TEAR IT DOWN NOW: GOD FORBID’S DOC COYLE BREAKS DOWN THE BREAKDOWN
Thursday, January 21st, 2010 at 5:00pm by Doc Coyle
We’ve all been there. Tensions are high in some packed, sweaty venue, sparked by feverish excitement and the potential for violence. These people paid good money to enjoy some type of cathartic release. The frontman for whatever hard-nu-death-crab-metal-core outfit is brazen and demanding. Can you believe this shit? You PAID to be entertained, and this guy is telling YOU what to do! The speech goes something like this: “I want everybody in this room moving! Front to back, side to side, NO ONE STANDS STILL! When this part kicks in, I want total [Insert destructive word here like "chaos," "mayhem," or "bedlam" if you're witty]. If the person next to you isn’t moving, MAKE THEM MOVE!” Than, if the action is not adequate, this screamer/pep rally organizer calls YOU some variation of “pussy” or “faggot” or really anything to make you feel like a soft, womanly bitch of a man in order to get in that pit and kick another grown man in the face, all in the spirit of making this band look like they are awesome. But then something happens, as if the air is sucked out of the room at the moment of impact – when those glorious staccato chugs kick in, the crowd is almost always powerless to its charms regardless of the obvious lack of substance. Like junk food and reality TV, we have a love affair with breakdowns.
I’m sure some of you are thinking, “Doesn’t this asshole’s band have breakdowns in it? What a goddamn hypocrite!” First off, the purpose of this blog is not necessarily to hate on breakdowns, but to examine how and why this guilty pleasure (for me) has managed to cement itself in the modern heavy music paradigm. Plus, it’s always good not take this stuff (or yourself) too seriously, and to understand that some of the things we like are patently absurd, and that’s okay.
Let’s segue with a little background information. My first exposure to metal as a young teenager consisted of classic staples like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Pantera, Sepultura, and Testament. It wasn’t until 1996, when we spent our pre-God Forbid days as a pitiful garage band, that the rest of the band and I discovered the hardcore scene. Through frequenting a local rehearsal studio, we made friends with some hardcore bands from the area, and started going to shows. For us, it was almost like a networking thing. There were finally some heavy bands that we could play with and the people were really cool. There wasn’t really a metal scene in New Jersey, so we gravitated towards the hardcore scene almost by default, although we never really fit in. We were always the token metal band in the scene – pretty much all the hardcore kids were semi-secretive metal heads, but being hardcore just seemed like something more acceptable and socially viable. I think breakdowns seeped in to our music almost by osmosis from being around this scene, and probably a need to be accepted. NJ is known for it’s tough guy scene, which is surrounded by bands that specialized in crushing breakdowns and extremely violent dancing. Although our major influences at the time were Carcass, At The Gates, Meshuggah, and Morbid Angel, our steady dose of danceable heavy parts made us popular with this crowd.
During this time period (1999-2000), I still enjoyed quite a bit of metalcore and hardcore that employed a tasteful dose of heavy parts that got the crowd moving, like All Out War, Cave In, Candiria, For The Love Of, Overcast, Irate, Etown Concrete, Blood Has Been Shed, and the band I think that exemplified this sound and era best, Hatebreed. This is also around the time when I started to sour on the whole idea. First off, the local hardcore shows, including God Forbid shows, became increasingly more violent, to the point where it was just ridiculous, and it was taking away from the music – not to mention that there were serious consequences, like injuries and shows and clubs getting shut down. We were musicians, not mosh pit referees. I’m sure many of you have seen the YouTube video of a girl getting beat down at one of our old shows. This was not uncommon.
The second thing was that when bands like Hatebreed and Unearth became popular, the dollar store copycats were so prevalent that you couldn’t breathe in vastness of the mediocrity. Breakdowns were easy to play, anyone could do it. Plus people liked it. Fools gold lied in them there mosh pits. It started to seem like one big gimmick. Throwing a stick of dynamite in the crowd could have the same effect. And if I see another wall of death, I’m gonna shoot myself.
The third thing was that I realized that it was a songwriting crutch. I found myself altering songs to maintain our “old” sound and to “work better in a live setting.” Although I felt we used breakdowns more creatively and dynamically than 90% of the bands out there, I needed to move past that mindset to become a better songwriter, and subsequently every GF album, with the exception of Gone Forever, has been less breakdown heavy than it’s predecessor. To their credit I think.
Around 2005-06, I thought people had pretty much gotten over breakdowns, and something new was on the horizon. Boy was I wrong. Deathcore hit and bands like Suicide Silence, Emmure, and The Acacia Strain just got heavier than I ever even thought about. I don’t even feel like a heavy band compared to these newer bands. I saw Oceano not too long ago, and I had chest pains for a week that shit was so heavy. These young kids obviously like breakdowns more than ever, to the point where some of these bands just play one extended breakdown as the song. People always tend to blame the hardcore scene, but in my opinion Pantera, Sepultura, Meshuggah, and Lamb of God are some of the biggest seeds of inspiration.
So where does this leave us? Is this albatross here to stay? I’m not gonna front, I’ve got Emmure and Parkway Drive on my iPod. Shit gets me amped! I suppose it’s a love/hate relationship. Chime in and let me know if I’m crazy or not. By the way, if you’re favorite band is Finntroll or Edguy, than this blog might not be for you.
-DC
Check out the increasingly fewer and fewer breakdowns on God Forbid’s MySpace page.
Great blog Doc. Reasonable, as usual. Other bloggers on this site, take note.
hey hey, dont knock eyal, that guy is a genius and writes thoughtful well written blogs here.
that being said, well put Doc, one of the best ive read since i started reading this blog. I think theres a distinct line drawn between listening and show attending where breakdowns are concerned. on my pod, sometimes i get sick of it, but ill never get tired of mosh-heavy songs at a show. thats what i go there for, to release all that pent up energy and aggression in an environment in which such behavior is socially acceptable. and yeah, for the music also obviously, there are some bands u couldnt pay me enough to go c, heavy or not. but i like the breakdown at shows, gets me amped, as you put it.
I’m not necessarily knocking Eyal
i am. eyal is a fucking idiot.
Breakdowns are a crowd pleaser, nothing more. No different than the nu metal jump-da-fuck up b-tuned open string “riffs(?)”.
+1, another reason deathcore and metalcore’s the new nu metal
It’s like anything else, man; breakdowns are a a tool and they get used a lot because they WORK. Really, I feel like you can’t be any harder on breakdowns than you can on, say, pick slides or pinch harmonics or blast beats. Or key changes. Or choruses. It’s a matter of tasteful execution.
“I’m not gonna front, I’ve got Emmure and Parkway Drive on my iPod.” Yyyyyyyyyyyyou should probably front a LITTLE bit.
Emmure though? At least go with Acacia Strain.
Seconded. Emmure blows. Any “metal” band that steals Mobb Deep lyrics sucks, end of story.
I love lots of -core bands, however. Suicide Silence is my shit right now.
No surprise here, everyone should know Emmure’s a buncha biters.
Dude, Doc, you’re breaking the Iron Maiden rule… no one gets to wear their own merch except Iron Maiden, man.
Yes, I remember that rule from before. But that’s a God Forbid shirt? I don’t see the words, but you must be familiar with their album cover or something. It looks like a butterfly and a flesh eating plant of some kind.
It’s based on the cover of Earthsbloood.
That is the “Earthsblood” album cover. It is God Forbid’s latest record.
Ok, it’s not a flesh eating plant, then. Glad you guys cleared that up for me there. Is the album any good?
It’s pretty good. I preferred Constitution Of Treason, myself, but it’s still quite good.
and Slayer.
Well, Slayer still isn’t eligible because when Kerry King wears a Slayer shirt, it makes him look like an even bigger douche. When Steve Harris wears one, he doesn’t look like a self-important retard. Plus, Maiden is better.
You have a point there…I like Iron Maiden better.
Up the irons!, steve harris IS Iron Maiden, He is one of the greatest bassists and songwriters to ever live, He has the creditablty to wear his own merch.
Or if you’re European
You beat me to it! Yes, that is a cardinal rule.
I’m going to go on record as saying that the greatest breakdown ever is in the middle of Demolition Hammer’s ‘Cataclysm”. My neck almost snapped the first time I heard that one.
As for breakdowns working, Doc’s dead on. When I went to see Between the Buried and Me last week, the whole floor just opened up when they broke it down, and even though I didn’t like the breakdowns much in the studio, hearing them live just gets your blood moving. Although thrash metal gets my blood moving a lot more, but still. Therefore, breakdowns in legit thrash metal songs (example: Slayer’s “Raining Blood”) are full of win, although I draw the line at karate-chopping hijinx.
Ah metals’ achilles heel – too many dudes!! It;s no wonder Halford became a metal singer. I fickin hate violent douches who use metal as their weekly fight-training session. Go find a gym and get the fuck out of our scene, you moronic jugheads.
Yeah getting really into the music is one thing, but ruining other people’s listening experience is too much. Go exercising while listening to the music on the ipod if you need to get out the aggression, don’t ruin it for everyone else.
Someone ruined my glasses at a Lamb of God show, but fortunately, I could still hear! Drunk guys seem to fall on me from above with some frequency. Now I know to wear contacts.
true, if you wanna just fight and hit women then your at the wrong place. metal is not for that kind of behavior. go to jail or the jerry springer show and enjoy. however, if your the douche who stands in the corner (or right in the front) and gets that pussy/angry look on your face when a circle pit breaks out or someone crowd surfs, etc etc, then you should find another scene. perhaps country is more suited to your tastes. its a fucking metal show. you knew some movement would happen. stop bitchin that your perfect spot was jacked because you had to grab your girlfriend (who probably hates metal anyway), go hug in the seats close to the exit. pits, drunk males, aggressive music. you knew this was coming. someone falls, pick them up. other than that, you know the rules of the game. if you hate it then why play?
ps. why must we read posts by a guy who left metal? if this is our religion, then he is judas.
ps. ps. normally i skip his ramblings but breakdowns rule. somethings you should not question. like, why i enjoy tits. why egg rolls, beer, or cold pizza are great for breakfast. and especially why the breakdown rules.
Are you perhaps mixing Doc Coyle with Dallas?
ah, doc – dallas. perhaps i did confuse the two. can i blame this brain fart on a long day yesterday? nope, ok. i still don’t care much for t(his) part of the site but, my bad. maybe i will put my foot in my mouth (or up my ass) for the judas comment. fuck me!
i believe i am going to eat more than my words. recently i viewed a documentary called Electric Purgatory (er…spelling?). it totally rules and had a lot of bands on it i like; fishbone, living colour, 247 spyz. it also had god forbid which tempted me to give them a second chance all these years later. still could not pick out doc from dallas but…don’t really care. they jam pretty damn hard. then i got hard, tmi. jk. just rambling.
guy wearing the shirt of the band he is in = fail
Guy wearing t-shirt of shitty Metalcore band he is in- and is still NOT Steve Harris………Beyond fail.
goddamn thats a sweet axe
I love me some Doc. Good work, darlin’.
What are some of everybody’s favorite breakdowns???
Does that riff after the solo in “Creeping Death” count? It doesn’t get much better than that.
Does the “wardance” part of Antrax’s Indians count ? Or the “mosh parts” of the first S.O.D. album ?
The breakdown in trains by porcupine tree. banjos+clapping hands= brootal
Controversially, the one at the end of “No Pity For A Coward” by Suicide Silence. I think that’s really good, well executed, very Dying Fetus/Suffocation influenced. In fact I will occasionally still spin The Cleansing as I find it a good example of so-called “deathcore” that isn’t designed to be a bro-friendly advert for teen violence. And before anyone mentions the lyrics to that particular song being overly aggressive with no substance… in this case that’s part of the fun *grin*.
Also, Satyricon and Dark Fortress have some incredibly groovy breakdowns. Just not bro-downs.
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
bro downs is my new favorite word
Am I the only one thinking of Born Of Osiris here…
“FUCKING BRO DOWN”
lulz
I already mentioned this, but it bears repeating: “Cataclysm”, by Demolition Hammer. After that, any Sepultura breakdown pre-”Roots”.
Anything Dying Fetus
Dream Theater– Metropolis Part One: The Miracle and the Sleeper. Petrucci segues into a singing portion with a kinda-breakdown.
The one at the end of Machine Head’s “Davidian.”
fucking this!!
The break down from Exhorder’s “I am The Cross” owns all.
Pantera- “Domination” Best….breakdown….ever!!!
Perhaps someone should investigate why there is a sudden prevalence of synthesizer breakdowns among the trendy bands. I want to know how they came into being, because I can’t really believe someone thought that synth-breakdowns were a good idea. They’re pretty much the epitome of shit.
Don’t forget Suffocation. Though I’d hate to label theirs as breakdowns. More like just really fucking heavy.
I wouldn’t necessarily put Meshuggah in with the forerunners of the breakdown heavy modern deathcore scene. They never really relied on those for content, so much as a million other things.
Suffocation though, it did have a good impact most people forget.
there’s nothing quite like a killer breakdown.
Breakdowns are one of the biggest problems with metal these days. Personally, I blame it on every band trying to emulate Meshuggah’s style. Meshuggah is pretty much the only band that can successfully implement a breakdown without being bro-magnons about it (e.g., HERE COMES THE HEAVY PART, BRO!), while also being creative about it. But then again, Meshuggah is inherently percussion-based music. If anything, the drums are the lead instrument, and the guitars and bass follow suit, which is what makes Meshuggah so unique. All of these trend-hoppers that try to rip them off don’t realize this and try to make breakdowns “brutal” with chugging guitar parts as the lead, and that is why they are are simplistic, void of any creativity whatsoever, and why they fail.
Just look at the breakdown in “Future Breed Machine.” It is perfectly placed right after the peaceful solo, contrasting with it very well, but is also well written enough that it doesn’t hurt the song. It fits perfectly. Meshuggah have pretty much perfected the art of writing a good breakdown. Most importantly, they don’t let tempo change. Sometimes, bands like to slow everything down to make the breakdown seem “more brutal.” This is another thing that Meshuggah completely avoids.
But I also blame shit like Pantera and groove-era Sepultura for this shitty age of breakdowns. Those bands are bro-magnon, bro-core, bro music making breakdowns for retarded bros. They simplified everything to the point of “OH WOW WE IS SO HEAVY WE ARE ANGRY **CHUG CHUG CHGU**,” and the music is constructed with simplicity in mind, not creativity. Thus, their stop-start chuggings led to a new era of simplistic chuggings. Also, I just lost the game.
Pantera is still pretty cool.
Why so angry, bro?
He’s always angry about music, if it isn’t one of the twelve bands that he likes.
And Pantera isn’t one of them.
gotta put on some Pantera…
Twelve? Pshh…I like 14 bands now, grover. BUT THE REST OF MUSIC MAKES ME VERY VERY ANGRY!
SERENITY NOW!!!!!!!!!!
Whoa, you’re up to 14? Crazy, man. How are you going to keep track of them all?
hahahahaha. your a funny motherfucker!
I have shrines dedicated to them all over my basement. Of course, since I live in my basement, that means that I’m around these shrines all day. It’s fun!
Nuthin like watchin a 14 yr old midget get angry. I love you Ziltoid
Although you really do need to open up with your restrictions on what music you like, you do make a good point. Meshuggah blow any crap out there today could do. They don’t write anything to be “brutal” but to make it complex and interesting and to step away from the norm. Plus, I love Future Breed Machine.
i agree with you, man. breakdowns are lame. i’m not angry about it though, there are plenty of good bands that don’t use resort to breakdowns.
i always thought Unearth had more creative breakdowns than anyone else
i always thought that “endless” (i think thats the name) by unearth has been the prototype for every song they have written after. all the same except for a new solo.
Breakdowns go into two categories: riff-based and single note chugging
Examples of riff-based ones would be after the solo in Pantera’s “5 Minutes Alone”, 2:50 or so into Dying Fetus’ “Your Treachery Will Die With You” and 2:25 into Aeon’s “There Will Be No Heaven For Me”
and these are badass because they’re stil RIFFS, they’re still a piece of the song, just slower tempo and easy to fuck someone up to
Examples of single note chugging would be the opening to Meshuggah’s “Future Breed Machine”, 3:25 into Lamb Of God’s “Reclamation” and 1:38 into Machine Head’s “Aesthetics Of Hate”
these are simple riffs but done effectively and not abused, they’re done in between riffs to get the pit going but the songs do not rely on them
I’m sure you can all find your own examples of bands using them to make up an entire song.
i dont know how many Cephalic Carnage fans there are reading this but Anomalies is a fucking sick album. More to the point “counting the days” is a full blast song for the 3 and a half mins it spans and the breakdown is perfectly placed and executed. You want to hear more and more but it ends jsut in time. check it out.
i guess that i like breakdowns but not when its the crutch a band uses for songwriting. i fucking love when a band that is blastbeat-driven or similar, slows down. It makes listening to it all worth it when you get that 25 second break and then its back to hyperspeed. one of my favorites that pull ths off are Nasum, pure grind for like 6 songs and then “… i hate people tellin me what to do!! Fuck you!!!!”
for the record, fuck you ziltoid. Groove belongs in metal whether you agree with that or not, even if it is 8 seconds of a 32 second song.
I’m not overly into groove shit in my metal but i have to agree the breakdown in “Counting The Days” is beyond sick. It’s easily my favorite breakdown.
I have always thought breakdowns were the most boring things ever. I like my music to drive me forward, and breakdowns don’t do that for me.
the best breakdown comes from unearth in the song “this lying world”. the reason it’s the best is because trevor actually introduces it and yells “BREAKDOWN!!!”
Breakdowns can still be effective IF you know WHEN to play them. That’s just like basic riffs; if you play them in the right places at the right time…..then you don’t have much to worry about.
But everyone considers themselves a musician these days. I swear if metal bands are like contestants to a metal-version of American Idol, then any metalhead who speaks his mind online be it Metalsucks.net or Blabbermouth.net, or metal-archives.com….they are best considered Simon Cowell and when metal bands get pissy because people are saying ‘STOP PLAYING SUCKY MUSIC. BOOOOOO!!! STOP PLAYING BREAKDOWNS!!!!”.
I don’t blame the bands themselves, I blame the fans if anything. The fans KNOW that they aren’t the only ones listening to this music, and whenever 40,000 of your fans all listen to your music and are inspired and if you are a band that plays generic breakdowns, well guess what? You’re going to have an entire new generation of 40,000 genric bands all playing even more generic breakdowns.
But what the fuck do I know? I’m a ‘hater’…..I’m an old man….I play Dungeons & Dragons and don’t get laid. I still live in my Mom’s basement…..all because some breakdown-playing dirty hesher couldn’t take a little criticism.
Great Blog. Breakdowns are my guilty pleasure… I’m just fine with getting pumped up when a breakdown ensues.
Slams>breakdowns
4EVER
Slayer – Ghosts of War. The first breakdown ever?
not remotely.
What kind of pants are those? I want a pair.
probably D-Lux jeans. not sure if they sponsor Doc, but they have some sort of business relationship thing going on with him.
I love breakdowns! yes if they are boring and stale and don’t make you want to go crazy, then yes, they are subpar, but that’s true for most stuff in music. there are tons of bad pentatonic scale solos, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be done right even if done for the millionth time.
and by the way, for those who like breakdowns or anything that makes you want to bob your head, you should check out some dubstep music. just got into that stuff, and it gets you amped up when its got crazy rhythms and wobble. check out some reso, rusko, chase & status, starkey, skream, burial, rustie, crookers, benga & coki, etc.
breakdowns are dead.
What’s funny is “trve” metalheads hating on -core bands for using breakdowns, when everyone from Meshuggah to Lamb of God to fucking Slayer uses chugga-chugga breakdowns in their songs. Breakdowns aren’t bad, it’s just overuse that makes a band sound like shit. *cough*emmure*cough*
“Trve” metalheads hate Lamb of God and Slayer. LoG is metalcore trash, and Slayer is thrash for n00bs who think any random solo is awesome.
I like Lamb Of God.
Don’t tell anyone or they will take away my Trve Metalhead card and I won’t be able to get free entry any more.
Also, deathcore isn’t the new nu-metal… it’s actually even more restrictive and samey.
Metalcore was/is the new nu-metal, in that it’s a good and easy label (which is intrinsically understood to be derogatory these days) to post on any band people disagree with. Recently a load of Bloodstock fans labelled Gojira as metalcore, pretty much because they weren’t power metal. Chairman lmao.
Plus, no-one really seems to have any idea what metalcore is… lamb of god don’t sound like killswitch who don’t sound like unearth… etc…
And these days metalcore seems to just mean generic pop metal (in this moment, it dies today, etc) rather than the thrash influenced bands of the NWOAHM (which, while a mouthful, was a much better general genre term for a concurrent movement of bands who shared some similarities but not one distinct sound) such as the aforementioned Lamb Of God.
Christ, I don’t even like Lamb O’ God THAT much, just felt like venting. Restrictive genre terms piss me off.
And I’m not really a slayer fan either.
No, metalcore is a very rigidly defined term that happens to apply to countless shitty bands. NWOAHM is just a false term made up by metalcore fans to help justify their pitiful existence.
But most people seem to attribute the term “metalcore” to every fucking new band under the sun. As soon as a new band appears they are immediately metalcore, right?
And I thought NWOAHM was made up more by journalists attempting to categorise certain bands who DON’T fit into the rigid boundaries of “metalcore”. It’s not a great term, genre terms rarely are and are inherently restrictive, but works better than “metalcore”, which is both rigidly insular and boring, and overly used for too many bands.
To me, it is nu-metal, in that no-one can properly define to me what either term really means, and both terms get applied to a huge cross-section of band who often have only the barest elements in common.
Youre still an idiot.
Pre-pubescent..
Never been laid..
Never left mommies basement..
IDIOT.
I like this guy.
He has an interesting way of arguing.
Plus, my mum and dad never had a basement.
They did have an attic though, if that helps?
Actually the first Lamb of God album I still think is fucking amazing. They had a very dangerous, loose-cannon feel to the music and Rany Blythe couldn’t hold a note and they reminded me a lot if Converge tried to play Meshugga-like riffs.
Nah. I’m totally onboard. I listen to a lot of different styles of metal (except for power) and I fucking love breakdowns when they’re done right.
Miss May I’s new CD practically gives me a breakdown-induced rodney every time I listen to it.
“A breakdown-induced rodney?” What on earth are you talking about?
Rodney = Boner
1st solos became uncool, then became cool, soon breakdowns will become uncool, then cool again.
All we need is LESS variety in metal! Just ride the E for 2 hours.
Actually, the kids are into riding the D these days. hahaha “riding the D”
HAHAHAHAHA.
Meshuggah are allowed to breakdown because their slams are unique, you can tell they use their heads about it paying attention to past material & nuanced expression. Most slam bands however just throw out the standard “hourglass” chug-chug-chug at drop Z tuning & people dig it like gangbusters. Its just like sweeping technique or blasting at 250bpm, (except they require skill) any trick over-relied upon will cause people to roll their eyes.
You get an A++ for saying Gangbusters!
I’d say the first metal breakdowns I became aware of are Domination by Pantera (1990) and Forensic Clinicism/The Sanguine Article from Necrotisism by Carcass (1991). My personal favourite breakdown is ‘In The Rainy Season’ by the legendary Strapping Young Lad’ I love breakdowns when used well, but there are a glut of bands at the moment who believe that 4 minutes if breakdowns constitute a song.
That’s beacause most bands never put any thought into it while writing a brakedown. They just go for the same variation of that 4/4 shit, chug chug. Check out the song ‘Nel silenzio’ by this band (www.myspace.com/settimosenso) and see that it can be done in a different and interesting way. Would you still call that a brakedown or not?
How about “One” by Metallica…1989, or even “Creeping Death” i think someone already mentioned, 1984
Yes, Finntroll is amazing…
+1
And Edguy, anyone who sings about a lavatory love machine wins in my book.
ziltoid is probably gay…how do you hate slayer?
Uh, if you have Emmure on your ipod, you need to go to music rehab
yeah…….. Edguy is not my favorite band, but close enough…
I read however , the whole blog Doc, and I totally agree…
Edguy is way better than all those faceless nameless death/crab/whatever/core any day of the year…. all year.
“We just need to throw some new ideas in…
(It) will eventually get out of this closed off circle we are part of…”
we are part of we are part of, get out of this closed off circle!!!! white walls!! saw that shit the other night. they ended on it. epic
well at least you were fair. some people think that to be a core or just a reg metal or death band, its an either or type of argument. this of course is fallacious. i think that bands mentioned like suicide silence, white chapel, august burns red, etc who base entire songs off breakdowns, have qualities that make them more core than anything. but bands like all shall perish, the faceless, conducting from the grave, etc who use breakdowns minimally should still be considered more tech death than deathcore. seriously ive heard straight metal or death metal bands who cannot shred as insanely as these guys. if used sparsely and to convey a certain point in a message more assertively, i think breakdowns can be good. but i fucking hate hardcore dancers goddamn. they dont need to be at any show.
finntroll’s definately the best modern band mentioned here
I think Doc is spot on. I have to agree that Lamb of God and Hatebreed were the front runners with the whole breakdown thing. I love breakdowns and they get my blood boiling in the gym and make me want to bang my head. Shitty music like Converge thats all over the place does nothing for me. Slow the pace down and change it up. Breakdowns will never go anywhere because THEY WORK IN THE LIVE SETTING. Lets see who will sell more tickets…Hatebreed or some awful band Ziltoid likes that will strum the ukilele for two hours and bore people to tears? When you go to a metal show it is to release aggression and have a good time. Granted will that being said a whole song worth of breakdowns is not appealing. This is why LOG are so good at what they do (even though Wrath is a discrace to their discography). I dare to anyone to listen to the breakdown at the end of “Boneyards” by Parkway Drive and not bang their head.
I thought that Sacrament was the disgrace to their discography?
Aprt from Walk With Me In Hell and a few others it’s almost entirely made of by the numbers filler.
Whereas the ratio has improved dramatically for Wrath. Still far from worthy of an end of year mention mind you, but I think if you take the good tracks off Sacrament and add them to the good tracks off Wrath you have one good album, rather than two sub-par to lsitenable ones.
meh maybe. Wrath sucks Sacrament was MUCH better hence all the #1 album of 2007 nods it got. Wrath is just bad.
I dunno, i think Wrath is definately a step up. Randy’s vocals have improved ten fold since theyve started.
riff > breakdown
As a guitar player, I see a riff as something meant to be heavy yet technical enough to have some thought and originality to it. Breakdowns to me, yet work in the genre they were created for, are a cheap thrill that just isn’t working for me anymore. I think we will see a slow transition from your standard breakdown into Meshuggah style riff breakdowns which you can see in bands like Veil Of Maya, After The Burial, or any Djent band out there now.
“djent” will be the new “core”.
And, whilst fun in many aspects, will have an even shorter shelf-life as it’s even harder to do properly.
You maybe right.
Buried Alive – “Empty Skies” – hardest breakdown ever. “Death of Your Perfect World” is just all around impeccable.
He looks like Danko Jones on that pic.
Each God Forbid album has become less and less breakdown oriented? Listening to Earthsblood, I thought I was listening to the longest breakdown I’ve ever fucking heard. Not complaining… just saying…
oh stop making up bullshit. i might have gotten home and I’m drunk as shit, but even I know what you said is just pandering to the Internets of us all. War of Attrition has a breakdown that emerges out of a long riff, but other than that, there are not that many breakdowns. so stfu!
wow, i’m not the only one who happens to think that breakdowns are a stumbling block to songwriting.
Theres nothing better than a well articulated, perfectly timed breakdown for about 20-30 seconds in a song. However its becoming a replacement for well written/played riffs. I hope this isnt a sign of the future.
lol deathcore
ps you look like you’re pooping your pants in that picture
Acid washed jeans and a sleeveless t shirt of your own band none the less. Throw in a tribal guitar and that is just plain horrible. Still love you Doc but seriously use another photo.
There are definitely some bands that know how to do breakdowns better than others. Parkway Drive is definitely the best band out right now that’s doing a lot of breakdowns, because they have the technicality in their songs to make them sound good and original. But the most important point raised here, I think, is how many copycat bands started emerging when the bands utilizing breakdowns became popular. If not for all those copycats, breakdowns would definitely not be so hated in the metal scene, I think.
Good blog, I am also guilty of liking breakdowns but at the same time I know my ‘true’ metal, seeing Parkway Drive at the local pub next week, it’s gonna rape.