Originally Posted by
horrendous
i too am a bigtime fan of metal and classical music. it's practically all i listen to. my favorite bands are kinda the more semi-mainstream bands (in flames, cradle of filth, galneryus [incredible power metal band], lamb of god, nightwish and many others)
as far as radio airtime goes, it's as you say, only metalcore and hard rock get airtime. i called into my local rock station and requested Laid To Rest by LoG, the dj said I'll see if we can play that for you. apparently he couldn't, i listened for an hour and it never played. i bet they play stuff like Children of Bodom in Sweden, but us Muricans aren't so lucky. therefore i don't listen to the radio much.
you mentioned you enjoyed the melodies of classical and metal music, and i feel the same way. when i hear bands on the radio (green day, shinedown, nickelback) i am completely turned off and frankly irritated by the bland, repetetive chord progressions accompanied by generic lyrics. heavy metal contains uplifting, energizing melodies and grandiose lyrics that really causes one to think of a deeper meaning to the song, one that isn't readily apparent on first listen. if you look up the lyrics to pretty much sny Cradle of Filth song, a lit of them are more like poetry than lyrics. yea, it's dark, vulgar poetry, but you won't hear Green Day saying stuff like "Biblical choirs sail beyond veiled lights, a swansong for ravens trapped flapping in night" or "your misery is worn as a veil, to hide bewitchment of the ugliest kind." lyrics like that aren't easily decipherable to the layman. it takes a little effort to extract meaning from a lot of metal songs - that's what's most appealing to me.
the melodies are the same way. like i said before, generic chord progressions can be put to good use, but a song entirely comprised of them is, frankly, crap. to me, anyway. a goos melody (perhaps harmonized) does things to my mind and body that i can't fully explain - the closest i can come to an explaination would be "it sends me on an emotional rollercoaster." i hear a melody like, for instance, the main one from MIA by A7x, and i can easily envision a grand scene, full of characters and events that move in sync with the music. these imaginary scenes can be entirely as vivid as a dream, and the events of them give me goosebumps and a surge of raw energy and emotion.
metal and classical music can be close relatives at times, perhaps even brothers. they both contain grandiose lyics and fluid melodies. it's true that classical music can be far more nuanced, involving many instruments at different volume levels and playing power, but since metal songs often contain synthesized (and perhaps comparably stunted) orchestrsl elements, the difference in the modern day is negligible. listen to nearly any Therion song and you'll hear what is basically a fully orchestrated classical song, complete with a full male and full female choir, with a couple distorted guitars overlain.
i could speak volumes of metal. i write it, i record it, i discuss it, and obviously i (nearly at all times) listen to it.
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