Monday, June 27, 2005

Help a brother out

I did think of one thing you can maybe help me with.

Friday night at Denny's we met these girls (over an argument about who sang the '80s song "Joey." One of the girls was hot AND intelligent, two things that rarely go together, so of course Hyperion was pleased. She asked if I was into speed-metal, and seemed disappointed that I wasn't. (Sort of a back-handed compliment, I guess). She even gave me all these speed-metal bands to listen to.

Now, I will listen to anything that's good, but I confess, I don't know enough about speed-metal to decipher the difference at this point. So, someone who's a fan, help Hyperion out. What should I be looking for when I listen to these songs?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Speed metal is mostly about two things: Righteous shredding on guitar and insane use of the double kick drum. The vocals are usually just screaming, though you will likely want to read the lyrics to see if anything insightful is actually said. It all depends on which bands you were specifically given, but those are some general rules. Basically, its all about how fast you can play something that is complicated.

Anonymous said...

It's about fast drumming and fast guitar. And it's gotta sound tight or in synch. Some groups are expert at changing up the tempo or meter in the middle of the song.

I don't know much about the guitar end, but on the drumming end, it's all pretty complicated stuff. Double or Quatro kick pedals, crazy fast meters with high hats and snares. Just lots of plain insanity on the drums, but it all sounds like it's done by a pro. In otherwords, it doesn't sound like a 12 year old kid going balistic on his new set.