Tell me why you like instrumental metal....

[Acaciastrain360]

Hey, I’ve tried for years to get into various instrumental metal bands...
Chimp spanner
Animals as leaders
Andromida
And I just CANT for the hell of it, dig in to it :/

can you explain to me why I SHOULD like it!??? As some of it is very impressive musicianship!

thanks

 

[sleewell]

good to listen to while at work

generic cookie monster vocals suck and get in the way of really good bands


you dont have to like it, you shouldnt have to be talked into liking music - you like it or you dont. there is enough good music out there for all our tastes.

 

[GunpointMetal]

There's lots of music where the vocals get in the way of the music, so it's nice to hear the band without someone gurgling over the top of it. I love me some gutterals, but I think MOST heavy music would be better if the vocalist would shut up for about half of each song, at least in "tech"-based styles. Deathcore would probably be boring AF without vocals, but bands like Shokran or The Dali Thundering Concept are much more engaging to me without vocals.

 

[Bastian93]

And I just CANT for the hell of it, dig in to it :/

And thats fine. There is no need for you to like everything.

For me a singer never added much to a song except for the vocal melody. For me its not too much difference if this melody is sung or if its played with an instrument.
Maybe that is because I play the guitar and I concentrate on that part of the songs or because I am not a native english speaker and didnt understand the lyrics for half of my life.

Here are some of my favourite bands/musicians that play instrumental "metal" (at least have a metal influence):
Plini, Intervals, Polyphia, Jeff Loomis (1st solo album is one of the greatest imho), David Maxim Micic, Jason Richardson, Jakub Zytecki, John Petrucci's Suspended Animation, Flux Conduct, Modern Day Babylon, Stephen Taranto, Sithu Aye, Sergey Golovin

Check them out, if you like them great, if not thats fine.

You should ask yourself what value vocals add to music for yourself? If thats so important to you then instrumental music might not be for you in general. What about non metal instrumental music?

 

[Werecow]

Hey, I’ve tried for years to get into various instrumental metal bands...
Chimp spanner
Animals as leaders
Andromida
And I just CANT for the hell of it, dig in to it :/

can you explain to me why I SHOULD like it!??? As some of it is very impressive musicianship!

thanks

I like it because even with songs with vocals i'm still just listening to the guitars/riffs mainly. I don't know how it's possible to be a guitar player and not like instrumentals?

If you don't like the individual band's music then fair enough. But if i like the bare music, then i like instrumentals just as much as songs with vocals.

Have you tried listening to Toska?

 

[Humbuck]

For years I'd hear tons of bands where I'd think, "they'd be great except for the atrocious vocals". I'd rather hear no vocals than bad vocals.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Because Bongripper is groovy as fuck and no one wants to scream for 15 minutes straight.

 

[gunshow86de]

I typically like more "mood/texture/soundscape-y" type instrumental bands to the "shreddy" types. The new Russian Circles, Pelican and Cloudkicker albums this year have been great. Elder put out an instrumental EP earlier this year that I have listened to a ridiculous number of times, the layers of synths and rhythms are hypnotic.

 

[sleewell]

^ Elder is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!!!!!!

 

[gunch]

Sometimes you don't need a dude screaming or growling his balls off for the conveyance of emotional upheaval

 

[Winspear]

Your looking at one subgenre of instrumental music there really. Prettymuch all styles of metal exist in instrumental form so maybe try something else that you know you like. Maybe 'ambidjent' or whatever you want to call it just isn't for you!

I like instrumental music in general because I find vocals are often distracting. In music I seek to experience something otherworldly and be taken elsewhere. Vocals in metal in general often seem like an afterthought, and even when they aren't, they can easily remind me that I'm just listening to a bunch of dudes making music - which isn't what I'm after. I do dig a lot of bands with vocals though.

 

[GunpointMetal]

Sometimes you don't need a dude screaming or growling his balls off for the conveyance of emotional upheaval

This. I really enjoy when a band can create a feeling without someone telling me what it is first.

 

[fps]

Because John 5 and Buckethead play it. It's nice not to have vocals because they can be extremely divisive and also lyrics are distracting if you're doing something else. Lyrics can often be very poor and a song title and music can let your mind move in a different way. As a teacher that's rewarding as I'm working with language all day every day.

 

[Werecow]

I typically like more "mood/texture/soundscape-y" type instrumental bands to the "shreddy" types. The new Russian Circles, Pelican and Cloudkicker albums this year have been great. Elder put out an instrumental EP earlier this year that I have listened to a ridiculous number of times, the layers of synths and rhythms are hypnotic.

That song is great. Thankyou

 

[Blasphemer]

I can only speak for myself, but I very rarely connect on an emotional level with any type of lyrical content. Add on top of that what some of the others here have said and that more or less leads to a culmination of why I prefer instrumental music to non-instrumental.

 

[aesthyrian]

can you explain to me why I SHOULD like it!??? As some of it is very impressive musicianship!

Nope, I'm afraid I can't do that as there is absolutely no reason why you should like something that you don't seem to enjoy. Impressive musicianship doesn't instantly quantify something as good, and even then, what's "good"?

Just enjoy what you like. Maybe in a few years that will be instrumental music? But no need to force it, or think you're "missing" something. It's just music.

 

[Ralyks]

Honestly, there's very little instrumental metal I can listen to for an extended period. Like, Animals as Leaders is the only thing I can think of off of the top of my head.

And in the opposite spectrum, I seem to dislike Jazz that has vocals...

 

[BlackMastodon]

I typically like more "mood/texture/soundscape-y" type instrumental bands to the "shreddy" types. The new Russian Circles, Pelican and Cloudkicker albums this year have been great. Elder put out an instrumental EP earlier this year that I have listened to a ridiculous number of times, the layers of synths and rhythms are hypnotic.

All of this. I liked AAL's first album but after that it all just sounds like 45 minutes of slap guitar, and I don't like wheedly-wheedly instrumental djent like Plini. But Cloudkicker and Russian Circles are a couple of my favourite bands because of their soundscapes and crushing riffs, same with Isis and other post-metal whenever there aren't vocals. I don't mind metal vocals if they have a flavour that isn't bland or cookie cutter, but it's nice to not have that be the focus.

 

[Vyn]

I enjoy both. I think the problem is people wishing instrumental music had vocals and/or wishing music didn't have vocals. Just enjoy the music for what it is and how it's presented.

 

[Science_Penguin]

I guess the simple answer for me is, I like video game music, and a lot of instrumental music I enjoy, Metal or otherwise, has that vibe. I basically grew up with music of all kinds in the background of what I spent most of my free time doing, and (Tony Hawk and Crazy Taxi notwithstanding) much of it was instrumental.