Wow, I’ve been on a pretty long trip down the mellower, folkier, side of music. Time to revisit some slightly heavier stuff. Actually, this is probably the heaviest thing I’ve posted here. Mind you, I’m not one who is particular to the whole scream thing. But there is something here. Before I get to that, I want to think about an observation I made last week.
When I feature a non-signed artist I always follow up with them to get recommendations for more music to hear and check out. That way I can line up more people to feature. It’s more work than I care to admit to be traversing the net for new music. No wonder so many people think there’s a lot of crap out there now. Definitely a labor of love. My observation… mellower artists, folksters, singer/songwriters, and electronica artists tend to be the most generous with passing along a recommendation for fellow musicians. Rockers, metal heads, and a vast majority of the other genres do very little to no recommending of their fellow brethren. It’s not that I don’t dig heavy stuff. It’s that so little comes across my desk and I attempt to avoid dipping into the signed stuff I have.
Like anything we can get into a rut. Thus every once in a while it’s a good idea to have a rebirth, a new beginning. Much like how television does now. Take Knight Rider for instance. It was a popular show some time ago. Yet they’ve come back to TV with an updated version of KITT or is it K.I.T.T and Michael Knight. Remember I don’t have a TV. I have no idea if the show was any good. Did you watch?
Threat Signal comes recommended to me by my buddy Chris Hellstrom. Something about those Swedes. They love their music really really heavy. Actually it’s generally really heavy, or it’s super poppy. That’s based on all the Swedes that I know. I’m sure they enjoy a much broader cross section, I haven’t seen it yet. Why did I feature this song? First it was the production. It’s top notch. Usually when I hear something that I’d call scream metal, it’s poorly produced which makes the genre terrible. Threat Signal takes the idea of Linkin Park into the world of metal. And I mean pure metal. Linkin Park is fun to listen to, but they are no where near as tough as this. Putting the two side by side and I’d say Linkin Park is pop whereas Threat Signal is over the top intense.
While I’m no real fan of the screaming lyric thing, there’s something about the production and the mix that allows it to be something I can listen to here. It helps that the guitars are seriously brutal and that’s something I miss in a lot of the music I hear lately. Guitar playing used to be associated with being tough. However, I wouldn’t call John Mayer tough. He’s the boy next door and he plays very well. Threat Signal is the bully down the street who’ll tear your head off if you don’t like it.
It’s that simple. It’s Monday. I’m feeling male. I need something with balls. This is it. No questions. You need something with balls and I’m betting you don’t have, or even have never heard of Threat Signal. So get the to iTunes now and purchase the tune.
(** Disclaimer: If Threat Signal’s label decides to threaten me for sharing their assault with you, I”ll have to beat the audio file into submission on the server. The post will remain to show that we all need a little change of pace. **)