Musical Notes: Light Amassing

You can stream this song at http://undertherose.bandcamp.com/track/light-amassing.

From Demo to Song

I don’t really remember how the pieces of “Light Amassing” came together. It began as a series of guitar riffs labeled “Idea 4.” The guitar demo actually included the completed structure of the song. I remember wanting the intro/verse riff to be in 4/4 but to contain enough syncopation that it feels like a different time signature. This feeling is enhanced by Jason’s staccato drum part.

The verse, chorus, bridges, and outro came together nicely. Jason was able to establish the vibe of the song perfectly with his initial ideas. The only exception was the prechorus. We spent a few weeks debating the best drum part for that riff. He churned out a couple of ideas, and we finally settled on the classic thrash beat you hear on the song. (For more about Jason's drum part, click here.)

I also had trouble writing a bass line for the verse. I finally decided to mimic the melody of the lyrics, which is something I had never before done with a bass line. I was pleased with the results.

Guitar Solo: PLEASE, No More Shredding

For every guitar solo on this album, I wanted to shred. Frankly, it had been a long time since I had played lead guitar on a rock/metal project, and I wanted to see if I still had any chops. But for this song, I thought I would focus only on tasteful note selection. Hopefully, it worked.

Influential Screaming

The screaming vocals on the prechorus and bridge are inspired solely by vocalists in the metal genre. The scream-and-echo method of the bridge has been done well countless times. I grew up listening to Pantera, so they were an obvious influence on my screaming, though perhaps not on my clothes, hair, or lyrical content... (Note: The message delivered in the Pantera song is quite different than the one we're delivering, and the language may offend some readers.) 

More recently, the layered simultaneous singing and screaming of Killswitch Engage has influenced me on songs like “Light Amassing.” The cadence of the screaming during the bridge of "Light Amassing" is actually similar to the verses of the Nothingface song “Can’t Wait for Violence.” (As I type this, I’m amazed that songs with such dark  themes could influence us to write a song about seeking the heart of Christ. How ironic. Note: The message delivered in the Nothingface song is quite different than the one we're delivering, and the language may offend some readers.)