U.D.O. - Mystery !!!!! Браво Андрей - Debussy Mystery : Well, I must say this is a good surprise. I really like this song. Well, I dont find it so weird. But yes it is very unusual from UDO. It definitely departs from UDOs usual style. But I like the dark and menacing mood. The riff uses a classic Phrygian/locrian harmonic progression in E, implying the evil tritone. Quite classic. The chorus modulates to the key of B minor phrygian. In this, the harmonic progression is quite classic of what dark forms of heavy metal frequently use. What is unsual in comparision with classic heavy metal, is actually the arrangements over it, the vocals and the electronic parts. By arrangement, I use a technical word to refer to the way the music is cooked. To take an image, the chords, the riffs, the melody are the backbones and the flesh, and the arrangement can be regarded as the dressing. I note for example that Udo uses an unusual low vocal range, that is almost growl. So, in other words, on the core structure, its quite classic. But on the other hand, the dressing is what is the most unusual. On the other hand, the most unusual part of the song for metal in general, is the use of the whole tone scale in the first part of the solo. To speak more clearly, this scale can be seen as a form of musical vocabulary generally found in very erudite and advanced forms of music, like Debussy. And it generally sounds weird and crazy for people who are not used to it. In rock and metal, you generaly find it in progressive or avant-garde bands. But Heavy metal bands rarely use it, because it is unstable in terms of harmony. So I must say Im quite surprised by the erudition of the guitarist. A good surprise for me, really.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 13:01:58 +0000