Kanonenfieber - Der Füsilier I - Critiquing Black and Death Metal In General

 

Der Füsilier I is one of my favorite songs by them, and I can't get it out of my head either, granted, I still love every song of theirs, and the others are also stuck in my head too! I can't decide! But this one I am listening to a lot.

What's super cool with this band too, is they seem to have everything done so well! Even down to their Band's Logo and the Album Artwork which is phenomenal. The way their music videos are done are also astonishing, I mean look at how this is done with such perfection and even seamlessly integrating WWI history into it!

Another thing too, is that I almost never find a Black Metal or Death Metal band of where I can find one album of theirs in which I actually like EVERY song on the album.

Usually there will only be 1 or 2, I'm lucky if there are at least 5 songs I'll like.

When I find albums by an artist that I instantly like every song on their album, it becomes a special treasure to me and holds a special place in my life and speaks volumes about the quality of the artist.

I instantly fell in love with every song of the Kanonfieber CD "Menschenmühle".

One thing I often never find common grounds in the Black or Death Metal Scene, is the need for Melody. I also like a Balance between the Music, Drums and Singing along with the Melody so that I can hear and distinguish it all, since there will be growling or screeching, I want to be able to hear the lyrics, and there cannot be too much distortion to the point you cannot make out what they are saying, and so much in the way of Black and Death Metal, especially the Amateur stuff or just really Commercialized bands, you cannot make out what they are saying! Of course, some of it can also be due to the Music just being bad production by their producer, but the thing is I've heard more of my share of talentless Metal music out there that just leaves so much to be desired, especially in the face of stuff like this that exists!

The thing is, a lot of times, a metal band may express well on the Guitars or even Vocals, but the Music could be totally boring and humdrum, and just lacking intrigue! So that is not enough for me.

A boring guitar solo will never impress, over a catchy guitar solo!

For example, this piece by Darkthrone, does absolutely nothing for me. It's so boring and monotonous, the same guitar riffs over and over almost stuck on the same notes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUw7mo6CeVw

Atmosphere and Technique being added to everything, also makes a HUGE impact for the quality of the Music as well.

All of that is essential, and if it doesn't have melody, then it just sounds like a bunch of aimless noise, it has no theme or direction, and you cannot "ride" with it.

When I listen to Metal Music, I want to feel like I'm going to battle, or as if I'm on a hunt in the wilderness or jungle.

I can't even get into bands like "Pantera", it does absolutely nothing for me, and it sounds like they are trying too hard.

A lot of metalheads I know who either like BM / DM don't seem to be all that bothered by it, or insist that they are also picky, but they are picky in far different ways than the quality of what I'm looking for.

But I tend to get along better with Metalheads from Europe, since they are more sophisticated and there is a much greater appreciation in the Metal scene there in general, compared to the US scene.

Granted, it's less of an issue with Black Metal compared to Death Metal in most cases, especially American Bands, because the European Musicians are most often classically trained, and you can hear this from the Musicians in their technique.

Another thing too, is that a lot of Metal bands do not do enough Guitar solo and focus on the Guitar theme throughout the Music, and this band totally hits the mark with it, in every song, even their EP's!

If you do not give the Guitars the time to shine and demonstrate them well in the music, it's like what's the point? Many times, the Drums just overpower everything, and that becomes too monotonous with a lot of BM / DM bands.

It appears their Vinyl releases of the Albums and EP's are all the colored versions, and I have a pet peeve about "colored vinyl" that is not Black, since I have found the acoustic and recording quality to be different and often times compromised. I am not certain if that is the case with these albums, but I wish they would release their works on the standard Black LP's, plus it also just looks a lot more elegant that way.

But, I really can't find much I can complain about them otherwise than the fact that I love the songs so much that every song seems to end "abruptly" for me and that the songs don't end up being long enough with how immersed I get into them!