firstly, i love metal. secondly, i love melody. i think some of you guys may find these two statements mutually exclusive, but they're not at all.
in many years of talkin about music, i've noticed that lots of people will say "i love this song" or "i love this melody" and then cite lyrics as an example. i've always thought those people were a bit confused. sounds more like they are into the lyrics, not just the melody. if i like a song, i'd like it sung in a different language as well, because i consider a voice first and foremost to be an instrument. more power to you if you like to contemplate the lyrical content of songs, but that's not the reason i listen to music.
metal often moves the main melodic lines of a song from the vocals to guitar. the melody is still there, it just might not be where you expect it. granted, in some songs the melody is buried deeper than in others. in Blood Has Been Shed's "Spirals", there's virtually nothing melodic in the first 3 tracks of the album, but when Howard Jones quits screaming and "sings" in the 4th track, the melody hits HARD because of the juxtaposition with chaos that preceeds it. i feel the growling/screaming/whatever-you-want-to-call-it vocals add percussive and textural elements to a song. yeah, it's not melodic, but it DOES serve a purpose.
|