Metal Bands + Unsual Instruments

Jethro Tull!!!

 

The strings you hear in Rhapsody are real. They bring in a real string section to do all of those parts. They also use a lot of lutes and theorbo (sp?) type instruments. I think their website has some pictures from the studio and shows some neat instruments. I'm not sure if any of the other orchestral things are real or synth.

You may want to check out the solo project of Rhapsody's guitarist Luca Turilli. A lot of it is even more orchestrated than Rhapsody. Check out Blind Guardian if you haven't already, as well.

 

Just one word:

Puya.

Have a nice day.

 

Therapy? use quite a lot of electric cello.

The track "Stories" for example - the really fat sound in the heavy riff, almost tuba-like, is the cello. Really.

 

Out of interest, what makes a 'metal' band (I wouldn't count Jethro Tull as 'heavy metal'... based on what I know of their work, I'd probably describe them as somewhere between folk rock and prog rock) and what counts as unusual instrumentation (anything beyond guitars, bass, drums and big rock organ sounds from the keys)?

Thinking about it, I bet Digeridoo would be great for a death metal group...

Wulf

 

I've seen it done.... it was great! I'd imagine putting it through a huge fuzz would make it sound absolutly killer....

 

Check out these:

In Extremo

http://www.inextremo.de/home.php3?IE=1

Corvus Corax

http://www.corvuscorax.de/

 

Cryptopsy did use a didgeridoo with effects on one of their songs (can't remember the title, but it's on And Then You'll Beg)... They have also used wind chimes on a song or two, and other stuff.

Rhapsody isn't the only band to use orchestras - Dimmu Borgir and Darkane, to name two, have done the same. And they did it long before Metallica's S&M album (which I am convinced was an attempt to rip off those who had done it already)

Hollenthon (only heard one album from them) had a whole bunch of different instruments in there, including a flute. Kinda like world music mixed with metal.

Also, Nile uses a whole bunch of tribal instruments. Most, if not all of them, were sampled, but it still sounds great.

 

Haven't seen one yet, but I'd really like to see a metal band make extensive use of bagpipes. No, no I don't count Korn. They used it for one or two songs, on intros, I think. At any rate, it's not a fixture, just a gimmick thing.

I want regular use. I think the droning effects and overall tone would make a great counterpoint to the usual metal dynamics. I mean, I'm a huge bagpipe fan on the side, so bagpipes in a metal band might be kinda interested.

 

How about that fiddler, Mark Wood.

There's the cellists in Apocalyptica.

Ther's plenty of stuff with unusual (i.e. it's not a guitar ) that's in that no-man's-land between metal and jazz: Last Exit, Painkiller, Material, etc.

Theorbos, eh? Now there's an axe you don't see too often in rock bands! For those who don't know, it's a bass lute.

 

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum uses home made instruments.

Motograter uses a home made bass type intrument called a grater.

bands like Sepultura, Puya, and Soulfly use many tribal drums/instruments

Mr. Bungle uses anything within reach

also The Kronus Quartet

 

Okay, sorry, obscure joke. When NARAS decided to create a "Best Metal Performance" category at the Grammys, the very first winner was Jethro Tull. Jethro Tull, is, quite obviously, not a metal band. Most people who understood what metal was were infuriated. I suppose that's similar to Korn winning Best Rap Performance.

 

Not exactly a metal "band," but you don't get more METAL than Black Sabbath, and you don't get any more unusual than midieval instruments played in an authentic way.

www.sabbatum.com

I bought it last year, and it's a great CD.