What Makes Crystal Mountain So Great?

[@cotopaximusic]

That opening, playing Crystal Mountain on the piano like that... enough to make a grown man cry. Beautiful.

[@VARVIS_]

Im not cyring.....You are lol

[@d1rtyb3ard3]

Came to the comments to see if anyone else said this. I need a death piano album asap

[@hoodwinker7932]

Search KZbin, there’s a classical pianist who has covered this. I saw that first and that got me hooked on Death.

[@d1rtyb3ard3]

@hoodwinker7932 oh hell yeah I will

[@ThePsychedelicCinema]

Chuck was an anomaly. The word genius gets thrown around a lot, but holy hell, he was genuinely one of a kind. An absolutely masterful musician.

[@VARVIS_]

100% man

[@viperzenthic1573]

Didn't he also claim to not know the terms of theory, but only knew enough to write what he'd wanted? To create songs like Chuck did nearly freehandedly is, well, absurd to say the least. Oh man, if he was here now...

[@thorxe-]

crystal mountain is my go to death metal recommendation song for people who’ve never heard the genre. it’s such an anomaly in the sense that is can be wildly brutal while also being incredibly lyrical and instrumentally grand. it pretty much embodies peak death metal. true 10/10

[@elkrueg3r]

And super catchy

[@dylangarsed7254]

I agree

[@Aszohcic]

Tbh it’s hard for me to consider „Symbolic” a death metal album. Death at that point had really overcame the genre. Not a complaint.

[@emmanuelmacias6959]

It’s so badass

[@emmanuelmacias6959]

1000 eyes goes so hard

[@zacharyluhman9022]

I always thought it made so much sense how the bridge harmony is done in 5ths, aka the purest and stable interval. Pure and stable like a crystal.

[@VARVIS_]

Great point! Wish I put it in the video! Cheers

[@rustyshaaaakleford]

I hope we'll be getting one of these videos for "Break Stuff" by seminal blackened death-doom outfit Limp Biscuit

[@Huddle_House56]

It’ll have to be just one of those days, ya know?

[@MetalKid69]

How about Hot Dog? Such genius lyrics

[@VARVIS_]

Maybe Ill do Nookie lol

[@DarrynGrills]

@@VARVIS_ Boiler would genuinely be a good dive though

[@rockoutmichigan]

I legit snort laughed... And I like LB.

[@markd7933]

Thank you for keeping the spirit alive. Chuck was a pioneer of metal in so many ways. He may not have been the creator of the death metal sound(as the elitists argue) but he was by far the most influential. He broke the stereotype of the brainless evil/gore music and made truly thought provoking music with so much depth that to this day no one can come close to. As an adult I thank his lyrics for getting me into philosophy and psychology. The lyrics weren’t hugely philosophical themselves but as a teenager they blew my mind. Nowadays the stoic, reflective, and compassionate nature of the lyrics are ingrained in my way of thinking. I almost always go back to them when I need inspiration.

[@VARVIS_]

Man great comment. Could not think of a better way to describe Symbolic and TSOP. Stoic, compassionate and reflective. 👍👍👍

[@flammerion]

Being a fan of Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, the Hungarian scale on piano hit a chord in me. I had never noticed this detail. Just in case y’all don’t know yet, Bartók is one of the most metal composers. Check this video on youtube: “Quatuor Ebène : Bela Bartok String quartet Nr. 4 C-major Sz 91”.

[@ShanevsDCsniperr]

The bartok quartets are some of the coolest music ever written

[@VARVIS_]

Ill check it out bro! Thanks for the rec

[@flowerinthedawn1]

Dude this is the stuff I'm looking for on youtube. I have already analyzed the song by myself but seeing it from a different perspective really helped. I saw the things that I missed in the song, thank you for your wonderful work

[@VARVIS_]

You are welcome man!

[@tommyflann]

I love That piano intro...

[@seanshaughnessy4330]

Crystal mountain was the first song i learned front to back on guitar

[@calebbean1384]

First song I learned front to back if you include the lead

[@aghilton8531]

Always happy to see these song analyses in my feed. Crystal Mountain was the first Death song I ever heard and got me into the band. But for all the times I’ve listened to it, I’ve never lingered long enough to pick out the things that make it awesome. You’re right - it hits at a subconscious level regardless, but it’s so cool to go through and see what makes the song tick. Chuck wrote such best music and lyrics to go with it. Keep the analyses coming

[@insightguitars]

great analysis, man you are good at this! I loved how you breakdown the parts and described them.

[@VARVIS_]

Thanks man!

[@kaveiros75]

There is a lady on KZbin that made a piano cover on "Crystal Mountain". Played beautifully by her and shows in a different way the musical genius of the song.

[@DeathmetalPersian]

Chucks genius never stops blowing my mind.

[@nurgle333]

This is great I'm going to show this to my dad tomorrow. He's free thinking ex-preacher 70 years old and he loves this shit

[@vonclod123]

What did your dad think?

[@clee3352]

The song that got me into Death. There was always an ‘aura’ around this song which drew me in. Glad I watched this video to learn just how great Chuck and the rest of the band really were. Thanks!

[@hamishlogie7787]

What an amazing analysis! Really intriguing & enjoyable work!

[@VARVIS_]

Thank you man!

[@123apoc]

Man, great video! Yes Chuck was showing us the ropes. I also love analyzing and scrutinizing. This is some a-tonal mastery here, I tell you. O, when they slow down to 100, the feel goes into a 16th note triplet feel, which is why we experience a minor tempo change of actually being sped up even tho the tempo just dropped (straight 16ths over 120 is slower than 16th triplets at 100bpm)! Fukn clever writing Bless you, man. Keep it up!

[@VARVIS_]

That makes total sense! thank you for clarifying! Cheers bro

[@GozMaster]

wow. what an incredible video breakdown. I appreciate this level of musical dissection and learned a ton about a song I already love.

[@VARVIS_]

Cheers bro! Glad you learned some things!

[@MrPERPS]

Piano death sounds awesome

[@ArcticonComp]

Great stuff! Crystal Mountain has been my go to finger training/warming song for about 25 years or so. And also one of my all time favourites from the first time I heard back when the album came out.

[@JSchellergJ]

What a great video. Death is recently 'new' to me and have been an interesting thing to get to know them better

[@TheCuttingBureau]

The riff you mention at 15:36 really is wonderful. What a beautiful phrase.

[@rogercastilho19]

Great analysis of one of my favorite songs!

[@db4700-b1d]

I admire your dedication and knowledge, VARVIS. Cannot imagine how much time you spent making this. Classical music at the background was great. Kinda speecheless here.

[@VARVIS_]

Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@justsomeguywithagoatee]

Люблю твои обзоры по творчеству Чака, спасибо за крутой контент!

[@Brando-Lee3725]

One of my favorite tracks from them ! It captured my attention instantly as a standout on that record amongst a bunch of other crushers on there . Misanthrope is another song I don't hear much spoken about enough .

[@pple_tivities]

Love to see metalheads keep Chucks memory alive. Ur awesome love for you all

[@__supreme7]

Holy shit Varvis upload after 13 days hold my boba Jokes aside, splendid intro and this is a masterpiece of metal.

[@VARVIS_]

Im back baybee

[@South-of-Heaven]

Love the deep dive into this iconic song. Thank you. I convinced a kid to play a whole album from death on rocksmith. He was blown away at how many tasty riffs he heard .. per song. He is now a fan. “Crazy awesome” if you wanna see. He’s played 3 albums so far.

[@VARVIS_]

Which guy? Does he play a Jackson kelly? Might have seen his channel

[@South-of-Heaven]

@@VARVIS_ he is young black kid.

[@ghett0yeti666]

Great stuff man. Glad I stumbled on your channel. Sometimes, metal is more than yelling and riffs (I mean, most of it is, but sometimes that's just what you need). Awesome analysis. Can't wait to check out some more.

[@madolezal]

that flanger effect in the bridge is an overdub using pick scrapes im pretty sure. i recorded this song once and did that and sounded bang on.

[@VARVIS_]

Makes total sense! Cheers man

[@doc_Christian24]

I think Chuck is actually playing notes for those overdubs. They just sound really crunchy because of how he attacks the strings with his pick along with the flanger effect. You can hear the overdubs clearly without the flanger effect in the demo for Crystal Mountain.

[@falconpaaaawnch9334]

@@VARVIS_ I think its chorus but on the whole song. My first guitar teacher told me the secret to a killer heavy tone was to put a small amount of chorus over your distortion. I don't think I agree with him, but to me that tone sounds exactly like Death's tone, Symbolic and TSOP in particular, just that TSOP has a way harsher sounding solid state distortion. The chorus gives the distortion a lot of high end sparkle for chords and lead sections, but the pulse of the chorus pedal mixed with the distortion makes a very flanger-esque sound if you let it ring out. The only other song I can think of that might also be mixing chorus with distortion is Plush by STP. I like the tone on that song and I've heard people describe it as a sparkly chainsaw. To me it sounds like those are either pick scrapes or chugs on fully muted strings done with the chorus/dist tone. Its most likely a chorus pedal they use for the clean section tone so I think they just leave it on when they turn the distortion on too.

[@TheUltimateGC]

Oh man this is my favorite Death song. So happy this video just popped up.

[@beefconnection9997]

Thank you very much. Very interesting. I'm big Death fan for it's complexity and compositions. It's nice to hear a deep analysis on the music and the lyrics to help us comprehend things. 👍

[@unoriginal_name7091]

Great video, Crystal Mountain was the song that convinced me to check out Symbolic and by extent the earlier Death albums.

[@dtltmtgt]

My appreciation of this song (and Chuck) has jumped significantly! Great stuff

[@image30p]

Great analysis! Our band recorded at Morrisound Studio. Tom and Jim had a lot of great stories about Chuck. Confirming his talent. Corpsegrinder told us that Death influenced him to take up the vocal style. Based on Chuck. There's a killer guitarist name Rick Renstrom who lives in this area and used to hang out with Chuck all the time. I guess they lived a few blocks from each other. He has a cool shred channel on KZbin. They all think Chuck was an amazing human being. I remember when this album was released back when there were release dates. My friend (the drummer of our band) and I went to Best Buy, bought the album, went back to my apartment and listened to the whole thing. He became a much larger fan than I of the later catalog of Death and Control Denied. Chuck's music was so dense. To break it down like you did must have taken a long time. I really appreciate your effort, because I can enjoy it on different levels now. I hope that you live a long time. Keep playing and making videos! I subscribed and I'm looking forward to watching more.

[@VARVIS_]

That is so cool man! what was your band?

[@image30p]

@@VARVIS_ Ancestor, sir 🙂

[@cbrindle91]

19:36 sound is probably something done in post production. It is definitely a flanger. That "airplane flyover" effect is a dead giveaway. They probably recorded a version of the riff with a flanger on and put that track on a fader so they could fade it in and out during the mix process.

[@lobabobloblaw]

Amazing band, rhythms, and vision. RIP Chuck.

[@motopolak]

Interestingly, the lyrics “cross turned dagger” can be interpreted in 2 ways. The first is the way you mentioned, a cross (religious symbol) turning into a dagger (weapon) through hypocrisy. The other, using a hyphen in the words cross-turned, is if you imagine what a dagger looks like: it has a handle, crossguard, and the blade. The blade is usually longer than the handle, so if you turn the dagger with the blade pointing down, it resembles the shape of a cross. Never knew if that was Chuck’s genius intention or just coincidence but always found it super cool.

[@tarekgamaleldin518]

One of my favorite Death songs !love your video man !🤘🎸💀🤘

[@gorgan8]

Great video and that piano cover was amazing

[@bulletwardward4635]

Chuck was a musician genius to this day no other has come close to his talent. Metal has not been the same without him his is much missed

[@Purple_Shell_Media]

like an epic house of cards! Great video!

[@Thrillhouse84]

Symbolic was the album that got me into Death and the only album I had by them for a little while. This song wasn't one of the standout tracks for me at first. I really liked the title track, 1000 eyes, and without judgment best. However, after 20 years and 1000s of spins, Crystal Mountain is definitely the standout track on the album by far. That piano cover of it is excellent too, very moving.

[@VARVIS_]

Cheers man 👍

[@fredlaroche6969]

Always very interesting videos. I do favor your Death content :) Keep em coming!!!!!!!

[@behindthewolfseyes]

I'm excited to watch the spirit crusher video! Great channel!

[@VARVIS_]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@Murderdol1s.7]

Crystal mountain is one of my favorite death songss!!😸

[@Walamonga1313]

This channel is brilliant, will definitely watch more videos

[@sergeriemichael4492]

Thank for the work

[@hockeyeverything4339]

Interestingly, I'd think around the same time frame, a band named Mayhem, released an album with a suicide photo of their vocalist and constantly criticized bands like Death in the US for making intricate musical compositions that didn't sound like they only knew three chords and recorded it on cassette in a basement.

[@transilvanianxhunger]

I think that was a lil before the symbolic album, like early 90’s. But they were critical of death metal

[@hockeyeverything4339]

@@transilvanianxhunger Point is, compared to Death, Mayhem couldn't even carry their gear regarding creativity and musicianship. Their entire appeal is sounding like shit and pretending that they are musicians while they burn churches, seek for a new extreme in shock value and kill each other because they agreed they all loved Venom, but couldn't agree on anything else

[@transilvanianxhunger]

@@hockeyeverything4339 whoa there, what you’re saying about their behavior is accurate as far as them being extreme, but you can’t deny they had a huge influence in metal and some of their albums are considered classics by many. I think comparing mayhem to death is odd, it’s a completely different style of music. Death is very simple in comparison to Suffocation but it doesn’t make them less good.

[@hockeyeverything4339]

@@transilvanianxhunger You do you. But I think they're a joke. Frost, Sodom, Bathory, Destruction in the early years were all superior to Mayhem. They just ripped off some titles, album titles from those bands and gained notoriety through criminal acts. They're a fuckin joke

[@transilvanianxhunger]

@@hockeyeverything4339 sounds like you have your mind made up, but there’s literally millions of people into Norwegian black metal and they were at the forte front of that movement. I think that speaks for itself. And for the record I wasn’t disagreeing on your original point I was just saying the timeline was off.

[@22neohenry]

Great analysis of a great song. It's been forever etched in my brain since I first heard it in the early 2000s. If you play guitar and don't learn at least the "response" riff you're messing up.

[@kile1885]

I got into extreme metal and later on into guitar playing because of this song

[@powerhitter033]

I'm so happy I clicked on this video

[@jesselucero4581]

So very well done my dude. Never seen your work before but this video earned an instant fan and sub.

[@VARVIS_]

ayyy cheers my man!

[@brandontadday6288]

That tapping solo section almost sounds like something you would hear on a Castlevania game soundtrack when it’s played on piano. Nice!

[@VARVIS_]

definitely!

[@brandontadday6288]

@@VARVIS_ Amazing video btw! The amount of detail and minutiae that you cover in your musical analysis videos is far beyond most of the similar content that’s on KZbin. Keep it up. Subscribed and can’t wait to see more videos!

[@fokyoushima1]

Congrats! That gave me a larger view of how complex Chuck's work really is! Love it!🤘✌🤘

[@VARVIS_]

Cheers man!

[@thocom529]

Been getting more and more into death, these videos r great

[@crabbuckets7506]

I agree. Just great stuff 👌

[@Beastlango]

I always knew the song was more what you talked about, but I always imagined a fantasy story. One of some kind of priest ascending into a crystal mountain and using the dark magic within to take over his church and place himself as the new pontiff/prophet. Then twisting the church to be as he wants it. Now that I know for sure what it’s about I can safely steal that idea for on of my books.

[@VARVIS_]

I love that, great imagery

[@Jobble]

Absolutely fantastic video. Been loving your content.

[@katczar]

[@VARVIS_]

Thanks so much!

[@AmberD]

Love this so much!

[@MercutioUK2006]

Utterly fantastic. Your analysis makes me wish I had actually chosen to stick with music in my youth......great work.

[@VARVIS_]

You can always learn it man. I started just a few years ago with Music Theory for dummies lol

[@MercutioUK2006]

@@VARVIS_ Hrrrm! I do know some theory......perhaps you're right :)

[@CheapSushi]

thank you for this; this helps a lot for my own song writing to really get it all much tighter and thoughtful

[@ETTETTE]

amazing work once again!!

[@toksic424]

Great work as always! I love these analysis videos.

[@VARVIS_]

Thanks brother!

[@sIither]

Crystal Mountain was perhaps a reference to Crystal Cathedral where televangelist Robert Schuller preached

[@Horrorgang]

Amazing video. Thank you for this. Death is awesome and this was the song that got me into them!

[@matteosesar289]

Great analysis, can’t wait for more death deep dives

[@VARVIS_]

More coming my good sir

[@timtrolll]

In my experience from learning this song, a flanger really does the trick for the tempo change section, not 100% sure if thats what Chuck used, but it sounds fuckin awesome

[@jye_24]

The Craziest thing about this Video to me is that I clicked on it because of the Time Stamp which said 34:17... Chuck Passed away at 34, and Released the Mantas Demo at 17... Long Live the King! And Even though when you click the video the Time Stamp is 34:16, 16 Was the Age he Formed and Started Writing The First Death Metal Ever in Mantas!

[@adhamsalem9121]

Varvis: What is a crystal mountain? Me: Yes.

[@VARVIS_]

YES

[@HerbertBaruc-q4h]

Very great work dude, keep it up.

[@TMortician1]

Very good musical analysis 🤘🏻

[@SylverANGL]

nice work on the lyrics analysis ! plus the extra details about bible translation where interesting

[@vitodigiovanni4020]

VARVIS HYPE

[@VARVIS_]

BASED VITO

[@emmanuelmacias6959]

Overactive imagination is such a badass song I can’t put words into why I like it so much

[@tonyibarra4822]

“Notable feat” nice choice of words

[@VARVIS_]

Hahahah thanks man 😂

[@eeyoretriple6]

10:45 100% agree GOAT drum patterns and riffs

[@barsknos]

I don't think any other band had as big of a lyrical impact on me. I was 14 when I discovered Death with the release of Individual Thought Patterns, 16 when Symbolic came out. And 20 when I travelled to the Netherlands to see them live at Dynamo. I somehow knew it had to be done, that it might be my only chance. RIP legend!

[@FreshHeat]

The outro acoustic guitar always reminded me of Gypsy Kings

[@billyhall2006]

When those riffs are put into chords and ring out, they sound very Gojira like. Great video.

[@VARVIS_]

Cheers man!

[@poltergheist77]

Man, I loved this video! Rock on Bro!

[@bezerah3695]

Bro a BRIEF analysis!? My work break can’t fit this whole thing in so ima save to watch later. Regardless of what I think by the end of this video 34 mins explaining this great song is commendable as fuhhh

[@familiarsting4108]

Primarily commenting for the ALG… but I love this song. Like many other commented before, this was the first song I heard by Death, and it was seminal in my introduction to listening to and, later, playing death songs on guitar.

[@hockeyeverything4339]

I'm a music lover , freelance hack musician, singer songwriter, and am always digging deep in the search for all kinds of bands that are relative, or belong to the family tree of blues, rock, hard rock, and metal. I can't say I love the band Death; but I will say, Schuldiner was a very special artist and musician. The entire Death Discography are key releases, and gamechangers, in the evolution of the entire metal spectrum.

[@juanmacattivelli8499]

Ridiculously good video

[@shanedelgado666]

It's where evil takes It's form, and also, where commandments are reborn.

[@danielcorsini9730]

19:35 seems to me like a phaser effect, probably added in post-production or maybe directly in the recording with a pedal

[@abdulmajeedahm644]

That was both entertaining and educational, well done

[@VARVIS_]

Thanks man!

[@grdndl]

first time on ur channel I love everything abt this

[@VARVIS_]

Ayyy cheers man, welcome to the party

[@NV-hv9ic]

Awesome

[@calebbean1384]

Dude Chuck played inverted power chords down at the first and second frets. And while I was typing that you noted that 😂

[@VARVIS_]

😂😂😂😂

[@T.d.Mack74]

My old friend Richard Patrick moved from Missouri to Florida and played drums for Death great guy tank of a drummer.

[@VARVIS_]

Damn, any good stories from him?

[@xerodelacroix5552]

I saw the metaphor immediately of a towering structure that's supposed to be pure and transparent, but is actually corrupt as all hell.

[@VARVIS_]

Exactly what a Crystal Mountain is

[@artilleryhell4396]

nice video dude ! enjoyed

[@artilleryhell4396]

would enjoy your take on some carcass songs

[@chacurdan]

Great work. Congratulations.

[@VARVIS_]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@ShinSuperSaiyajin]

I learned about Death through this song as Sticky Ricky aka Dick Del Hagen aka Eric Bugenhagen loves to maxout his deadlifts and squats with this song

[@VARVIS_]

Now THAT is based

[@diego_villena]

Those harmonizing fifths are more typical of renaissance and earlier era monastic chanting than the classical canon. Rob Halford uses a similar device in Painkiller to heighten the sense of the sepulchral, ancient, almost holy in contrast to the brutality of the rest of the song. Cleansing fire, deadly wheels and all that