Metal/Hip-Hop Fusion: Criticism Wanted

**SuomiMetal** · Joined: 11 Oct 2007 Posts: 527 Location: MO

I made this song with my friends for a group project at my school (Full Sail University). Only 1 other group out of 14 self-produced their song as we did.

I am proud of the song no matter what, but I was wondering what some of the general public thinks of the song to test its commercial appeal. You won't hurt my feelings telling me you didn't like it, but please give me *constructive* criticism. We plan on making more songs blending these 2 styles together and we would like to find out what we could do more/less of.

The band name is Escape to Insanity and the song name is "Voices"

I did all the guitar parts and the vocals in the chorus/hook.

Here is the YouTube version with the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcpXq3wOGpk

I've heard the YouTube audio sounds a bit rough, so here is a link to the mp3 on my Dropbox: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/760137/01%20Voices.mp3

Thank you for your time and your opinions.

**GHAddict** · Joined: 19 Feb 2008 Posts: 1718

:O

Wow. That was... actually, very good. The way everyone is chanting is really, really cool. The only tip I have is that you make your screams a little more coarse. They start off amazing, but as the chorus (?) progresses, the sound develops in to more of a yell than a scream. (The beginning of the chorus is epic, though, I'm not gonna lie.)

Another tip, perhaps, would be to make the guitar a little louder. Yeah, there are some hip-hop elements in the song, and hip-hop doesn't tend to have loud guitar, if it has any at all, but you should bring it out a little more--it would make the metal parts cooler.

I've never been a fan of hip-hop, so IMO the rap sections should be shorter, but it's totally your call--anyone who likes hip-hop would say the exact opposite. Perhaps a way to augment the hip-hop, alternatively, would be to give it really simplistic guitar riff in the background. Maybe even just open strums, two at a time. Guitar Hero style, you would play:

Just to keep the heavier elements that you have going.

It's all your call, though. You definitely have a good thing there, I don't want to kill your sound.

Overall, I like it. I like it a lot. It's real simple, but it's a great tune.

P.S. Your band name is dope.

P.S.S. Going from left to right in the picture, which guy are you? There are a lot of people doing vocals in the chorus, and the camera never focuses on the guitarist.
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**DanSoup** · Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 857 Location: Sheffield, UK

During the chorus, I can just hear something on the edge of the voices, like there is someone just mumbling the words, this takes the harsh tone away from it and stops me enjoying the chorus as much as I'd like.

Perhaps get some people to sing in a different style (a screamy falsetto?) at the end of each line in the chorus to make it seem like there are more people smashing your face off with their mouths.

Another thing, make the drums sound a bit harsher, add some distortion and just kind of rough up it's hair. They just seem very tame as they are.

The song is technicaly enjoyable, just could do with a bit of polishing.
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**turbo** · Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 11:07 pm Post subject:

I don't think it's very metal at all. It seems like hip hop with metal timbres.

Once you get the balance right, you will most likely find yourself in the nu-metal genre (which still isn't very metal)...

I didn't like it :\

If you want to call it 'metal,' it needs to be more aggressive, more riff orientated, but I don't think you'll accomplish it (...I mean, it is going to be a very very very difficult task for ANYONE to pull off).

The only band I think that ever actually pulled off the blend was Vio-Lence in the song Phobophobia ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0aCT_Pb82k&fmt=18#t=1m20s ), and even then it is for a brief moment of time. I think that once you start putting the rapping style vocals onto anything, it becomes rap/hip-hop.

I went on a search for music like this and couldn't find anything with as much help as I could get (from metal gurus).

Whatever you are doing, it is definitely a bit different, so just go with it.

[edit]
The I's in your logo not being capitalized is bugging me :>
Just thought I'd throw that out there.
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**D0m0omod** · Joined: 25 Aug 2007 Posts: 848 Location: Chicago, IL

A few things.

To me, this was just a rock chorus in between rap verses. There's no real fusion of the two genres other than them being part of one song. I didn't hear much of a blend but that's no easy task, even for the artists out there who think they're doing it best.

turbo's right about the nu-metal sound you'll eventually come across. A lot of people tried this experiment and ended up just playing Hard Rock with heavy guitars and hip-hop influences. I'd like for you guys to prove us wrong, however, because it's always nice to hear something new once in a while.
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**FreeXBird** · Joined: 24 Mar 2007 Posts: 2485

I can't listen to it now, but when I do I shall edit this post. I've just recently stumbled upon Slipknot (avatar

) and I like how they have some hip hop sounds and how sometimes Corey (the vocalist) raps during the verses. I'll be sure to check yours out soon, and from these comments, it sounds pretty good already.

EDIT: I listened, and it sounded pretty good. I'd just recommend finding a way to switch between the rappish sound to the metal sound a little smoother. But still really good.

**SuomiMetal** · Joined: 11 Oct 2007 Posts: 527 Location: MO

Thank you all for the replies. The opinions here are very divided, I like that.

**turbo** · Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 8:22 pm Post subject:

I would honestly stop trying to find the perfect blend, because it doesn't really exist...

If I were you guys, I would take what you've got, and start building on it. Growls won't make it any more metal.

**SuomiMetal** · Joined: 11 Oct 2007 Posts: 527 Location: MO

**turbo** · Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 8:51 pm Post subject:

I believe the perfect blend is so ridiculously small that you can't change from song to song. One song will be metal, the next will be rap, etc. It won't be rap-metal.
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**slfan68** · Joined: 30 Oct 2007 Posts: 656 Location: Pink Hill, NC

I really liked that, you guys did a damn fine job. The only thing I could really think of that I would say needs improving was basically summed up by GHAddict - work on makin your screams a bit more coarse, like they were in the beginning; and just a little bit more prominent guitar during the verses, with a little more distortion throughout.
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**D0m0omod** · Joined: 25 Aug 2007 Posts: 848 Location: Chicago, IL

**alexhaz64** · Joined: 01 Mar 2008 Posts: 4512 Location: Long Beach, CA

hm, originally I was thinking a metal/rap fusion would be something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCGcNoAoq9s
but now I'm not sure if that's quite right...

as for the OP, I like it, but the transitions from the verses to the chorus seem a little awkward- maybe add a little guitar buildup or something... (I'm not really a musician, so I'm not sure exactly what to say about this)
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**SuomiMetal** · Joined: 11 Oct 2007 Posts: 527 Location: MO

**turbo** · Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 12:05 am Post subject:

You made it seem like you were going for that blend. If it is not the PERFECT blend, then there isn't really a blend at all.
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