1 Tune In, Turn Up #1: Screamin' Vocals

Welcome to my new column. And what am I up to this time, you may be wondering?

Let me break it down. A lot of times I'll be cranking some amazing tunes for someone and instead of getting high fives and accolades of stokage I'm met with a bewildered, frightened look. "What the hell?" I ask. Usually the reply is, "I don't get it."

DON'T GET WHAT?!?!

After I calm down I start to understand. There was a time when I couldn't stand death metal, thought jazz was for pansies and gagged upon hearing any Madonna song. Now all those things are in my collection. I listen to 'em and I like 'em.

So how can I get folks on board with shit they might dislike but really deserves a listen? Baby steps, dude. It's a simple matter of listening to something, then something else, then something else and finally re-listening to that which was so offensive with a new set of ears.

You dig? It's a weekly primer to help you try to expand your musical horizons. There is too much good shit out there to get hung up on details. I've bought albums that sat for a couple years before I played the zeroes and ones right off of 'em. It's just a matter of putting the pieces together.

And thus I implore you: Tune In, Turn Up.

This week: SCREAMIN' VOCALS!

Here's the problem: You dig Metallica and Pantera. You dig heavy shit. You crave heavier and heavier tunes but as soon as the vocals turn into straight-up yelling, you're over it.

Start with: Thrice - The Artist in the Ambulance

I love Thrice. Seriously. I have "more than flashing lights and sound" tattooed across my chest. For real. I've been looking for a chance to talk about them and FINALLY here it is. Throw you preconceptions aside ("duuude I thought you were gonna talk about heavy shit!") because this album is brutal. It's got technical playing on all fronts, some heavy, some shred and some killer hooks and melodies. What else? A little yelling, but only as needed.

Then try: As I Lay Dying - The Powerless Rise

You want metal? You want it fast? Here it is. AILD hail from San Diego and combine traditional thrash with melodic sensibility, creating what I like to call the California metal sound. It’s like Gothenburg if the sun was shining. There’s screaming aplenty but the choruses are very sing-along worthy. Love it.

Then try: Himsa - Hail Horror

Ah how I miss Himsa, who held Seattle's metal crown for several years. Here's one with all the shreddage of As I Lay Dying plus familiar heavy breakdowns. The key difference to note is the sing-along choruses have gone the way of hair metal, leaving only an endless assault of fury.

And finally: Botch - We Are the Romans

Heaviest. Fucking. Album. Ever. Well, maybe not the heaviest (apologies to Meshuggah) but it is seminal to modern everything-core and a fine statement of the musical girth that Seattle is capable of producing. Dave Verellen's roar adds to both the light and shade of Botch's masterpiece. When you catch the Botch bug, you will never get rid of it. Spin 'We Are the Romans' three times through, and be prepared to accept your degree in screamin'-ass-vocal-stokage.

There you have it. Now chug some Listerine and practice doing a brutal death yell while holding the grapefruit high and proud!

Words by Matt Abramson
Photo by Nik Christofferson