New recording (instrumental progressive metal)

Stachio · #1 09-30-2007, 06:21 PM

I started a side project with a good friend of mine/band mate. This is the result.
Phi Inverted.
Any critiques are appreciated.

Jonny B · #2 09-30-2007, 06:56 PM

While technically impressive, I just couldn't get into it. First of all, I didn't like the tone on your bass. There is just no punch to it IMO. I think if you had a little more low end, and less mids, it would have fit in a little better. Second, the song just kept changing directions. There wasn't enough continuity for me to find a groove and start nodding or tapping a foot along. I usually like these types of instrumentals, but it feels like the song was written to show off your technique more than it was written because you were feeling it.

Again, this piece is impressive based on technical merit alone. I think you have written some very interesting bass lines to accompany this song. There were a couple of times i found myself impressed by your choice of phrasings, but in the end it just failed to move me. Overall I'd give this a 5 out of 10.

Stachio · #3 09-30-2007, 08:08 PM

Thanks for the feedback. I do favor a mid-heavy tone and I could see how that could get grating to some, especially with the bass so up front in the mix. I guess this is from years of trying to cut through low-end heavy metal guitarists

.
I appreciate the constructive comments on the composition as well. There are some pretty drastic time changes and we did try to work on making everything cohesive, but I see where you're coming from. I guess we tend to approach instrumental music with a slightly ADD approach to try keep things interesting, but again, this can swing either way.
Again, thanks for the constructive criticism.

Stachio · #4 10-04-2007, 07:36 AM

Anybody else get a chance to give this a listen?

Barkless Dog · #5 10-04-2007, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Again, this piece is impressive based on technical merit alone.

I agree, great technical ability & tight performance piece, but never felt true passion vs it feeling like just great technical gymnastics.

I think you need to have some melodic parts that tie things together more into a cohesive piece and add some searing solos that maybe flow over several parts. Things need to break loose from the structure some where once in a while.

If you listen to bands like Brand X or Black Utopia, they have the above elements your lacking in the songs.

I wish I could play that well though.

Just my opinion

Stachio · #6 10-04-2007, 09:29 AM

Thanks Barkless Dog. Great input.
I think cohesiveness and a more concrete or reoccuring theme (can't really say a chorus) are elements we're going to try to intergrate in later pieces. That and a better bass tone

.

Barkless Dog · #7 10-04-2007, 09:49 AM

A melodic or reoccurring theme does not have to be simple

Look at some of King Crimson's songs, sound simple catchy, but intense and real hard to play

Also Melt Banana , they are great musicians, sounds like total chaos sometimes but really just fast odd time signatures etc then they break to a simple hard ass melody. I guess if you want you could go more abstract as well.

MarkMyWordsXx · #8 10-04-2007, 10:03 AM

very cool stuff, i like the tone. frettless? the music isnt really missing anything but it could stand to add some keys.

very nice though, no real criticisms

Barkless Dog · #9 10-04-2007, 11:32 AM

I listened to it again and the realized the beginning had some Dixie Dregs/Steve Morse feel- Nice!.

must be the southern influence down there?

Stachio · #10 10-04-2007, 03:48 PM

MarkMyWordsXX - That is fretless. There is actually a little bit of keys around 3:50 and the last 2 bars of the ending. It is a little low in the mix. Thanks for listening.

Barkless Dog - I can't speak for the guitarist, but any southern influence is unintentional and maybe subconscious

. Great reference to Melt Banana. Haven't listened to them in a little while...Seems like a good reason to. Thanks again.

**Josh Ryan** · #11 10-04-2007, 09:05 PM

I actually thought it was plenty cohesive, and I really liked the tone. I thought the whole thing rocked.

You are a very talented bassist, I wish I could play that well!

I would buy this, no ****, let me know when it's available.

Grueber · #12 10-04-2007, 11:20 PM

I liked it a lot. There were a lot of changes, but that's not a bad thing at all. They all went together smoothly and didn't sound forced. It was also cool to hear a fretless playing that style.

btw, I sent a friend request to you on myspace, so be sure to send out some bulletins when you have some more recordings.

EagleMoon · #13 10-04-2007, 11:30 PM

I liked it. The only thing is that some of it just sounds fast for the sake of being fast, not for any real reason. This would really rock with some reoccurring melody in there. Bass tone sounded fine to me.

Plain Old Me · #14 10-04-2007, 11:50 PM

The bass needs a bit of grind on it. You have a great jazz tone, but it just doesn't cut well for the style. Push up the low mids some, and maybe even the low end a bit.

Stachio · #15 10-05-2007, 05:30 AM

Thanks for listening and giving me input, guys.

Blisshead - Thanks. I'll definitely let you know when we get something new. We have one written and recorded on the Novum Organum page (last song), but it's going to get re-recorded and revamped with better drum programming (ie not me) and slightly different bass & guitar parts.

Grueber - I'll be sure to get a bulletin out there for ya

!

Eaglemoon - We actually slowed some parts down! But I can hear where some parts might still sound fast. As far as any lack of melody, I'll plead guilty. The guitarist is the melodic one and I enjoy dissonance

.

Plain Old Me - I tend to favor a mid-heavy clean tone (through EA iAmp) especially on fretless, but I'm thinking I may try the Aggie DB750 on the next one for some grit...maybe even blend the 2. I favor a clean tone and my guitarist (who produced this) adds a little grind on my bass when I'm not looking

.

fleabee · #16 10-05-2007, 01:55 PM

I think its really good/tight..would probably just kick in a little more of the lows...nice fretless twang

DinoB · #17 12-30-2007, 03:24 AM

I was just searching the recordings page to find some metal to see what other people were creating and I came across this and totally dig it.

The band that I'm in kind of take the ADD approach to jamming, but when we write songs we want to keep the song dynamic but have a couple of riffs that we come back to.

listening to the song for the second time and I have to say the beginning and at about 2:40 has a little bit of a Death (Individual Thought Patterns) feeling to it. I also hear a kind of Gordian Knot feeling during the soft parts of the song.

Keep it up and I hope you realease more!

MyUsernameHere · #18 12-30-2007, 11:23 AM

I actually thought it was pretty darn good. You could use a little more grind in your tone, but I didn't think it sounded bad by any means. As far as the arrangement, I don't think its any less coherent than most of the other music I've listened to in this genre. I would agree though, that you all would benefit from figuring out a underlying theme or basic melodic idea that could be repeated from time in order to give the listener a more recognizable, logical framework to follow. That said, I still thought it was pretty interesting overall.

IconBasser · #19 12-30-2007, 11:29 AM

It's pretty kewl!!

but like others said, it's lacking a distinct melody. This song would be FANTASTIC if you had a singer.

and... I don't think ya should use a fretless for this, there's just not enough bite.

IconBasser · #20 12-30-2007, 11:31 AM

I revise earlier statement:

once ya hit the 3 minute mark, a melody is acquired, and it becomes AWSOME