Advanced death metal lesson book?

Chazzy

New member
Looking for a book that covers advanced death metal guitar techniques... especially string sweeping, 5-6 string sweeping with tapping and some interesting minor scales and chords that work well in modern death metal application... anyone have any suggestions??
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

Look for Michael Fath's books ... VERY difficult stuff, but well explained and will get your chops up in a hurry!
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

Will do! Does he have any books designed specifically for extreme metal though?
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

No, more for advanced scale studies and arpeggios. I have a few of his books and albums. The arpeggios book is out of print now, but if you can find it, it has some real nut-busting neoclassical exercises in there!

Genre is not important to me -- it's what you do with the knowledge. I am classically trained, but do not play classical nor jazz. I am, however, very happy that I understand musical theory, arrange,ent, and can read/write music.

These skills are transerable, not exclusive, in my opinion...
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

Yeah but its just I need a more focused approach to really master my style...
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

Books wont help you master 'your' style. :) Not too many death metal books out there, Alex webster has a great one for bass though, might provide some insight.

Honestly when it comes to Death Metal I always found it better to work on my chops via learning songs and writing, writing, writing, and just getting it tight as ****. My right hand was at its peak when I played in DM bands a few years ago.
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

Yup, just take the speed metal books and tune lower. :D
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

What about this dude: http://www.jamplay.com/teachers/28-kris-norris

You gotta figure when it started, people like James Murphy and Michael Amott didn't have those kinds of tools - they just took rock/jazz guitar concepts and used them in a DM setting. James Murphy's licks could easily be in some jazz tunes, and Amott plays a lot of Schenker type stuff.
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

my right hand is really tight as hell, its more my left hand that needs work :( I have trouble keeping up with my right hands insane speed... I dont know, I think I need some repetitive exercises and what not, I work on my trills often and just play scales over and over but ive been kinda stuck for a while now...
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

Yeah like I said to Kamanda, my right hand and picking technique is really quite good, I started eco picking pretty much as soon as I started to play metal 2 years back and I have always found it to be one of my strengths, my biggest weakness is my left hand, Im just not fast enough, or accurate enough, also I lack alot of theory, as in scales and stuff so I often get stuck when creating new riffs... I listen to some of these guys in big bands and the riffs they come up with are just mind blowing! When I play mine they are just simple riffs based off of a power chord...
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

Yeah like I said to Kamanda, my right hand and picking technique is really quite good, I started eco picking pretty much as soon as I started to play metal 2 years back and I have always found it to be one of my strengths, my biggest weakness is my left hand, Im just not fast enough, or accurate enough, also I lack alot of theory, as in scales and stuff so I often get stuck when creating new riffs... I listen to some of these guys in big bands and the riffs they come up with are just mind blowing! When I play mine they are just simple riffs based off of a power chord...

yeah, it's pretty impressive what guys make up and play these days. my ears like more simple melodies and hooks that I can remember once the song is over, but I'm often in awe of death metal and grindcore guitarists' capabilities when I see them play their technical & fast stuff.

for example, Annihilator's current touring guitarist is Aaron Homma. I saw some clips of recent annihilator shows and I was impressed with his tightness alongside Jeff so I sought out some more of his stuff. Turns out he's a total DM/grind type player with some mad skills! check out the sweeps around the 2 min mark.

 
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Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

I have a pretty crappy natural sense of timing ...but when I've got a drum track behind me it's a different story...

...used to have a couple of tech-death/grind/avant-garde projects back in my pre-Carpel tunnel days lol ....lots of challenging right & left hand gymnastics haha....quite a departure from my long-standing main band, which is Doom metal.


This was from my lo-fi/tech/avant-garde grind project circa 2005-6 I think..



However stuff like that takes its toll unless you do it right (warm up properly, lots of exercises etc..). I had to stop playing for 5 years thanks to CTS.
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

my biggest weakness is my left hand, Im just not fast enough, or accurate enough, also I lack alot of theory, as in scales and stuff so I often get stuck when creating new riffs... I listen to some of these guys in big bands and the riffs they come up with are just mind blowing! When I play mine they are just simple riffs based off of a power chord...

Slow it down a bit and work on it...find a riff that incorporates the technique your looking to build and go! As for scales/ theory, all good stuff to know, but in DM alot of that is discovered afterword (i.e. oh, this riff is in E phrygian! rather than 'im going to write a riff in E phrygian). Some of the best riffs are just bassed off power chords too don't forget. I hoenstly think by learning more riffs etc. you will start to get a feel for common patterns etc. Also keep in mind alot of those riffs didn't come out as is first go. It was probably just jaming then tweaked it when slowed down etc. Make sense? Also, playing along with some sort of drums behind you is a great way to keep timing, stay inspired, and keep it fun!

for example, Annihilator's current touring guitarist is Aaron Homma. I saw some clips of recent annihilator shows and I was impressed with his tightness alongside Jeff so I sought out some more of his stuff. Turns out he's a total DM/grind type player with some mad skills! check out the sweeps around the 2 min mark.


Aaron is a ****ing monster. Being from the same city I have seen him play numerous times with his technical death metal band Killitorous. Both him and Nick Miller are monster guitar players. Aaron was also with Vital Remains not too long ago. It really is a treat to see guys like this live because you realize just how damn good they are when they pull it off live, everytime.
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

Eh its not really my style, thats too technical lol... I play more melodic death metal esque stuff, Like kalmah, job for a cowboy, the black dahlia murder, children of bodom, cannibal corpse, Amon amarth...
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

^ That guy's good but generic sounding in the typical Unique Leader/modern DM/deathcore way. Jeff Waters is more my kind of rhythm guitar god...or someone like Joe Haley from Psycroptic when it comes to more recent DM stuff, though the only Psycroptic albums I liked were the ones with Mathew Chalk..especially The Scepter Of The Ancients. A real classic! The next one was ok as well..though the new singer really screwed things up for me after that with all his screamo bull****. Same for Annihilator...can't listen to them anymore..



....just found another old demo:



Sounds trippy with headphones ..but decent production & the associated costs was always a problem for us :lmao:





....another ode to the apocalypse courtesy my loop pedal that sounds way cooler with headphones :D



I've been getting back into the tech-ier side of things myself for the last year or so. Jamming a bit of stuff like that ^^ ..I don't know how much you can really get out of a book though. Just work out some darker/minor scale licks/riffs and stuff & try and incorporate it in your songwriting. I'm always getting tips from the stuff I listen to. Honestly..I think the older school stuff is a better starting point for idea's/tips/direction ..bands like Theory In Practice, Coroner, Demilich, Voivod, Psychotic Waltz, Autopsy, Morta Skuld etc..they give me a lot more idea's than most generic sounding modern tech DM/deathcore stuff does..
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

^ That guy's good but generic sounding in the typical Unique Leader/modern DM/deathcore way. .

I have to disagree. Look at the bands hes played for and check out his band Killitorous.

Eh its not really my style, thats too technical lol... I play more melodic death metal esque stuff, Like kalmah, job for a cowboy, the black dahlia murder, children of bodom, cannibal corpse, Amon amarth...

Ok, but the point still stands on the cleanliness of his playing. Go watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42C4idA_-6g from 1:30 - 2:00. Mind blowing as he nails it, most guys would be overdubbing the sweep parts there (also, right after nick miller does some sweeps that uses his thumb...its a bull**** sounding technical exercise but impressive to watch).
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

Eh its not really my style, thats too technical lol... I play more melodic death metal esque stuff, Like kalmah, job for a cowboy, the black dahlia murder, children of bodom, cannibal corpse, Amon amarth...
Well why didn't you say so? People outside the metal scene might think it's splitting hairs, but the different death metal scenes are very different sounding. The differences between NYDM, Melodeath and Deathcore are quite easy to quantify.
 
Re: Advanced death metal lesson book?

i suggest you , think about what kind of playing you have in your hand. and try to apply the basic of all techniques first then make your own complex shapes dramatically. except scales and mods they ristrict you to play anything man focus what you (yourself) wanna apply just put them. its obvious you are becoming advanced death metal player. cheers
 
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