After a single listen, I am convinced of two things: I never want to listen to Abalam again, and something is wrong with metal in 2014 if this is an acceptable example of the genre.
To be perfectly clear, I do not consider Abalam to be a bad album. How can it be good OR bad? Nothing happens through its 30+ minute run time.
The above is one of those cryptic statements that I'm fond of, but one that would get me in trouble if I were writing for anyone but myself here on NHC.
So what do I mean, exactly? On Abalam, there are no riffs or ear-grabbing rhythms worth mentioning that are played on guitar. Hence, to my ears, nothing happens.
This is all well and good if you're operating in a genre that isn't reliant on the instrumentation to convey moods, tones, melodies, or rhythms. But this is metal we're talking about (even for a release as peripherally attached to "metal" as this one), so I naturally expect some kind of effort on the part of the players to write and play something that intrigues me. And to be bluntly honest, I don't hear anything like that here.
The above brings me to the main point of this piece, which is the role of atmosphere in metal. Frankly, it's run amok over the last few years. Metal's traditional emphasis on rhythm as main musical device has been lessened in favor of atmosphere. There are other things being emphasized too, but for the point of this piece I'm restricting it to atmosphere.
Atmosphere can be expressed in the context of a metal album in (at least) two ways. The first is to write a riff in such a way that it evokes a certain feeling or set of feelings. The greatest example of this is undoubtedly "Black Sabbath". The second is to anchor a riff among other instruments that are played in such a way to evoke a feeling or set of feelings. Usually, this is accomplished via keyboards, the odd piece of percussion, or samples. The best example of this method is Ævangelist. They layer sounds meticulously to produce a genuinely creepy and provocative atmosphere that surrounds and envelops the riffs that are being played.
I suppose there's also a third route, wherein the guitars concentrate on playing in an atmospheric way while the drums and bass play their usual support role. But to me, if there are no riffs being played, there's no point in bothering. Sadly, Abalam goes with this route, which leads it to be ineffective in drawing my interest.
When I was first learning how to play guitar, my teacher imparted a phrase upon me that continues to stick almost 20 years later. That phrase is: rhythm determines melody. I apply this phrase in a broad manner; that is to say that everything that is not the rhythm being played is secondary. If I'm being a real jerk about it, I would say that everything that is not the rhythm is irrelevant.
You can imagine, then, why I reacted to Abalam the way I did. But I want to emphasize again that it is not a bad album, merely an ineffective one.
After all, it's not Illud Divinum Insanus.
I suppose there's also a third route, wherein the guitars concentrate on playing in an atmospheric way while the drums and bass play their usual support role. But to me, if there are no riffs being played, there's no point in bothering. Sadly, Abalam goes with this route, which leads it to be ineffective in drawing my interest.
When I was first learning how to play guitar, my teacher imparted a phrase upon me that continues to stick almost 20 years later. That phrase is: rhythm determines melody. I apply this phrase in a broad manner; that is to say that everything that is not the rhythm being played is secondary. If I'm being a real jerk about it, I would say that everything that is not the rhythm is irrelevant.
You can imagine, then, why I reacted to Abalam the way I did. But I want to emphasize again that it is not a bad album, merely an ineffective one.
After all, it's not Illud Divinum Insanus.
No comments:
Post a Comment