There’s nothing like a bit of complex grindcore!
I went to a small club to see Cephalic Carnage play. It’s been a while since I went to a real "grindcore" gig (I use the term loosely), and I really enjoyed it. The energy and musicianship in bands like Cephalic cannot be denied, whether you like the noise they make or not.
I’ve not spent much time in the past trying to work out why I have such eclectic music tastes. I love a few grind bands, a few metal bands, some hardcore, some classical, some contemporary, some progressive rock – but I seem to be very selective. Nu-metal or whatever they call the stop-start "let’s just make a grinding chugging tuneless riff" bands that are so prevalent these days in the metal scene are fine – but they don’t appeal to me. For 30 seconds I might think "ooh I like the sound of this" – but it is exactly that. The sound "feels" good. Interest is not sustained because the songwriting is not "out there" enough.
This is why I really like bands like Strapping Young Lad, Mastodon, Cephalic Carnage, Dillinger Escape Plan. Tons of energy, musicianship and … tunes. Remember those elusive things? That’s exactly why I just can’t sustain interest in the Meshuggah tracks that I’ve heard to date. I love their rhythmic complexity and the heavy sound, but I get so bored because there’s never a decent melody (that I’ve found) to occupy the melodic part of your brain. DEP for example have plenty of bluster and noise, but absolutely killer songwriting within. Heaviness and complexity with great melodic hooks is what separates the men from the boys, in my tastes at least. Pretty much anyone can sit down and write an aggressive and heavy-sounding song with a few chugging chromatic riffs.
Personally I do struggle with the sound at these "grind" gigs. Maybe its just my ears, but I am inevitably a bit disappointed as the mid-range of the guitars is typically lost out to bass rumble and the drum assault. On record its a lot better, but seeing a bunch of guys play such insane music while leaping around and generally having a great time is always invigorating.
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