Do it a couple of times. Then, try yelling but holding that note that you just hit. It doesn't matter how it sounds, you should feel relaxed and natural. If you're tensing up, you're doing it wrong! I'd also say, practice clean singing even if you suck at it - it's great for enunciation and breath control. And remember, DON'T go for volume right off the bat. You shouldn't be pushing yourself to go louder than your natural speaking voice AT ANY TIME. I've seen some people recommend going for full volume - this is the worst thing you can possibly do. Tone first, volume later. The more you learn to relax, the louder and better your voice will sound.

eating nothing drinking flying dog IPA hanging at my favorite bar with my kid thinking I'm mostly broke but totally lucky to have what I do.

They don't have to be metal, or any specific genre. They don't have to be the best or most classic bands or albums, or your favorites... you don't even have to listen to them anymore. But, especially as a musician, it's a serious question to me, because there are certain recordings that I've come across over the years that defined me. They actually changed my life. Not just "my influences", because I have lots of those, but things that influenced me so much that I have no idea what kind of musician or even what kind of person I would be without them. No particular number, in no particular order, but I'm curious. What albums really changed your life and made you who you are today? I can only list mine chronologically, roughly in the order that I encountered them: Ray Lynch - Deep Breakfast. This is sappy mid-80s synth music, no vocals. Almost unbearably happy and predictable, but my parents would play it in the car whenever we went on trips, and listening to it makes me feel like I'm five again. Rush - Moving Pictures. The first tape I ever made for myself. I didn't know what "stereo" was and we didn't have a tape dubber, so I just stuck my boom box in front of one of the living room speakers and recorded it. I was eleven. Imagine my surprise when I got the CD years later, and heard it in stereo for the first time. Pink Floyd - The Wall. Metallica - And Justice For All. Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime. None of these albums fit on my blank tapes in the correct order, so I had the songs all out of whack, and all the tapes cut songs off halfway through. I took what I could get. Pearl Jam - Ten. The sound of middle school... what else can I say. Yes, I still listen to it sometimes. Pantera - Far Beyond Driven. Soundgarden - Superunknown. Both of these albums were transcendent for me - the guitars didn't sound quite like anything else I had heard, and some of the riffs sounded like they came straight out of their brains as pure sound, like their fingers were just intermediaries. Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve. This is still one of my favorite albums by any band. Fear Factory - Demanufacture. I had "Soul of a New Machine" and liked it, but I wanted more melody. I encountered promo tracks from both the Meshuggah and FF albums on a sampler CD from a music magazine, and played it to death. The same magazine introduced me to The Abyss, Pitch Shifter, DRI, and Truly. Deicide - Once Upon The Cross. Not my favorite anymore, I hardly ever put it on, but the first time I listened to the title track, I was actually scared. It grabbed me by the throat and let me see that death metal wasn't just fun angry noise, that it had real impact, real power. Rotting Christ - Triarchy of the Lost Lovers. I had never heard of them and bought this album on impulse. I had no idea what to expect. The harmonies on this album changed the way I approached melody in songs, and worked their way into my guitar technique for years afterwards. Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery. I had a badly dubbed tape of this that died, and it took several months for the record store to order me a copy on CD. I've never been more excited about an album than when I brought this back home. Another one I hardly ever listen to anymore, but if I want to, I can hear all the songs in my head. Opeth - Morningrise. If this was a list in order of importance, this album would be at the top. It completely rewired my understanding of songwriting. I'm still dealing with the repercussions of listening to this album 16 years later. Another impulse buy, I didn't like it at first, and then one day I did. I listened to it every single morning, all the way through, for six months afterwards. It's not my favorite Opeth anymore, but no other album has had this much impact on me. Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger. What Deicide did for me with death metal, this album did for me with black metal. Joy Division - Closer. Swans - Children Of God. I made the mistake of falling asleep on my couch to both of these albums. Every time I hear them, they send me down the same bleak, angry, despairing rabbit hole, despite their being vastly different from one another. Katatonia - Discouraged Ones. This wasn't the first Katatonia I really liked, and in fact it took me a while to get into. I like almost everything they've done, now, years later - the early stuff, the new stuff - but the droning simplicity of this album always sucks me back in. No polish, no bullshit. I can't define why I love it. Lionheart - Paris 1200. They're a medieval a capella group based in NYC. This album in particular focuses on very early polyphony, in some cases just two-part music based on simple Gregorian chants. It works for me on so many levels, it's hard to describe them all. I love the melodies and they wind up in my music; they hint at how different musical thought was 800 years ago; they sometimes feel like they're dragging me back there. The album serves a meditative purpose for me - it is worshipful, reverent music, and though I don't worship, I appreciate the mindset. It reminds me of my upbringing, yet since I didn't grow up Christian, it doesn't have the uncomfortable resonance for me that it does for some of my friends. This album also helped me pull through some of the hardest times in my life. I don't think I could narrow it down any further. There's lots of other stuff I like better right now, and some of my favorite bands aren't on here; but I had fallen in love with all of these by the time I was 20, and at this point I cannot imagine myself as a musician or really as a person without them. If you have a list, and you'd like to share it, I'd love to hear it.

"Chocolate Rain". I'm not going to post a link. This has nothing to do with metal and it may be the worst song I've ever heard. I don't recommend listening to it, and if you really want to, you'll have to dig it up yourself. As far as metal goes... That Immortal video from Battles In The North with them wearing the witch hats and jumping out from behind trees and whatnot.

I guess it's unfair of me to talk smack about Satyr. I didn't meet him. But I got to be friends with a couple of the Khold guys when they had a forum going a few years ago, and they told me some real horror stories about dealing with him on tour. I'm glad to hear he was cool to you. The Satyr they described was neither nice nor humble... but I didn't meet him and I don't really have a right to say. They had nothing but nice things to say about Frost, in any case.

My wife got our son a toy keyboard that plays songs that make me want to jump to my death from the top of our building. It's on now. With any luck the trapdoor to the roof will be open.

eating: salad and beef jerky drinking: Founder's pale ale listening: nothing doing: taking a five minute break from an episode of Deep Space 9 thinking: I can't wait to finish my lyrics for the song I'm working on

Alice In Chains - We Die Young

Dude, I was joking.

which could only improve her looks...

Oh sweet goat balls this has to be one of the worst fucking songs I've ever heard. You're absolutely right. This is why people hate metalcore. Trust your instincts. Having the lyrics on the video makes it suck even more.