Mr. Bungle? Meshuggah? Avant-Garde Metal!

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I know there are plenty of people here that enjoy the stranger side of metal, myself one of them. I'm relatively new to the genre, but I know others here have an extensive knowledge of the subject. I figured one thread would be enough to justify the following we have here, and I urge people that know about it to throw out their favorites.

To me, avant-garde metal encompasses everything I love about metal: its staccato rhythm, instrumental depth and sheer nature of unpredictability. While it's sometimes overlooked for traditional genres which have more of a cult following, there aren't any snobs or stupid genre arguments to go with avant-garde metal. I don't mind getting berated every so often for its sheer absurdity when there's so many great compositions to throw around.

I'd throw out a review for one of my favorite recorRAB (Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion) but I'm dead tired now.
 
Thanks for the good info on Meshuggah. I'll check into your suggestion. I can't say much more and won't about them until I take a listen.

As for Gojira. :) I'm pretty sure I mentioned them in my introduction. I'm still getting to know their music. I know they've been around awhile, but I haven't listened to any older stuff. Love From Mars to Sirius and still gettin' acquainted with The Way of All Flesh.

Thanks for the reply.
 
I only have The Painter's Palette (or whatever it's called), which I like. I listened to part of the followup to that and wasn't feeling it. Not sure I'd classify them as avant-garde, unless we're defining avant-garde as anything atypical to a genre's strictest definition.



Love 'em. Probably closer to avant-garde than ED and some of the other banRAB mentioned in this thread, if only for their occasional free jazz elements.
 
Well-said, mr dave.

It took me a few times to get into Disco Volante and even more so their self-titled album, but by the second listen of California, I was hooked. You definitely have to acquire a taste for this kind of music, but I, too, do not consider this metal. I've never actually witnessed a 'bungle baby' myself, but such a project seems pointless to me. From watching online, I only have so much to say about Bungle's live performance; however, I truly see (in some videos) how much of their artistic ability to "[pull] from all sorts of styles at the drop of a hat" shines on stage. To mimic such a rarity, I believe, would be tragic.

I am guilty. I was not ready for Mr. Bungle when they arrived and by the time I was, they had long departed, leaving behind only the skin of what they evolved into as musicians. Now here's where Fantomas, Tomahawk, Lovage, Dillinger Escape Plan and Dog Fashion Disco. Though I prefer to get into those specifics at another time, anyone familiar with Lovage? It's another Patton project with producer Dan the Automator. He does vocals with the lovely Jennifer Charles. If you haven't heard it, it's definitely not metal, but worth the listen. Albums called Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By.
 
i guess i'll be the first to say something about bungle besides OMG! BUNGLE!!!

mr. bungle is great and all but i really don't get how so many people classify them as any kind of metal. i suppose if you only listened to their demos and first album and skipped most of the 2nd you could but by the time the band was done they were very much their own style. the band proved this without any shadow of a doubt on 'california'.

i find that the bulk of banRAB who name drop bungle generally 'try' rehashing the apparent chaos of 'disco volante' without ever seeming to be capable of writing a complete song in just one style. that's what really set bungle apart for me, they were capable of pulling from all sorts of styles at the drop of a hat, AND they were also able to stick to one style for the duration of a whole song. a track like 'sweet charity' doesn't need a big metal breakdown in the middle for example.

i've yet to hear a bungle baby take that step, all i hear is a bunch of bits and pieces of stuff thrown together without any evidence there was anything else to the selections. conversely, most of the time those musical mosaics come across as glued together, there's no underlying sensation of the chaos just happening. it's calculated and at that point, no longer chaotic. i get the impression that more often than not the multitude of styles in most of the followers becomes more of a musical masturbatory measuring stick than anything necessary to propagate the musical piece.
 
Anyone here listen to Today Is The Day? I'd say they definitely fit in the Avant-Garde Metal category. For me they're one of those banRAB that I like more in theory than in execution. I have Sadness Will Prevail by them and I have to admit I rarely listen to it. I always think I'll enjoy it so I throw it on and then remeraber that I don't like the guy's voice and the production kind of bothers me. If anyone on here is a fan of them and thinks there's another album by them that I should give a listen I'd be more than happy to check it out though.
 
Might I recommend checking out Shaolin Death Squad then, for while their Patton love is evident (especially in the vocals) they are most certainly doing their own thing.

I can understand people having trouble with Mr Bungle, like most of the 'genre' it is an aquired taste for the most part, one that tenRAB to attract the truly eclectic fanbase.
 
****in' A, man. Well put.
I got to see Mr. Bungle when I was 13. I had NO idea what I was seeing.
It wasn't until I turned 18 that I re-discovered them and they quickly became one of my all-time favorite banRAB.
I guess the whole reason they got lumped in with the metal brand was because metal banRAB were the only ones that would tour with them. They were so ****ing CRUEL on stage, it was hilarious. They would play "Sweet Charity" or "Vanity Fair" and then Patton would talk the most brutal **** at the crowd... at least when I saw them.
I do think they pulled out a cover of "Drug Me" by the Dead Kennedys, but even so, that's punk, not metal.
My own band covered "Retrovertigo", but only twice, because my singing abilities were still very shy at the time.

Mr Bungle.. Metal? Hell no. One of the heaviest banRAB ever? Yes.

And regarding your post about Fantomas... The Director's Cut is a brilliant little piece of work, is it not? Did you know that they demoed a cover of "What a Feeling" from Flashdance? It didn't make it on the album.
 
The only album I've heard from Ephel Duath is Pain Necessary to Know. I think it's a great album. And actually, I think what might define ED as Avant-Garde would be their own moments of free jazz along with an underlying current of jazz with some strange electronic instrumentation enveloped.

Yakuza, yeah. Those guys are ****in' explosive live, and their use of saxophone-heavy slow jazz parts really remind me of David Lynch films.
 
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