Monthly Archives: March 2017
Overview of Heavy Music Styles (part 3)
Folk Metal – metallers used elements of folk music in the 70s. Irish folk tunes were featured in the songs Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy. The latter generally recorded a cover version of the old folk song ‘Whiskey In The Jar “, which was recently rewritten (already as a Thin Lizzy cover) by the most pop metal band of the Universe Popsallica. But these were only small intersperses of folk music, real folk metal formed only With the advent of the thrash band Skyclad in 1990. This group used folk melodies, poems and instruments in their rather heavy songs, putting all of Europe on their ears, followed by many different variations of Folk Metal, for example Viking Metal, Folk-Black, Folk- Doom, Folk-Gothic and even Folk-Death and Folk-Industrial! Folk is now at the top of its popularity. Recommended bands: Skyclad, Otyg, Finntroll, Vintersorg, Cruachan, Suidakra, Storm, Subway To Sally, In Extremo, Gods Tower Continue reading
Overview of Heavy Music Styles (part 2)
Progressive Metal is the most intelligent metal genre, a direct descendant of Art Rock. “Progressors” went even further in terms of “inaudibility”, which entailed the commercial failure of the style. Still, not everyone can adequately perceive 20-30-minute songs with a complex rhythmic pattern, constant tempo changes, deep conceptual verses, crazy vocal passages and long guitar and keyboard solos! The first group that tried to combine all this with heavy riffs was the Rush Canadians, but their music is more suitable for the definition of “heavy art rock” than Progressive Metal. The real “progressive” appeared in the early 80s through the efforts of such bands as Mercyful Fate, Fates Warning and Watchtower (this group along with Mekong Delta played techno-thrash, even more technical and sophisticated music). Continue reading
