I know that metal, especially shouty metal isn't for everyone. I don't really even know how to categorize this band and my best would be to say that they are melodic black death djenty metal. There is so much debate about which music falls into which category that I am completely disinterested in getting into a discussion about that. I was shouted at on the comments section in YT once over this and now I guess I just don't care. Do you like it? Well, that is enough of a categorization for me.
Anyway, The band is called Spiritbox and they have a ton of talent as well as tremendous dedication to their craft. Of course I didn't actually "discover" them, I just recently became aware of their existence is all.
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Just like most people in the world these days, I am a bit of a slave to the algorithms over at Spotify in order for me to figure out what is new music because I am just a bit out of touch. This is compounded by the fact that I live in Vietnam and there isn't much of a metal scene over here at all. This band was pointed out to me by a guy that I met in a bar who also happened to be a metal fan. Like me, when we were discussing music that we like he started out his explanation of the music that he likes the same way that I do in almost an apologetic sort of manner when he said "well, you probably don't know any of the bands that I like" and it turned out we both like the same kind of music.
What I consider to be "hardcore" metal isn't the most popular sort of music in the world and it is tough for me and my new best music friend, Tom, to understand. One of the bands he suggested was Spiritbox and the next day on a walk I plugged them in only to absolutely LOVE the very first track that Spotify pulled up for me.
You have to keep in mind that the very first time I listened to this I had no video to watch, it was merely on my headphones as I was walking / jogging down the beach one fine afternoon. Based solely on the audio I thought they were another band that had a clean vocalist and another "dirty" vocalist as this is quite popular in metal circles these days.
When I returned to the same bar to tell my friend Tom how much I really enjoyed Spiritbox I told him that the man doing the dirty vocals sounds just like a much younger John Tardy (of 90's band Obituary.) He then told me that both the dirty and clean vocals are done by the same woman and this is just shocking to me.
People who don't understand or enjoy this sort of metal tend to not enjoy the screamy bits or think that it doesn't require talent and if you are one of those people I strongly encourage you to try it sometime when no one else is around... it's MUCH more difficult than you think.. Then try to do it for 40 minutes to an hour in a row. I bet you can't do it.
It isn't just Courtney LaPlante's incredible vocal capabilities that makes this such an appealing band to me, the rest of the people in the band have incredible capabilities and unbelievable rhythm. The tempo changes so frequently that only a select few musicians in the world are even capable of doing it at all, let alone at such a pace.
There was some booty-chatter going on at some point that they were simply a studio band and the accusations of Courtney either not doing both sets of vocals or doing them in separate session were running wild. This was because they haven't done much touring since much of their time in the limelight (they've only had a YT page for 2 months) has been during lockdown times. I don't know if it was in response to this criticism or not but they released a "live one take performance" where various musicians come on to produce live content in just one take. You be the judge.
Now i suppose they could have shot this multiple times, that is the wonder if the internet. However, this doesn't change the fact that you can tell that this is one take and no splicing has been done and you can even hear a few imperfections in the replication if you are familiar with both the studio version and this version.
Anyway, they made a fan out of me after just a few songs and I did find it a little disappointing to discover that they only have around a dozen songs in total and every single song has an accompanying video - which is extremely rare.
I look forward to seeing what this trio (they don't currently even have a full-time drummer) can manage to pull off once the world goes back to normal.
If you are a fellow metal fan, or even if you aren't, I'd love to hear what you have to say in the comments!
Very interesting. I always find it fascinating when there is a female lead on a band like this. I think that is part of the reason that I liked Unleash the Archers when I heard them as well as Baby Metal. This isn't the kind of music I listen to every day, but it is definitely something I will add to one of my playlists.
That was exactly what happened to me when I found out Jinjer. Tatiana's vocals are from out of this world. 😄
Check this out:
And here's another fantastic tune:
This Spiritbox band is also something great. I've listened to them a few times in Spotify, they have great tunes. 😊
Those are two fantastic tunes man! And it is also a band I have never paid much attention to. That's about to change so thanks for the rec! I wonder what the "shelf life" is for singers like this, it seems like one style would damage the other after a while and they probably consume a lot of lozenges.
When it's done right, it doesn't damage the vocal cords. 😉
LOL when youre a warrior you weren't concerned about the Vocal Chords when you had to make real cries of agony and death. Which is what some of these bands are trying to transcribe.
I really enjoy the Female Vocals too in metal, Angela from Arch Enemy really stole my affection as a young man, but there is some really powerful stuff in the Black Metal genre, although very hard to sift through to find a real gem, I have one of those for you today.
All vocals by the female, throat singing by the male supporting vocals.
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Darkestrah/15448
This specific record brought out some raw emotion because the band returned to Kyrgyzstan to produce their most recently EP, away from their fancy studio in Germany.
There was a time where I listened to this kind of thing a lot... nowadays, not so much. I prefer stuff with a little bit more melody! 😁
lol we are polar opposites that appreciate our roots, I started with In Flames and their awesome New Gothenburg Death Metal, and have been seemingly transition to more raw production techniques. I have played a lot of instruments and got really bored with the effects part being a artist myself, when it goes to post production people turn into insecure little bitches, all the confidence that happens on stage and during recording is somehow trashed when these guys try to use technology to improve their sound.
🤭😁😂
I hope this virus craziness goes away... I'd love to check out these guys live. What do you think of them?
given that courtney is almost 15 years deep in this, I'd say the longevity isn't a concern :P
I knew this person was familiar, this chick used to be in a metalcore band called I wrestled a bear once. Glad you found something new you like, can't say I'm a fan, personally.
iwresteledabearonce is one word and you know it! Yeah she replaced their first singer because the original one got preggers and then decided to never come back. I'm genuinely shocked that you don't dig it!
Something about her voice just doesn't click for me, I dunno. Then again, I've never been a fan of any female vocalists period, besides Angela Gossow from Arch Enemy.
You'll probably know the answer to this... why did they replace Angela? She was my first foray into female singers for metal bands. I don't think she ever did clean vocals. Ravenous is my favorite one that she did.
From all I heard, it was basically her just wanting to take a back seat on things. She was interviewed about it at some point and just said she had other interests she wanted to focus on, and she wanted more time with her family. She still manages Arch Enemy and a few other bands for a living though.
lol ditto
Kyrgyzstan Black Metal be like.
LOL 2% triggered at the Djent and Black Metal Coexisting, but I like creativity lol so lets see this, it cant be as ridiculous as Jared Dines Djent God 2020 LOL
Spiritbox is the finest thing to come out of metal in the last 3 years IMO (predated by car bomb in 2016). I've had them on repeat all month, their rule of nines vocal playthrough is the gold standard for a vocal performance.
When I first heard them I thought "This is the direction I wish Tesseract moved into"