Music

Do Heavy Metal Bands Ever Get Sick of That Heavy Guitar Sound?

Do you think they ever yearn to escape the confines of six strings?

Being in a top metal band is a lucrative business. Just ask Metallica. It’s made them extremely rich.

Clearly, a lot of people like metal music. And there must be something powerful about performing to thousands of adoring fans.

But do you think James Hetfield ever has days where he wakes up and thinks:

Do you know what? I’m just so bored of that same old heavy guitar crunch!

Yes, I know they sometimes play softer, more melodic stuff with a clean guitar sound. They also sometimes play with an orchestra. But why not explore electronic sounds too?

A distorted guitar doesn’t have to be the only ingredient when making heavy music. Take the Canadian band Front Line Assembly. They’ve made some awesome heavy stuff, often without much use of guitars.

But are there any guitar-driven metal bands that later explored other sounds?

Yes, one example is the British band Paradise Lost. They seem to have gone full circle. They started as death-doom metal, as you can hear from this song from their first album in 1990:

To me, that sounds dreadful, which was probably the intention.

But only three years later in 1993, they had become more melodic, with better songs. True Belief is an excellent example:

I love the simple lead guitar line that starts at 0:58. It’s so straightforward, but it works exceptionally well. It just goes to show, you don’t always need to make things complicated.

By 1995 they were incorporating melodic piano into their songs:

And by 1999, they were using electronic drum sounds and synths. It seems they were evolving into Depeche Mode. The singer had also had a haircut and was looking like Chris Martin from Coldplay.

But as the years went by, they did rediscover their metal roots. And by 2015, they were sounding damn heavy again. Still with some good melodic guitar work, though:

They did briefly have a live keyboard player in 2011. But these days, they seem to rely on backing tracks to provide any keyboard or electronic parts:

But it makes me wonder. Isn’t James Hetfield ever tempted to play around with a synthesizer or two? Doesn’t there come a point where you get sick and tired of the limitations of six strings?

Not that there’s anything wrong with guitars. It’s just that limiting yourself to only guitars is like a painter only ever using one colour of paint.

Even Noel Gallagher from Oasis is into synths these days:

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