I love Dimmu Borgir.
Yeah, I said it. Don't laugh.
Why do I love Dimmu Borgir, which is one of the most controversial and disliked black heavy metal bands around today? Well, for one thing they're a more diverse and yes, talented, band than a lot of people might give them credit for. All of the musicians involved are very good at what they do, and they can produce some genuinely beautiful music. Dimmu Borgir can do symphonic black metal that's almost operatic or just nasty, angry stuff that's pounding and aggressive (and yet Mustis the keyboardist somehow still works in those great Hammer-Horror organs). They can also do purely symphonic music, as well.
And BTW, to those who say Dimmu sold out after their last album in Norwegian, well, they've ALWAYS had symphonic elements in their work, and yes, I wish they'd go back to singing in Norwegian, too. Mainly because I think that with few exceptions, their (English) lyrics are the weakest thing about the band. But the rest of Dimmu Borgir is really cool.
Behold the musical diversity of Dimmu below. First up, the pounding and absolutely ferocious "Spellbound (by the Devil)", which still has some symphonic elements towards the end. Also, Mustis on organs. I feel like I should be watching a Christopher Lee vampire film while listening to this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAXuUkDoBKw
My personal favorite of theirs, "A Succubus in Rapture", which actually has some of their better English lyrics, because it actually tells something of a story (about something other than Satan, no less!) and isn't all "blah-blah Satan" all the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tVjDPyFYkw
"Puritania" is pretty ferocious-sounding, too, and it has more of an electronic, quasi-industrial, almost science-fiction edge to it. I also like the lyrics in this one, because it's like a story being told from the point of view of aliens or demons or whatever who are annihilating humanity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTssCybx2lQ
And finally, here's "Fear and Wonder". Composed by keyboardist Mustis, it is entirely symphonic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCwKEGWs5bg
So... with that in mind, is Dimmu Borgir cheesy? Yes, extremely so; their public image checks off just about every little box in a "Black Metal Caricature" checklist. (And that is probably one of the reasons I like them, given that they're sooo metal and dark and brutal that they're about the closest the human race will ever come to a real-life version of Dethklok.) Are they also extremely, extremely talented? Yes. And there's another reason I like them, too.
Showing posts with label cool music weekend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cool music weekend. Show all posts
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Cool Music Weekend #2: Finntroll
Finntroll is the band that introduced me to a whole 'nother world: the weird, quirky, funny, and sometimes very beautiful world of folk metal.
What is folk metal? Folk metal is commonly defined as heavy metal, often black metal or symphonic black metal, that takes some inspiration from folk music, perhaps through using certain acoustic instruments, a folkish beat, and lyrics that derive from 'folk-lore' topics, such as mythology and national history. A lot of folk metal--probably most of it--comes from Europe, specifically the Scandinavian countries. It's a very diverse subgenre and has a lot to offer the discerning and open-minded music fan. Even a person who really doesn't like heavy metal or simply doesn't know what the heavy metal genre is all about might find something to like in a lot of today's folk metal.
Finntroll was my "gateway drug" for folk metal. All I know is that one lonely late night I was searching the Tube of You for some stuff on trolls--probably looking for clips from "David the Gnome", which I watched as a kid. Instead, I landed on Finntroll's "Trollhammaren", which is their best-known song and is sort of a staple at live concerts now. I was getting into heavy metal at the time, but the video was still something I'd never seen before: a bunch of guys (and some gals) eating, drinking, wenching, and warring, and all of them were pretending to be trolls. The band were dressed as trolls and were playing bizarre musical instruments decked out with leather and hemp strings and who knows what else. It was bizarre but all in good fun--and the polka-inspired music was insanely catchy. I became a fan.
But there's much more to Finntroll than just "Trollhammaren". They've weathered the tragic loss of their first guitarist, Teemu 'Somnium' Raimoranta to what is either characterized as a horrible accident or a suicide (I don't know and don't care to speculate) and lineup changes that have seen two lead singers come and go (currently, they're on their third, Mathias 'Vreth' Lilmans) . Through it all, Finntroll has remained Finntroll; a unique, creative, and genuinely talented bunch of guys who like to make good music.
Some fun Finntroll selections:
Their magnum opus, "Trollhammaren" ("The Troll Hammer"), with their second singer, Wilska:
"Vargtimmen" ("The Hour of the Wolf") and "Skogens Hamnd" ("The Forest's Revenge"), with their first singer, Katla, off the album "Jaktens Tid" ("The Time of the Hunt"). "Vargtimmen" is interesting because it is something of a departure for Finntroll, not stylistically, but thematically: it's a cover of a Fenno-Swedish folk song that was originally done with a female singer, in an acoustic folk style. Katla crushes it with his angry vocals and the rest of the band carves it up with their aggressive electric instruments--it's interesting, too, because the song is about a man (or a woman, I suppose, the gender of the narrator is never mentioned) who is involved in a love-triangle and is confessing it to his/her first love. The lyrics reveal a frustration with his/her behavior and a desire for it to stop and go back to the way things used to be. The "hour of the wolf" is symbolic of the dark time of the soul, and also of the power of lust, which is personified as a ravaging animal that is always hungering for more. It's very different thematically from anything else on the "Jaktens Tid" album.
And here's some acoustic Finntroll! They actually did an entire acoustic album, "Visor Om Slutet" ("Songs from the End"), when it looked like their first lead singer, Katla, would be leaving the band due to an incurable throat problem. Katla is not their lead singer anymore, but he is still a driving force in Finntroll, as he wrote most if not all of their lyrics for their new album, "Ur Jordens Djup" ("From the Depths of the Earth"). From "Visor...", here's "Svart Djup" ("Black Depths") and "Under Varja Rot Och Sten" ("Under Every Root and Stone").
And finally, here's some stuff with their new lead singer, Vreth: "Slagbroder" ("Brothers of War"), "Nedgang", and "Ormhäxan" ("The Serpent-Witch"). Their new stuff is a lot more aggressive, more black-metal influenced, and less humorous than previous material, but it is still pretty good ("Ormhäxan" in particular is insanely aggressive and catchy).
What is folk metal? Folk metal is commonly defined as heavy metal, often black metal or symphonic black metal, that takes some inspiration from folk music, perhaps through using certain acoustic instruments, a folkish beat, and lyrics that derive from 'folk-lore' topics, such as mythology and national history. A lot of folk metal--probably most of it--comes from Europe, specifically the Scandinavian countries. It's a very diverse subgenre and has a lot to offer the discerning and open-minded music fan. Even a person who really doesn't like heavy metal or simply doesn't know what the heavy metal genre is all about might find something to like in a lot of today's folk metal.
Finntroll was my "gateway drug" for folk metal. All I know is that one lonely late night I was searching the Tube of You for some stuff on trolls--probably looking for clips from "David the Gnome", which I watched as a kid. Instead, I landed on Finntroll's "Trollhammaren", which is their best-known song and is sort of a staple at live concerts now. I was getting into heavy metal at the time, but the video was still something I'd never seen before: a bunch of guys (and some gals) eating, drinking, wenching, and warring, and all of them were pretending to be trolls. The band were dressed as trolls and were playing bizarre musical instruments decked out with leather and hemp strings and who knows what else. It was bizarre but all in good fun--and the polka-inspired music was insanely catchy. I became a fan.
But there's much more to Finntroll than just "Trollhammaren". They've weathered the tragic loss of their first guitarist, Teemu 'Somnium' Raimoranta to what is either characterized as a horrible accident or a suicide (I don't know and don't care to speculate) and lineup changes that have seen two lead singers come and go (currently, they're on their third, Mathias 'Vreth' Lilmans) . Through it all, Finntroll has remained Finntroll; a unique, creative, and genuinely talented bunch of guys who like to make good music.
Some fun Finntroll selections:
Their magnum opus, "Trollhammaren" ("The Troll Hammer"), with their second singer, Wilska:
"Vargtimmen" ("The Hour of the Wolf") and "Skogens Hamnd" ("The Forest's Revenge"), with their first singer, Katla, off the album "Jaktens Tid" ("The Time of the Hunt"). "Vargtimmen" is interesting because it is something of a departure for Finntroll, not stylistically, but thematically: it's a cover of a Fenno-Swedish folk song that was originally done with a female singer, in an acoustic folk style. Katla crushes it with his angry vocals and the rest of the band carves it up with their aggressive electric instruments--it's interesting, too, because the song is about a man (or a woman, I suppose, the gender of the narrator is never mentioned) who is involved in a love-triangle and is confessing it to his/her first love. The lyrics reveal a frustration with his/her behavior and a desire for it to stop and go back to the way things used to be. The "hour of the wolf" is symbolic of the dark time of the soul, and also of the power of lust, which is personified as a ravaging animal that is always hungering for more. It's very different thematically from anything else on the "Jaktens Tid" album.
And here's some acoustic Finntroll! They actually did an entire acoustic album, "Visor Om Slutet" ("Songs from the End"), when it looked like their first lead singer, Katla, would be leaving the band due to an incurable throat problem. Katla is not their lead singer anymore, but he is still a driving force in Finntroll, as he wrote most if not all of their lyrics for their new album, "Ur Jordens Djup" ("From the Depths of the Earth"). From "Visor...", here's "Svart Djup" ("Black Depths") and "Under Varja Rot Och Sten" ("Under Every Root and Stone").
And finally, here's some stuff with their new lead singer, Vreth: "Slagbroder" ("Brothers of War"), "Nedgang", and "Ormhäxan" ("The Serpent-Witch"). Their new stuff is a lot more aggressive, more black-metal influenced, and less humorous than previous material, but it is still pretty good ("Ormhäxan" in particular is insanely aggressive and catchy).
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Cool Music Weekend #1: Peter Gabriel
Okay, this is the first of a new feature here at Nothing but Nerd. Basically, every weekend (and for me, that's Saturday and Sunday), I'll post another installment of "Cool Music Weekend", showcasing bands/artists that I think deserve attention. Or maybe they already have attention, and I'm just saying that I like them. Whatever.
Mostly I'll be posting heavy metal, but for this first installment, I wanted to focus on an artist that's been one of my favorites ever since my teen years. Peter Gabriel. One-time singer for prog-rock legend Genesis, famous "world musician" solo artist, that guy who does some of the trippiest music videos in music video history. (Seriously, check out his videos for "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time" if you don't believe me--I think that "Big Time" even won an award for its stop-motion stuff.)
But here today are some lesser-known Gabriel songs, and they're two of my favorites.
First up, "Blood of Eden". Yes, it's got a trippy music video. But it's also one of the most profound and honest "love songs" I've heard in popular music. Most "love songs" are about that first feeling of love, the time when you think that you love someone and you think that feeling will never go away, that your loved one completes you, that they're your everything, or something to that effect. Millions of dollars have been made off the feelings of first love.
But what happens when those feelings go away? What happens when problems come into the relationship--namely, the problems that we all bring into any relationship with another human being, simply because we are human beings. What then?
Peter Gabriel, through "Blood of Eden" isn't afraid to say that then sometimes that relationship ends, and that it is very painful. "Blood of Eden" is a response to his divorce. The lyrics are all about the pain of losing someone who was very dear to you, about still wanting that person despite the hurt they've caused you (and vice versa).
...Okay, now that I've depressed you, here's a FUN Peter Gabriel song!
Seriously, can anyone listen to this and NOT want to get up and shake his/her ass to it? It's just THAT catchy. And no, I'm not going to be analyzing it for deeper meaning this time. Just be content to know that it has Peter Gabriel turning into a human-sized, human-shaped column of water and getting turned to steam by two dancing fire-girls, and Peter Gabriel's head superimposed onto a muscleman's body, and his limbs being taken off one at a time by admiring women, and that he turns into Thomas the Tank.
Plus, the opening moments? Pimp suitin' time. SRSly.
Mostly I'll be posting heavy metal, but for this first installment, I wanted to focus on an artist that's been one of my favorites ever since my teen years. Peter Gabriel. One-time singer for prog-rock legend Genesis, famous "world musician" solo artist, that guy who does some of the trippiest music videos in music video history. (Seriously, check out his videos for "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time" if you don't believe me--I think that "Big Time" even won an award for its stop-motion stuff.)
But here today are some lesser-known Gabriel songs, and they're two of my favorites.
First up, "Blood of Eden". Yes, it's got a trippy music video. But it's also one of the most profound and honest "love songs" I've heard in popular music. Most "love songs" are about that first feeling of love, the time when you think that you love someone and you think that feeling will never go away, that your loved one completes you, that they're your everything, or something to that effect. Millions of dollars have been made off the feelings of first love.
But what happens when those feelings go away? What happens when problems come into the relationship--namely, the problems that we all bring into any relationship with another human being, simply because we are human beings. What then?
Peter Gabriel, through "Blood of Eden" isn't afraid to say that then sometimes that relationship ends, and that it is very painful. "Blood of Eden" is a response to his divorce. The lyrics are all about the pain of losing someone who was very dear to you, about still wanting that person despite the hurt they've caused you (and vice versa).
...Okay, now that I've depressed you, here's a FUN Peter Gabriel song!
Seriously, can anyone listen to this and NOT want to get up and shake his/her ass to it? It's just THAT catchy. And no, I'm not going to be analyzing it for deeper meaning this time. Just be content to know that it has Peter Gabriel turning into a human-sized, human-shaped column of water and getting turned to steam by two dancing fire-girls, and Peter Gabriel's head superimposed onto a muscleman's body, and his limbs being taken off one at a time by admiring women, and that he turns into Thomas the Tank.
Plus, the opening moments? Pimp suitin' time. SRSly.
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