.Editorial - Listen!
Metal Reviews

Release year: 2004
Reviewed by Ben

What is it that every metalhead does around the world? We listen. Whether you’re sitting in the living room with 5.1 surround sound, lying on your bed with headphones on, or driving in your car with the windows down, we all listen to our heavy metal. But do we all listen the same way? I was thinking about this one night as I was playing some Power Quest and on one of my favorite songs, Far Away, I just happened to zero in on the drums and after about thirty seconds I got so frustrated I skipped the track. Why? Because all the drums were doing was double bass and snare…snare…snare for the whole damn song. I began to pull out some other cds and then began a listening spree of just paying attention to one instrument such as the drums, or the bass, or even the guitars’ chord progression and I began to decipher and tear apart the music into pieces such as the verse, the bridge, chorus and lead break. I almost changed the listening experience from something aesthetic and pleasurable into a mathematical equation. I began to wonder then at how other people look at the music known as metal and what factors there are that could cause a certain cd to sound different for one person than it is for another.

I’ll leave the “others” segment open to you for discussion, so for now I’ll just list the “Art of Listening to Heavy Metal 101 by Ben”, in short, what works for me. Just as in everything else in life first impressions last the longest when it comes to new music. Every minor little detail impacts that first popping in of the cd into your stereo, (Note that I said stereo, not your WinAmp playlist of ten thousand songs) from the cover art, the sleeve layout, hell, even what time of the year you listen to the cd! When I bring a new cd home and slam it home I open the sleeve and begin to browse through looking for liner notes, bios, and other pertinent information that would be an interesting read. Subtle details bring images to mind about the feel of the music. Example: Axel Rudi Pell does not make dark music but yet I still get that vibe from all his cds since Jeff Soto joined the band. Why do I get this? Might it have to do with the fact that almost every album cover is black / purple with a dark inlay design? I know this might sound stupid but it actually has had an effect on me over the years. I also have several “seasonal” albums in my collection. Balance of Power’s Lance era will always remind me of the winter because those three cds were all I listened to that winter of my senior year in high school.

Now that I’ve got those little details out of the way I’d like to touch base on a topic that is often overlooked but very important in the enjoyment of metal, the “catchability” factor. On one end of the spectrum you have a cd that is instantly accessible, hooks galore, and when you first hear it you think that it cant get any better but within a week you’ve burnt yourself out on it, you found out that other than those candy melodies there isn’t anything else to look for. The other side of matters is the cd that takes you forever to get into, if at all. When you play it you’re just bombarded with what at first seems like a random mess of noise that makes you want to vomit. Later on down the road (sometimes much later) you decide to give the vomit inducing cd another chance but lo and behold you catch a glimpse of something promising in that mess. Another spin goes by and that glimpse becomes a full view of something completely grand and spectacular and that once noisy mess has become one of your favorite cds. There has to be a middle ground though, and those bands that have the talent to create both catchy and instantly pleasing songs with enough strength and weight to them to last forever are hard to come by. Really, think about how many groups that you listen to that you can say “I see myself blasting this song thirty years from now.” I don’t want to get burnt out on some killer bands and I don’t want to force myself to like something after owning it for a year but those groups that capture the best of both worlds seem few and far between.

For being the most important factor in heavy metal, actual listening is often over looked or taken for granted. We all listen for different things, hell I love Manowar you probably don’t but that’s cool, I’ll take my Hail Metal anthems any day of the week.

Killing Songs :
Ben quoted
Other albums by .Editorial that we have reviewed:
.Editorial - Horny For Harpsichord reviewed by Ben and quoted
.Editorial - Why I need to take a break from writing for MetalReviews reviewed by Alex and quoted
.Editorial - USA / Germany Thrash Match: Big Four Style reviewed by Ben and quoted
.Editorial - Re: Reissues and Remasters reviewed by Ben and quoted
.Editorial - A Brief Run Through Power Metal (in 3 1/2 stages) reviewed by Ben and quoted
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