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Old 10-14-2009, 12:52 PM   #21 (permalink)
Arya Stark
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I think any metal band, or any band in general, should be able to slow down sometimes and write a mellow song. Not everything is thrash and hate and death. Most people have emotions, most musicians begin writing because of the emotions they have, and I think that they should be able to express their emotions in more than just fact-paced music or just slow-paced music.

When I first discovered Killswitch Engage, I was at a concert and my friend and I decided to stop and listen some bands we didn't know. I realized that the frontman (Howard Jones) had a way with the crowd, and I was also intrigued with the idea of a (for lack of knowledge of his actual ethnicity) coloured man for a singer. I was excited. I was intrigued.

And then I heard their music.
Killswitch Engage – My Last Seranade


Let’s be realistic, I don’t listen to a lot of metal or metalcore or whatever you want to call it. Don't correct me. I don't care.… I don’t listen to a lot of rock that the people I went to school with listened to. I don’t listen to music that a lot of people like in general. This ISN’T because I’m attempting to be different or because I hate mainstream, it’s because I find a lot of music interesting… sometimes this music is mainstream, sometimes this music is classical, you never really know.

At the time of My Last Serenade, the singer wasn’t Howard Jones, but another singer who’s name I cannot currently recall. Anyway, the song starts off slowly. A lot slower than any of the other songs I had heard by Killswitch up until then. I was actually really excited. I had just heard Metallica's Nothing Else Matters, and although the two have almost nothing in common, I was excited to hear slower songs from bands who's music is usually... well... not slower. I'm not a huge Metallica fan... at all. It's not them, it's the style of music, and I just happen not to be amazed by it. Anyway, I had heard Nothing Else Matters and I was excited that a band I wasn't particularly interested in could change their sound that way, I like that. So when I heard Killswitch Engage's almost change in sound, I was glad that they weren't playing only one type of music.

I hear a cymbal roll and wince, knowing what's coming up next. ALL OF A SUDDEN the song breaks from the light singing and the guitar strumming to a loud, generic, Killswitch Engage song. Needless to say, I was not impressed. The song wasn't even thirty seconds in before the cymbal roll... I wasn't going to turn off the song just yet, because I enjoyed the band either way, I was just a bit disappointed, I actually really like this song. When I got to the chorus, I was surprised to hear his usuaal singing voice back, and not his evil scary monster screaming voice. =3... One which I also happen to like.

ANYWAY. Are you still reading?

Watching the video, I'm kind of... disgusted by the way the singer looks when the song breaks into it's usual loudness. He doesn't look like an experienced singer, he looks like a 15-year old auditioning for a metal band. Once again, I'm not impressed.

Later, you can see in the singer's face that this song isn't just a song, it probably means something.... or he has light in his eyes and he's squinting.

I don't know where I'm going with this anymore.

Enjoy the song, either way. Don't be fooled by my rants, I really do like it, it's just... nothing new.

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Last edited by Arya Stark; 10-14-2009 at 01:53 PM.
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