Napalm Death
grindcore
So, as I may have mentioned before, there's a bit of metal and punk rock in my musical history. It was time well spent, if you ask me. I'm still putting to use all the lessons I learned from those years.
One of the bands I studied during that time of my life: Napalm Death.
What did I learn?
Actually, I could credit their present vocalist, "Barney" Greenway, as one of my earliest vocal influences (quite possibly, vocal coach). A good friend and I spent quite a bit of time reverse engineering and then practicing his vocal techniques as we listened to the band's albums. What we heard was a low rumbling of some very relaxed vocal cords. The power came from the diaphragm, blowing air across the cords and up through the throat. Done correctly, it produced a loud, guttural roar.
You now know where I got my first vocal lessons and why my singing voice leans towards the higher volumes.
Musically, Napalm Death helped me (along with all the metal and punk in my life) to play fast! Napalm's music is NOT slow. Some folks honor this band as the first "grindcore" band. In fact, the term is attributed to Mick Harris, the band's drummer (1986-92). Shane Embury, Napalm's bassist, offers the best explanation of grindcore, "It's just everything going at a hundred miles per hour, basically." His "everything" refers to hard-core punk, heavy metal, noise, and industrial music altogether.
There weren't too many Napalm Death tunes I couldn't play on the old guitar back then. (Might be a different story these days.)
I enjoyed the music so much from this band. As a bonus, the lyrics pleased me. In that day (and, I'm sure it's just as bad today), a lot of death metal bands had some rather stupid lyrics. (Good thing the vocal style covered up most of that.) Napalm's lyrics dealt with so many social issues that concerned me then (AND NOW). They were very much upset by the corporate imperialism of the world (that still controls us today). They spoke out against racism and sexism. The band had a lot of good things to say and kept a lot of malleable teenagers' minds asking better questions.
So, Napalm Death was and is a great influence and inspiration to me. Every couple of months, those older recordings come out and I grab for a guitar to see what I can remember and to see what I can still physically pull off. To my surprise I can remember a lot; I can also pull off a lot of the physical end of the music ... perhaps, one day in my future, I will bust off some of the rust and start another metal band?!
Thanks, Napalm Death! ... for all those shows at the Troc! ... for the great musical and social guidance! ... for all the great music!
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Some links:
Metal Archives - http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=219
Official ND Website - http://www.napalmdeath.org/
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"Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have."
~Davy Crockett
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