okay this is something i think about quite a bit, especially when im writing music.
given a choice what do you place more emphasis on? melody or brutality?
bands like vehemence are more on the melodic side whilst suffocation crytopsy are definately more brutal.
what bands come to mind as combining both elements?
personally i think hate eternal would be the masters. origin did a good job in portal, that buildup was simply some of the best death metal i have ever heard.
talk amongst yourselves.

Unearth combines them both.

I guess the old in flames stuff was pretty okay too, I dunno, as for brutal death metal, I love obituary but they're not that melodical, they're pretty simple/straight up but I dig their style

Melody is a key in almost all genres except straight up death metal, and grindcore. You need some melody in some songs, but when it comes down to it, I try to make half brutal, half melodic.

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haha, this guy sucks

amon amarth is both, they rule
id take brutality over melody, once youve heard a melodic song a few times you know exactly how its gonna go, whereas it takes a good 10 listens through a cryptopsy cd to figure out what the hell is going on

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im really talking more about using melody as a contrast. say for instance the way vital remains does on the dechristianize CD. do you like music that is all brutal or music that uses both elements? amon amarth would be more of an all melodic band. i dont really see much brutality there. decapitated had some really cool melodies on WOC and of course conquering the throne and king of all kings are chocked full of wierd melody. i think the fact that he tunes to E helps distinguish the music more heh. maybe that clears up what im trying to ask a bit more.

melody is cool, but it just aint my thingy.

Brutal lompness all the way!

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It has to be a brutal melody !
(Why haven't this forum the headbanging smiley ?)

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lompness

hahahha!

find a fair balance and u'll have a kickass song

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Yeah, they are both important factors to make a good song.

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you fucking whored the shit out of these forums 284 times in 1 month just to say stupid shit like that?

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I used to be the master forum whore in march and april and then i get that fucking sasser virus and when its fixed, theres this transient guy with 200 and some posts in about a month. Pisses me off...

Anyways, i choose melody over brutality by far. I can't stand the songs where its just a brutal mess and you have no idea whats going on. Those songs are never going to get stuck in your head. I love the songs with memorable rhythms and leads. It's good to be brutal at the same time but brutality without melody isn't music IMO, but a melodic song does not need brutality.

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For me, its a tie between the two. But it really depends on what mood I'm in. Gardenian is a very good melodic death metal band which, my opinion, blows In Flames out of the water. I also love my brutal gorey death metal. Gorefuck, Impaled, Haemorrage, Jasad, Putrid Pile, Beheaded, Sanatorium, Grotesque Formation, and Dislimb are a few brutal bands that I enjoy. But, Vehemence is my favorite, they are the perfect blend of brutality and melody.

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i have nothing against uber brutality, it just gets boaring after about 3 listens, it needs something to keep it interesting and thats where a good melody comes in

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BoC is right, brutality is all well & good, but it'll dislodge your retinas after too lengthy a listen. At least a small mixture is nice. I challenge anyone here to be able to happily hold a lucid conversation after blasting two solid hours of Dillinger Escape Plan. It's just not going to happen, your mind will be a poorly flavoured & quite lumpy milkshake.

Some bands get away with a funny mix though: Look at Vader, who pretty much just put melody in their bass & let the rest ride straight to Hades. Or Nile, who kind of just use actual melodies as an interlude & then keep on blasting away in the most brutal fashion possible. Both rule, but they cut it up at least a little & have a teensy bit of melody when & where it counts.

However, Embalmer fascinate me. Less melody than you get out of beating a cat to death with a cricket bat, but they're still just....fun.

I say brutal 75%, melody 25%.

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Thats why I love Cryptopsy, its organized chaos.

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Never taken the time. What/who do they sound like?

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pretty much an original sound...

melody is cool when taken in doses...so is brutality...but i'd choose 30-70 in favour of brutality

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I think everyones got different ideas about what melodic is. Is it more like dual harmonies or when a song slows down from a rapid pace. Take a listen to Napalm Death - Suffer the Children I like the Brutal Riffing but I really dig the slow guitar part that is melodic to me another good one is Malevolent creation - Stillborn that starts with this slow kick arse riff then into utter chaos there are plenty of more examples of this kind of melodicness but they is the other kind like Opeth- Nectar it starts off fast and then into an acoustic part which is cool too but overall I'd have to agree brutal 75% melodic 25% makes for a great song

i like brutality more. Vile, Psycroptic, Origin, Cannibal Corpse...

Both have their advantages, and their uses in different places. But when it comes down to it if you want to preserve your voice, you're going to have to turn melodic at some time, or at least not be as brutal after some time.

when i said melody, i meant both the harmonies etc melodies (inflames, etc), and the slow riff melodies (slayer, death etc)

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brutality all the way

It is obvious that everyone has a different opinion on melodic but Hate Eternal, Origin melodic? I really don't think so. But again your idea of melodic is greatly different than mine. Vital Remains on Dechristianize, is a good example of good melody in death metal, Dimmu Borgir has some good shit, so does Borknagar but thats black metal, but even so.
As far melody vs. brutality, brutalitly all the way.
BRUTALITY

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Too much of either is bad. Too melodic gets cheesy, and too much brutality gets boring/bland.

I however prefer brutality.

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Too much brutality? Brodequin = perfect example. How boring are they?

Look at Opeth. Little Brutality, and a shit load of melody.

Personally, I prefer Melody over anything.

hey corroded, you never post anymore!

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Oh, and Brodequin are boring. All grind is boring SHAT that gives a bad name to metal.

Excuse me now, I must use my Ka-Bar to defend myself from the Aussies.

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Melody=beauty. In fact if i hear no melody in a band when i am first discovering them, i pass them immediately because for me brutal is boring without melody. I hate wild solos that just squel and have no feeling whatsoever. The way i see it, Chuck, of Death, has the melody even in the wild solos, but as for all those brutal death metal bands, their chords and crunchy guitars dont mean shit to me. I need beauty in music whether it is guitar or keyboards (even better for both). PURE death metal (brutal)... NO MELODY, is NOT beautiful. But what else can you expect from a guy like me, I listen to stuff like, as most of you already know (and dont give a shit), mithotyn, moonsorrow, finntroll, and ensiferum. But whatever, thats just my unwanted opinion

i know i've said this a million times but if you (timedragon) want a great melodic guitarist with tons of feeling check out jason becker. Hes not death metal, but he used to play in a melodic metal band called cacophony. You might have already checked him out but if you havent THEN DO IT RIGHT NOW. Get the songs altitudes, opus pocus, air, serrana_part_1 (video on www.jasonbecker.com). Absolutely beautiful songs. Also get black cat, concerto, the ninja, and speed metal symphony by Cacophony. Cacophony is marty friedman (another guitarist you should check out) and Jason Becker on guitars. The vocals kinda suck but the guitar makes up for it.

Unfortunately and sadly Jason Becker was diagnosed with A.L.S like 15 years ago and is completely paralyzed now. On his site it explains it all.

Melody

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I think that it is essential for a DM band to have some melody. It doesn't necessarily have to be slower and blast beats don't have to be jettisoned but it is vital that the melody induces you to hum it. Akercocke are a good example of a band who incorporate melody into a very heavy sound without sounding too harmonious and cheesy.

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Eat a tumor.

If your looking for 'beauty' in your music you probably shouldn't be listening to death metal, is all about brutality

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i come home at one and am near the computer untill i go to bed

dont be a jealous little fuck, its not like i get paid to post.

and i make plenty of longer posts


who the hell cares about post count?

and i could have sworn i said something about cryptopsy

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Which is why i gave up death metal. Except for a VERY choice few.

You apparently know as much about the genre as Slipknot does.

You apparently haven't heard old amorphis, october tide, amon amarth, etc. Melodic Death is the shit.

And you don't know what an opinion is, either.

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you can tell someone ANYTHING if you do it properly


its called tact

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Haha, i dont beleive ive seen anyone quote themselves...
Anyway, I wanted to fix what i said without an edit. I havnt given up on death metal if you consider Amon Amarth death metal, which i know many do and im not complaining. I call them viking though. In any case, BOSE, you are wrong because i have heard beauty in death metal.
You are right Dissection, old Amorphis is very nice. And i would like to rephrase my quote. I gave up on boring/brutal/repetative death metal. But like i said, there are a choice few that i still find very intriguing.

(early) Dark Tranquillity mix brutallity and melody in the most perfect way i've ever seen.

take "The Emptyness from which i Fed" for instance: blast beats, raw vocals, fast guitars riffs but always melodic, especially the riffs that start at (aprox) 4:00.

just perfect.

Ya they have some beautiful melodic stuff. I like lethe the best.

Yeah, I don't see why some of you think melody is "pussy."

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yeah, from the RTT i gather that Nihilist's pussy is brutal

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Yeah, I love Skydancer so much.

i guess you can combine melody with brutality, i guess Vital Remains, they´re gods on doing that! Morbid Angel on Gateways to Annihilation, Death, listening to Death, you can hear feeling on their songs! but bands like children of bodom and something like that, i don´t think they do thath, their sound is very "happy" hahahahaha

ya because being happy sucks ass right???

most CoB songs are happy sounding, yeah

great summer time music

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Why? Can't there be happy melodies?
A melody does'nt have to be sad or melancholic you know.

Back to the subject,

I think that melody is vital to metal. It gives the songs that little something that plain brutality can't offer. I think is fair to say that one completes the other. From my point of view, the best bands out there are the ones that have understood that principal.

Considering most of the moderators here are pretentious arseholes, I'll post my SlipKnoT opinion here in this thread instead (because other threads are closed), considering it somewhat fits with the thread's purpose.

I have now had a chance to listen to most of the latest album, and I definitely like it a lot better than the shit known as 'Iowa'. It's definitely a step in the right direction.

I appreciate the combination of melody and brutality in this album and think that the overall sound is quite good. The change in producers has done them a world of good.

Slipknot are hardly the embodiment of brutality in the sense that is being discussed here.

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Quiet. You have no opinion here.

ok

•you insult the moderators
•clearly you have no idea what youre talking about
•youre new
•you like slipkont
•you give a band credit for having a good production. if all bands earned as much off of easily led idiots like you they could all afford a good production

youre an idiot, think before you post

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We've all got opinions, that's what makes it a forum.

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Actually John has an opinion anywhere (here) he likes if you ask me. And on this particular discussion, his opinion is a hell of a lot better than yours.

has noone mentioned children of bodom. a powerful melodic band can produce wear a just brutal band produces headaches. Now there are definate times where brutal metal is neccessary like when ur mowing down ur teacher and fellow students but when i am relaxed and want to sleep after a hard days massacre then ill plug in the melodic metal...i dont think u can compare the two because its a matter of personal opinion.

i think they are good opinions too

1. Yes, and no, I don't give a fuck, because my statement was true

2. I have a damn good idea about what I am talking about

3. Who the fuck cares? Please point to your penis extension of a registration date again and ask me if I do

4. And?

5. As I've stated before, the only reason your most well-liked bands can't afford production is because they're shit. Because your bands are playing in underground clubs and pubs and haven't started making money yet doesn't mean they're going to continue to care what you, the whinging, bitching "omg I'm such a true fan of metal \m/", thinks when they do start to bring in the money

Wake up to yourself.

Melody has it's place in metal don't get me wrong but there is something that sets our music/genre (metal as a whole) aside from the other mass produced horse shit out there, and that is metal's abiliity to rip your fuckin balls of with complete indiscriminant brutality, and then show them to you in a distorted bloodied mess. Ah metal ...it's a beautiful thing

you lost me on the penis extenstion

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i go towards brutality, i like disgusting/mind eroding riffage

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I think both are important but I like melody way more...when its too brutal and just a bunch of shnit thrown together it reminds me of when I first got distortion or learned what tremolo is, lol. Overall, I like brutal rythms but then a kick ass melody over the top.

Blood_Reich, thanks for the support! Come join our Vehemence forums at
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...splay.php?f=104

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Check out these bands.
GOJIRA
INFERNAL METHOD
SYMBYOSIS
WITHOUT GRIEF
ILLDISPOSED

GOOGLE SEARCH FOR THEM

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my tastes for Melody are fading away, Ive stopped listening to Vital Remains, Dimmu, and even Exhumed. Exhumed get pretty cool, but when the melodic wanna be solos kick in I change the track. As of now, my fav bands are Atery Eruption, Mangled Atrocity, Parricide, Putrid Pile, Torsofuck, Pustulated, Impure (all of em), Forensick, Inmost Dense, Rotting, Saprogenic, old Pessimest(during the first album), Hate, Test Tube Fetus Devourment, Devourment, and many other bands with fucked up production or good production with shit loads of brutality.

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It depends on what the song is about. I like stuff that swings wildly between the two (see Eighteen Visons - Vanity). I always trie to visualize images or a story as I write and what comes out is pure emotion, the way it should be. I tend to write the more melodic parts in my group cuz I listen to more than just metal (see Pink Floyd, From Autumn To Ashes, Avenged Sevenfold).

By the way, I wear my sunglasses at night.

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