Jump to content

The City Is Ours


Primera

Recommended Posts

For any metalheads on this forum, check out the band I've been helping out with. I've been filling in as their bass player (although I'm a guitar player) until they find a bass player who can keep up with the band. We recorded this demo in December. You might not like the vocals but just get past that and tell me if you are liking the music. Keep in mind the drummer is only 16 years old. ;)

 

myspace - The City is Ours

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My opinion:

 

The "vocalist" needs to actually sing. Anyone can scream with no melody to cover up bad talent, if they want to try and make it big they need someone who can actually be vocal. Screaming is okay, but not constantly. Screaming is not music, it’s a brain hemorrhage.

 

Guitars are okay, but could use a little more character in their part of the music. I hear too many of the same notes over again in different parts of the song.

 

I'm sorry if you were the bassist in this song, but whoever it is cannot keep up with the drummer. Bass needs to accent the drums just as much (if not more) as the guitars and this person simply cannot keep up. They also spend too much time following the vocalist - that's the guitars job.

 

The drummer is actually pretty friggen good for a 16 year old kid. He has a bright future with a band that can keep up with his talent.

 

Overall, the band is pretty good. The only thing that seriously hurts them is the vocalist. You even admitted this. Drop that guy and get someone with talent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the feedback. I'm just curious as to why you think the bass isn't keeping up with the drums? There wasn't a single flaw in timing when I recorded it. And yes, I do know bass is supposed to go with drums more than anything and for the most part I do play with the drums.

 

Keep the feedback coming. I posted this on CR because I know this board likes being brutally honest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your vocalist needs to learn how to scream. If you listen to hardcore bands where they scream, you can actually understand what they are screaming, they aren't just going, raaaaawr raaawr
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally posted by Mr. 2:

You should show the band this thread when everyone is done "reviewing". It's basically a free survey service.

That's actually what I was planning on doing. I'm only gonna be playing with them until the beginning of next month so I might as well try and help them out with some feedback.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I couldn't listen to the whole thing because of the screaming. I'm a sucker for double-bass so I enjoyed the drumming while I listened. I couldn't really isolate the bass guitar so can't comment on that. Less screaming would be an improvement.

 

CJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally posted by deftapcubus:

Thanks for the feedback. I'm just curious as to why you think the bass isn't keeping up with the drums? There wasn't a single flaw in timing when I recorded it. And yes, I do know bass is supposed to go with drums more than anything and for the most part I do play with the drums.

 

I noticed a few points where the bass started traveling with the vocals, and further away from the drums. It wasn't for long, and were quick to correct. It's natural to do that. ;)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm, the drummer is THE SHIT! That being said, did the guy that wrote the song take a failing try at being a rapper? The song sounds like, at least for the first two minutes, like a bad compilation of samples of other songs. It's all over the fucking place. Right at two minutes, it sounded good, your screamer (I refuse to call him a singer as I heard no singing, just bellering like someone that just lost a leg on a wheat thresher), actually got as close as I heard to being understandable. Tell your screamer to start smoking, and do alot of it. And drink plenty of water so he can get the sound he's looking for without needing to scream to achive it. And that puberity is coming and his voice will drop down and sound better at that point. And either get some better music, of become a cover band for awhile. Do good music, even if it's someones elses, if you have talent, it will sound better, if you have NO talent, the group will suck equally as much doing good music as the group will doing bad music.

 

As far as the bassist specifically, I see you defending it, saying that ya, you WERE the bassist in this song. It's not that you are playing badly, but your experience is with playing lead I bet. Lead follows the singer, which is what you are doing, problem is he's all over the place. So following his is difficult at best. But the problem is coming with you following him at all, you as a bassist should be with the percusssion, not the lead singer. It's an easy mistake to make since you are use to playing lead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One problem I did have when I first started playing with them was that they had these 3 songs already written (along with 2 others). The reason I joined the band was so they could start getting some shows together so I wasn't really too concerned on sounding like a bass player (and that I'm just not used to it). I was just worried about learning all the songs real quick so no writing process was really taken in it from me. So for the most part, I just played what the guitar players were playing and then with little parts, I'd try to change it up a bit. There is a new song we wrote pretty recently where I actually could be mistaken for a bass player (not following vocals at all, just drums). But Feb 5th (my last show with them), I definitely will not touch another bass, just guitar graemlins/thumb.gif
Link to comment
Share on other sites

ditto to what everyone else said, the lead singer seems to be trying to do a Philip Anselmo (pantera) or Kud (Mudvayne) impression. Not very original or entertaining. The rest of the music was good, although the riffs are short and repitittus (sp?) and I found myself begging for a change to come soon.

 

they could learn alot form these people :D

http://www.homestarrunner.com/tgs8.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My cousin is the bassist a band called ISIS that you guys remind me a little of. They are actually really moving forward and getting some big deals. He's touring in Japan and Australia right now, with the UK on the horizon, but if all goes well he should be opening for Tool on their next tour. They are really good friends with Justin Chancellor

 

Check out their website at www.Sgnl05.com

 

Their MP3 section is pretty good, Panopticon is their newest release and I think it's pretty sweet.

 

As for my critique, I think you guys need to be a bit more innovative. Thats not to say however, that you can't pick up hints from other bands. Hell, in my old band I thought I wrote a song (i'm a bassist) that was completely off the hook. Then I realized I'd stolen the riff from Weezer without even realizing it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Dark_Viper01
Honestly, the music part was not that bad with the exception of the formentioned bass goofs, but it seemed to me that it could be a little more orginised, like there was too much time, and no flow between riffs. I think the singer could tone it down a bit and be ok, although he may be better suted for backup.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...