Today’s Track Binge: Amon Amarth

I’m working my way through the albums of Amon Amarth (translated: Mount Doom), which are a huge hole in my personal metal library. I’ve definitely listened to some melodic death metal that I loved. Amon Amarth is one of the huge names in melodic death metal.

So why am I so late to this? I’m not sure, but probably part of it is the growled/screamed vocals. I find a tight-throated growl (Cradle of Filth often does this, IMO) positively painful to listen to, and it put me off the vocal technique almost entirely. Then, I finally decided to listen to Amon Amarth because, y’know, With Oden on Our Side = seminal metal album. And, it turns out, their vocal style is enjoyable and I LOVE the guitars.

I LOVE THE GUITARS

On a side note: the tight-throated growl is absolutely a stylistic choice, and there’s probably a way to do it without hurting your voice. However, the metal scream and vocal fry are both things you should be doing without tensing your neck or forcing it, at least if you want to be able to keep doing it. Low vocal fry done safely is even a different technique than what people default to! So yeah, just like hearing a singer at karaoke push to hit a high note, that tight growl makes me wince.

 

Today’s Track: Little Bit by Larkin Poe

Classic rock so classic that you hear the country and western bones; it ambles into the room in new jeans and shiny cowboy boots. Just a great groove. Paean to little big dreams and striving for only that little bit that’s going to make you content.

“What do you keep looking for?
More ain’t always more than
A little bit more than a little bit.”

The lyrics hit particularly hard in the current times of billionaires actively making life worse for everybody else in their quest for just one more million.

Also, how have I been sleeping on Larkin Poe this whole time? Their sound is so “simple” and so rich, and I’m just digging everything. Their bluegrass roots touch everything about their sound, and they borrow heavily from classic rock sounds, but they make it sound fresh.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EEWbDDIrhA

Today's Track: iOvNoW by ohGr

What does it sound like? It’s ohGr. Distorted noisy industrial on a melodic synth-pop base, I guess? I haven’t listened to any of their work since Welt, more fool I, and I’m digging this track. The brooding, melodic, almost menacing opening pulled me in, and it’s all the ohGr bleeps and blorps I love.

ohGr is two members of Skinny Puppy intentionally doing a more pop project. Think EDM run through a strangely modded and seriously mistreated mixer, add in a heaping helping of static, and just a soupçon of doom. I adore it, though I understand why some people are just not into it. Noise metal is just too damn much for me, after all.