Tutorial: BTBAM's Fossil Genera Piano Intro

Here's a piano tutorial I made last year for the "Fossil Genera" intro. It was recorded with me holding my iPod in front of my face...no mount and no assistant, therefore I was limited with what I was able to show. Don't fret - upcoming videos will feature both hands. Enjoy.

Band Spotlight #1

Age of Silence

Andy Winter, also of the band Winds, is the mastermind behind the keys in this band. The band is not overly technical or guitar-driven in the least (although there are exceptions for instrumental solos). Rather, the focus is on creating a texturally-rich atmosphere for the listener.

Contrast and contradiction are the rule with this band. Age of Silence incorporates haunting vocal harmonies -  in the song "The Idea of Independence & The Reason Why It's Austere" (1:34) especially - which conjure images of Christmas carolers singing in desolate abandoned landscapes. However, the ethereal and beautiful nature of the singing is oddly matched to lyrics announcing the grand opening of a shopping mall in Hell:

Shamka, the Arab clerk, smiled his largest smile as the customers started seeping through the revolving door and into the sulphur-smelling, muzak-filled mall. Armed with strange copper coins and charcoal check books, ceaselessly searching for Beelzebub's best bargains.

Everything was neatly stacked in monstrous shelves that demanded climbing skills and a complete absence of acrophobia. Several shoppers ceased to hope for happiness already there, returning their coins and crawling back to the surface - Dependent, dim and drowning in a self-inflicted loss of dignity.

Just as Lars Nedland's singing is riddled with contradiction, so too are Winter's keyboard compositions. He weaves a meandering tapestry of dissonance and surprise twists and turns that are endlessly interesting and complex.

Please check out their full songs on YouTube and purchase their albums! At the moment, I'm working on deciphering the piano part for "Acceleration" - the first song in the posted video - so that it can be put into a tutorial.

• Age of Silence Website

So here's the plan...

I've been a metal junkie since my formative high school years and I was initially drawn to bands that were absolutely saturated with keyboards and orchestration. Dimmu Borgir, Blind Guardian, Arcturus...you name it. I'd taken piano lessons early in my teen years and had lost interest after a couple years of playing, but wasn't until I started discovering metal bands that featured piano parts that truly resonated with me that I started taking my own playing seriously again.

It's my goal with this website to introduce people to music that inspires them to make music. For some people, it's classical music or jazz that acts as the driving force. For us, it's metal.

In this blog, I'm planning on featuring:

• Spotlights for bands that are keyboard-heavy
• Piano tutorials for songs that I'm currently obsessed with
• Gear information
• Interviews with musicians
• And much more... 

 Make sure to bookmark this page and check back often. :)