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Today's Song: Through Struggle by As I Lay Dying
I don't follow Christian extreme metal like I used to, but apparently there's a perception these days that "all Christian bands are metalcore/grindcore". This is because several very good bands in this genre happen to be Christian, including Zao, Demon Hunter, Underoath, Avenged Sevenfold, and As I Lay Dying. Even well-known bands like Blindside and P.O.D. are more nu metal or punk/alternative influenced rather than traditional metal bands. I'm not sure why that is exactly, although there were some really good Christian punk/hardcore bands in the late 80's and early 90's, especially in California and especially the band The Crucified, which inspired a lot of younger bands I'm sure. Then the music label Tooth & Nail Records appeared, which was able to sign really good Christian bands and market them through regular music channels. I'm guessing all of those things contributed to the number of really good metalcore/grindcore Christian bands out at the moment.
I'm not a huge fan of metalcore but I do own three Demon Hunter cds (they're from Seattle by the way) and also one Zao cd. I don't like the Zao cd that much, and only bought it because it was cheap and because I had bought the same cd for my nephew a year before, on the theory that it was Christian metal and therefore he'd probably like it and it was better than giving him, I dunno, Black Sabbath or something. Little did I know -- Zao is very extreme grindcore, at least the cd I gave him seemed like that to me. I'm as clueless as an old grandma, trying to buy music for my nephew.
Demon Hunter I like, though.
Anyway, I don't own any Underoath, Avenged Sevenfold or As I Lay Dying but they're all quite popular. Recently I checked out As I Lay Dying on Youtube and this song kind of grew on me, until I had to download it from iTunes and put it on my iPod. It's a lot of screaming, but with a clean vocal sung chorus (Demon Hunter does that too). What makes metalcore like this work (for me anyway) is the interesting time changes, the way the music stops and starts and moves from one time signature to another. The bit near the end of this song where the pace of the song slows dramatically is called a breakdown, and it's pretty cool how seamlessly the song changes gears in the middle of the chorus. This band does had a really good drummer, I'll say that much.
Anyway, not expecting any of my friends to like this -- even fans of death and black metal often don't like metalcore at all -- but since the song has been stuck in my head all day, there you are. Song of the day. But I doubt I'd listen to a full album by the band.
As I Lay Dying - Through Struggle
I don't follow Christian extreme metal like I used to, but apparently there's a perception these days that "all Christian bands are metalcore/grindcore". This is because several very good bands in this genre happen to be Christian, including Zao, Demon Hunter, Underoath, Avenged Sevenfold, and As I Lay Dying. Even well-known bands like Blindside and P.O.D. are more nu metal or punk/alternative influenced rather than traditional metal bands. I'm not sure why that is exactly, although there were some really good Christian punk/hardcore bands in the late 80's and early 90's, especially in California and especially the band The Crucified, which inspired a lot of younger bands I'm sure. Then the music label Tooth & Nail Records appeared, which was able to sign really good Christian bands and market them through regular music channels. I'm guessing all of those things contributed to the number of really good metalcore/grindcore Christian bands out at the moment.
I'm not a huge fan of metalcore but I do own three Demon Hunter cds (they're from Seattle by the way) and also one Zao cd. I don't like the Zao cd that much, and only bought it because it was cheap and because I had bought the same cd for my nephew a year before, on the theory that it was Christian metal and therefore he'd probably like it and it was better than giving him, I dunno, Black Sabbath or something. Little did I know -- Zao is very extreme grindcore, at least the cd I gave him seemed like that to me. I'm as clueless as an old grandma, trying to buy music for my nephew.
Demon Hunter I like, though.
Anyway, I don't own any Underoath, Avenged Sevenfold or As I Lay Dying but they're all quite popular. Recently I checked out As I Lay Dying on Youtube and this song kind of grew on me, until I had to download it from iTunes and put it on my iPod. It's a lot of screaming, but with a clean vocal sung chorus (Demon Hunter does that too). What makes metalcore like this work (for me anyway) is the interesting time changes, the way the music stops and starts and moves from one time signature to another. The bit near the end of this song where the pace of the song slows dramatically is called a breakdown, and it's pretty cool how seamlessly the song changes gears in the middle of the chorus. This band does had a really good drummer, I'll say that much.
Anyway, not expecting any of my friends to like this -- even fans of death and black metal often don't like metalcore at all -- but since the song has been stuck in my head all day, there you are. Song of the day. But I doubt I'd listen to a full album by the band.
As I Lay Dying - Through Struggle