Instrumental Rock/Metal?

Karl Hungus

So I'm sitting here listening to Liquid Tension Experiment, which is basically 3 members of Dream Theater doing some crazy instrumental stuff, and the thought occurs to create a thread about such music.

I quite like a lot of stuff like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Marty Friedman, and so on. Although a lot of people don't like the whole instrumental guitar ****, for want of a better word, it certainly has its place in the world of music, I think.

So, if you'd care to discuss such music, I'd be quite pleased. This could be a very interesting thread.

mike65

I have a few Vai/Satriani albums and while I don't listen to them that often these days I enjoy instrumental music - all my favs are about 75% music Rush, Floyd, etc, and the best jazz is instrumental and my own music is too.

So shut up and play!

Mike.

Karl Hungus

mike65 wrote:

and the best jazz is instrumental and my own music is too.

Speaking of, I quite like The Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Pat Metheny. Some great stuff there.

Froot

Are you talking about 100% instrumental or bands/people that have a lot of instrumental work on their albums?

In terms of 100% instrumental I couldnt think of one I have listened to.

Karl Hungus

Froot wrote:

Are you talking about 100% instrumental or bands/people that have a lot of instrumental work on their albums?

In terms of 100% instrumental I couldnt think of one I have listened to.

For the sake of argument we'll just say bands/people that have played instrumentals. I mean, even Vai's got some stuff with vocals, so no sense being strict about it, and we could probably include bands like Metallica for their exceptional instrumentals like Orion.

Froot

Cool so.

Kyuss would be one of my top guys anyway, their albums tend to progress into instrumentalism towards the end in much the same way that Metallica put their main instrumentals at the end of their albums (well for master and lightning anyway). ISIS being another.

My instrumental tastes would really centre around groups like Godspeed You! Black Emperor so I guess it doesnt even have to be entirely metal for me to appreciate it.

I was reading recently that ISIS are classified as Avantgarde Doom Metal so I suppose bands from that genre would be my kind of thing. As long as its not Nightwish I'm happy.

Karl Hungus

Actually, now that you mention it, Godspeed are another great band. Don't have much of their stuff, but from what I've heard they're fantastic.

Isis are excellent, but I kinda have to be in the right mood to listen to them myself.

Morf

Explosions in the sky make some really beautiful instumental music

Pelican would be a bit more sludgy apparently but i really like them too

The redneck manifesto are an irish band playing great instrumental stuff

Then there's sigur ros which although it has some vocals would come under a similar umbrella for me

Froot

In the absence of truth is what I'm listening to by ISIS at the moment. That and Oceanic are the only albums I have heard, I much prefer In the absence I have to admit.

Godspeed You! are very good. Their albums are all quite different, with some having a lot of voiceover type sections and others being straight up music. Yanqui U.X.O. is probably the most definitive album they have in my eyes, its almost 100% orchestral as opposed to f#a# infinity. Though f#a# has got some amazing tracks including, I believe, a track from 28 days later. I have never seen that film though.

I'm just afraid if I listen to another band such as Godspeed You! it will kind of take the shine off Godspeed You!. I like that they are one of the more unique bands I have listened to because I havent really explored that kind of music much.

Charm Offensive

The Japanese band Mono are incredible, I'm still kicking myself for missing them in Dublin a few months back. They'd be more along the lines of the post-rock stuff that's been mentioned though, rather than instrumental metal that focuses on guitar virtuosity or whatever. It's undeniably beautiful and cinematic music whatever you're into though, plus they're not afraid to get heavy when they feel it's necessary (think the quietquietLOUUUUD freakouts of early Mogwai, except a lot better) - the dynamic of the band revolves around a standard guitar/guitar/bass/drums setup, which some beautiful use of effects, but they incorporate strings a lot too. If you like Godspeed, you should DEFINITELY check these guys out. If you want somewhere to start, and have thirteen minutes to spare, I'd suggest you take a listen to "The Flames Beyond the Cold Mountain", the opening track of their most recent album.

Froot

I'm checking out Mono now, allofmp3.com is very handy sometimes.

John

Froot, one band I highly recommend you check out is A Silver Mount Zion. It's a few members of Godspeed, similar vibes but slightly different style of arrangement and featuring vocals. They're like an alternative reality Godspeed and don't take the shine off Godspeed. There are officially sanctioned bootlegs by both A Silver Mt. Zion and Godspeed at the Internet Live Music Archive.

As for instrumental bands, Pelican get a big thumbs up from me. Their last album, The Fire in our Throats will Beckon the Thaw and the March into the Sea EP are both fantastic. Well everything they do is fantastic but those two discs really call to me.

Another wonderful instrumental band is Dirty Three. It's violin, guitar and drums with music shifting from very sad and moving pieces that are nearly folk to all out balls to the floor rocking out (Warren Ellis plays his violin through a couple of Mesas!). Their drummer is probably the best drummer I've ever seen (and I've seen some amazing drummers).

Some albums that everyone should own are the entire Earth back catalogue (I think there's one song with vocals across five studio albums). The first two albums, Extra Capsular Extraction and Earth 2 are doomy drone stereo destroyers (Sunn O))) began as a tribute band to Earth). Then they did more laid back stoner stuff and weird experimental stuff on Phase 3: Thrones and Dominions and the highly underated Pentastar: In the Style of Demons (don't let the horrendous cover put you off). Finally, their last album, Hex, is like some ****ed up country music being slowed down to a crawl and played out of the bowels of hell. Absolutely stunning stuff.

Of course, then there's Fantômas. Granted Patton uses his voice but most of the time it's gibberish and impossible to recreate so I class him as an instrument Again, everything they've done is pure gold apart from the split single with Melt Banana which is of novelty value only (a tiny square CD with less than 2 minutes of music on it).

On the jazzier side of things (but still keeping things rocking) are Dublin's The Jimmy Cake. It's like krautrock with free jazz thrown in from time to time. I highly recommend Dublin Gone, Everybody Dead. A really great mix of styles and instrumentation (everything from guitars to accordions by way of bicycle bells).

Finally (before I go on all night), for the really adventurous (and I mean REALLY) there's Nurse With Wound. Basically anything goes. You want jazz, he's got it. You want krautrock, he's got it. You want lounge, he's got it. You want weird Lovecraftian nightmare soundscapes, he's got it. You want field recordings, he's got it. You want something you can't even recognise and you're not sure if you like it or not, he's got it. You want all this at once, he's got it.

Froot

Stop John!

You will make me spend too much

Thanks for your input. I'm going to give Mono a go and see where that takes me. The bands you mentioned earlier in your post sound fairly solid so I will give them a go first.

John

Check out that page I linked to (go to the "Browse all artists" link), there's free legal downloads of A Silver Mt. Zion, Mono, Pelican, Godspeed and Mogwai (another similar band). Try before you buy!

mike65

Listening to Mono right now

http://www.studiomoustache.com/blog/?p=91

Mike.

Necronomicon

I have Marty Friedman's first album (Dragon's Kiss?) but haven't listened to it in quite a while. Last album I heard from him was Music For Speeding, but I can't say I like the whole J-Pop thing.
Other than that I can't think of too many, I've heard a few Pelican songs that I thought were decent, one of the bands I've been meaning to look into more.

Karl Hungus

Necromomicon wrote:

I have Marty Friedman's first album (Dragon's Kiss?) but haven't listened to it in quite a while. Last album I heard from him was Music For Speeding, but I can't say I like the whole J-Pop thing.
Other than that I can't think of too many, I've heard a few Pelican songs that I thought were decent, one of the bands I've been meaning to look into more.

Yep, Dragon's Kiss is a fantastic album. I'd love to get more of his stuff, I don't have Music For Speeding, or a lot of other ones, but his new one Loudspeaker is very good, I enjoyed that.

Necronomicon

Karl Hungus wrote:

Yep, Dragon's Kiss is a fantastic album. I'd love to get more of his stuff, I don't have Music For Speeding, or a lot of other ones, but his new one Loudspeaker is very good, I enjoyed that.

Has he continued down the J-Pop road? All I can remember from that album is one song, I really couldn't believe it was him! I might whip out Dragon's Kiss for a listen.

brianthebard

Clutch have a few instrumentals on Robot hive, and I think on the album with the moon on the cover. They have a thing with making songs run into each other though, so its hard to know exactly when instrumentals are actually instrumentals and not just the start/end of the song.

Karl Hungus

Necromomicon wrote:

Has he continued down the J-Pop road? All I can remember from that album is one song, I really couldn't believe it was him! I might whip out Dragon's Kiss for a listen.

Nah, can't say it sounds very J-Pop.

Check out some songs here, there's two there from Loudspeaker, namely Elixer and Viper.

Though listening to the song from Music For Speeding he has up there, it's not too J-Pop sounding either.

adox

I quite like Mattias IA Eklundh.Nearly all his stuff is instrumental:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=47511284

Doctor J

Chris Poland - Return To Metalopolis is a classic, everyone should have it and his current band OHM have their heavier moments too.

funky_buddah

Cant believe nobodys mentioned Yngwie Malmsteen or Michael Angelo.

For shame.

"black star" and "no boundarys" ftw.

Beecher

funky_buddah wrote:

Cant believe nobodys mentioned Yngwie Malmsteen or Michael Angelo.

Or Racer X/Paul Gilbert, there are some great songs there like Scarified, Technical Difficulties and The Curse of the Castle Dragon.

Music for Speeding is definitely a must for instrumental guitar music, while not overly technical like most instrumental guitar albums its full of fantastic song writing and catchy riffs.

An Evening With John Petrucci & Jordan Rudess is quite spectacular too!

Pyr0

I quite like John5's solo album Vertigo, nice mix of hard rock/Country I still need to get the most recent album though, from what I've heard it sounds decent.

Karl Hungus

Beecher wrote:

Or Racer X/Paul Gilbert, there are some great songs there like Scarified, Technical Difficulties and The Curse of the Castle Dragon.

Music for Speeding is definitely a must for instrumental guitar music, while not overly technical like most instrumental guitar albums its full of fantastic song writing and catchy riffs.

An Evening With John Petrucci & Jordan Rudess is quite spectacular too!

Ah yeah, forgot Senor Pablo Gilberto.

I keep meaning to get some of his stuff, or the Racer X stuff at some stage. I attempt Technical Difficulties on the guitar at times, which is damned difficult, as you'd imagine.

Shiminay

Anyone care to mention Kerry's own Ten Past Seven? They were playing support to Pellican last time they played and absolutely stole the show.

Giblet

Karl Hungus wrote:

Speaking of, I quite like The Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Pat Metheny. Some great stuff there.

Yeah they're pretty good. Billy Cobham is great.

Karl Hungus

Giblet wrote:

Yeah they're pretty good. Billy Cobham is great.

Aye, he's fantastic.

brianthebard

Deathmole are cool.

markyedison

Another vote each for Explosions in the sky and Mono.

Also worth checking out are Death in Vegas- The Contino Sessions

and 65 Days of Static- kind of like a mix of Mogwai and Aphex Twin.

The Walsho

Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, and The Redneck Manifesto.

John

Kharn wrote:

Anyone care to mention Kerry's own Ten Past Seven? They were playing support to Pellican last time they played and absolutely stole the show.

Yeah, they're deadly. I didn't quite get into them live but once I got the album I appreciated them a lot more.

Executive Steve

the ****ing champs are a great band too... "starlight on the barrow downs" is a great example of 5 guitars working in concerted force with all thought of conventional rock structure chucked right out the window where it belongs

Rigsby

The "Yellow Jackets" are a great instrumental band IMO, though they lean more towards jazz than rock. Right now I'm listening to their album "Greenhouse". The "guitar heads" might be disappointed though, as the sax takes it's place! :eek:

Baggio

RUSH are masters of instrumentals.......
..............3 guys that sound like an orchestra..la villa straingiato is by far the best instrumental ive heard in my life and just as good live..yyz , 2112 overture, leave that thing alone, wheres my thing, etc etc...sooooo many instrumental benchmarks in their stuff...sheer class......jethro tull were /are goood at them too..and even Horslips had good stuff on their instrumentals too - dream theartre also,...agree with Doc J OHM veryy good too for sure...

ciao' amigos...Baggio......

gizmo

While Friedman was mentioned himself, I still have to mention Cacophony. "The Ninja" is probaly one of my fave instrumental tracks ever (bar that small bit of vocal work of course ). That then leads onto Becker and Perpetual Burn which, although I haven't listened to enough yet, I still amazing.

As for fave proper instrumental track ever, without a doubt its Vai's for the Love The Of God. Every time I listen to it I'm just

Oh and special mention to "Ahavo Rabo Taco Salad" by Alter Bridge. Its one of those "look at me, I've been practicing" pieces I love oh so much.

Voodu Child

Andy Timmons - his latest album Resolution is absolutely brilliant. Ive been a huge fan of Vai, Satch et al for years, and ive probably listened to this album more than any other instrumental album. It really rocks

Crucifix

Camel's album "The Snow Goose" is a great instrumental one.

DominoDub

A few to add to your the Post- Rock/Metal list
Agalloch
Red Sparowes
Gregor Samsa
Slint
Boris
Do Make Say Think
Bark Psychosis
Tortoise
Labradford
My Bloody Valentine


And for a Post - Folk fix try ( you don't always need a stack of amps to get power )

John Fahey - Red Cross,Death Chants, Breakdowns and Military Waltzes
Leo Kottke - 6 And 12 String Guitar
Jim O'Rourke - Bad Timing
Adrian Legg - Guitar for Mortals.

Jazz & experimental with a rock edge...
Miles Davis - post Bitches Brew .. rock in the mix eg Sonny Sharrock
Bill Laswell - Arcana
Buckethead
Frank Zappa
Derek Bailey
Keiji Haino
Terje Rypdal - Skywards

Gabriel

I like a lot the album from Virgil Donati " Serious Young Insects" ... fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!:)
People check it .... serious playing there.........:cool:

BostonB

I only really listen to Vai and Satriani and then only rarely, as most of the time its too self indulgent. Recently been checking out some of bucketheads stuff and its interesting when he slows down. Whitewash is a great track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8akmP6Sjv2o