What Makes Something HEAVY?

What makes music HEAVY? In this video I unpack 10 key elements that contribute to the bone crushing sensations generated in metal music. Things like, Instrumentation, Timbre, Distortion, Dissonance, Rhythm, Palm Muting, Dynamics, Low Tunings, Aggressive Vocals, Lyrical Themes and Visual Presentation. I'll use specific examples from Slayer, Metallica, King Diamond, Cannibal Corpse, Black Sabbath and more! Grab a front row seat as we dive into the music theory behind intervals used in songs like BLACK SABBATH and MASTER OF PUPPETS. What makes music heavy to you?
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[@ShredmasterScott]

🎸 FREE TABS! Music Theory Newsletter shredmasterscott.activehosted.com/f/1

[@billj.5440]

I love that Shred uses an instrumental to illustrate lyrical themes. Hells yeah, brother. Keep doing your thing.

[@Robje300]

The tempo is very important. The heaviest songs are in my opinion the slower ones. The slower the heavier.

[@Lume658]

Crowbar!

[@blackdog6969]

Woods of Ypres come to mind. "SLOW AND HEAVY!"

[@Wind-nj5xz]

This guy dooms

[@BryceSchwager]

Not many people can do this down to a science of sorts like this, great job here.

[@bast_shreds]

great stuff shred!! can you do a children of bodom reaction/analysis? would be really cool to see you analyzing the song children of decadence, it has pretty exotic melodies

[@Red_Blxxd]

Depth of the sound is a factor that can make music more heavy. By that I mean making the quiet parts quieter and the louder parts louder to create emphasis. It also help with the groove as well

[@MetalPersonJ]

7:15 It cannot be overstated that while Tony Iommi did invent downtuning, the first two classic Black Sabbath albums are in standard tuning. At least 5 of the all time classic Sabbath songs are in standard tuning rather than D or C. It's not necessarily the tuning, its what you do with it.

[@ronaldfernandez.8586]

This is a master lesson to know, what is Heavy Metal music. 💯

[@bertkarlsson1421]

Industry by Henry Cow is a perfect example of a song that uses dissonance to create heaviness!

[@ProjectVastness]

As synth/piano player I woul had synths atmospheres, choirs,wall of sounds/textures to create sensations of space or lack of it. Dissonances etc

[@c.stoddard313]

The music that I'm working on checks most of these boxes.

[@charles-davidcorbin3341]

Great video Shred. I think to bring thing heavier you will need to add overdrive with your distortion and you will need to have alot of layers in the mix of the same instrument to have the more heaviest sound possible.

[@Executioner_of_Time]

My first introduction to heavy bands were Venom, Celtic Frost, Slayer, S.O.D., Hellhammer, in 1984 summer vacation. I guess at the time I didn't recognize Sabbath as being the godfathers of everything but they were a big part of my childhood on the early 70's-80's. Cool video and nice explanation. 🤘

[@infinidominion]

Chuck didn't like the 7string thing. He knew how to make Dstandard heavy with inverted power chords and octaves but if he saw the potential of that one lower string, he would have gone way fuckin heavier. Imagine combining the melodic intricacy of Dissection with an extra lower realm of a low A1 string or G1

[@baharavi]

Great video, I think you touched on most if not all of the key aspects of what makes metal music heavy

[@ThinkShink]

One thing that seems to be in common among the stuff that sounds heaviest to me is staccato notes/feel. Notes being somewhat percussive.

[@YoungDeathWish]

when I was a youngin' I thought being heavy meant fast, loud, distorted, angry. But as I've aged, I find the heaviest songs, to be the most depressing songs now. Like some Nirvana songs, Hyacinth house by the doors. Fell on Black Days by sound garden. basically Su!cide songs. they seem much heavier imo

[@NAT-turners-Revenge]

😐

[@sole__doubt]

Distortion is key. When I play black metal w/o distortion its just surf rock. \m/

[@redrocket9861]

Simplicity and creativity makes for heavy sounds technical isn't heavy its just complex

[@bertkarlsson1421]

Dissonance is a key element! It's hard to write a heavy song in major key no matter how much distortion you have on the guitar!

[@elparteanos69]

i think it was raining blood that was in a major key, its all about the musicians themselves

[@nathanv.4397]

I love metal. I also think Johnny Cash can be heavy; of course metal didn't exist when he was a kid. Something about his stuff is heavy.

[@badmotorbreath5206]

Brilliant breakdown, Shred. Not music theory but I’d only add the undeniable urge to headbang and foot stomp to the best heavy metal. For me over the last two decades, I go to early Gojira…. amongst the Heaviest Matter of the Universe. Then there’s early Mastodon🤘

[@Ilshatey]

The Call of Ktulu is so good, it tells story without lyrics.

[@blackdog6969]

What the song makes you feel is important to whether it's heavy or not, at least in my opinion. Power metal to doom metal, both are very different but can elicit the same feel of heavy. Hell, even the Beatles have some heavy

[@TheActionStack]

Epic content Shred!

[@jeestudent103]

One of your best videos till date

[@ChuckJansenII]

All points spot on. Pipe organs. They are heavy.

[@5zazen]

heavy involves the tonality of the notes and the picking quality. Compare Impellieris picking vs Vyperas. Vyperas is much tighter and the attack on the string is less. Impelliteris picking is heavier. Hes faster but its different. My picking on the left handed guitar is more efficient yet lighter than the right handed guitar. High notes can be just as "heavy" on the upper frets as a rhythm player playing riffs. Listen to Batios playing its him slamming the strings when he crosses string to string.

[@NAT-turners-Revenge]

"Catatonia" by suffocation..... summarizes this video to me

[@murderface15g13]

Disciple is the heaviest Slayer tune, followed by War Ensemble and Post Mortem.

[@Wind-nj5xz]

The Payback in question:

[@donnienarco144]

Fuck yeah Payback IS their heaviest song. God Hates us All is their most dark sounding and heaviest album.

[@bertkarlsson1421]

I think bass is more important than guitar! low pitches are heavier than high pitches. Zeuhl bands often don't have guitar, they have a bass with distortion and can get very heavy! Like Ruins, Shub Niggurath, Magma, Jannick Top, Weidorje, Eskaton...

[@Luemm3l]

i love in metal that it is not necessarily the speed or tuning that makes something heavy, there is a whole variety of heavy. you have bands in standard tuning like aforementioned metallica or black sabbath or Vektor in F and Id argue they are all heavy, yet you can have something like Doom or crazy fast shred in tech death and both sound very heavy to me. it is just a different kind of heavy, you know? or sometimes, you just wanna hear some fuzzy, simple riff totally ridiculously distorted through your amp, ten million pedals repeated and end up with something like Monolords Empress Rising. Or you just have some cold clanking industrial steel sound with heavy riffs, marching like rhythm like Rammstein or Nightmarer or Valborg, which can also be super heavy. I like variety and fun in my music. doom albums that do not change pace get boring after a while, but so does 300 bpm brutal death. that is why i like bands with songwriting that incorporates different elements, now matter the genre the most. how to better set up impacts than changing meter, playing with dynamics, tempo, switching from acoustic to distorted. All the great songs like Holy Wars, Master Of Puppets, Where Dead angels Lie, and so on feature the aformentioned elements. and even the sort of dissonance or harmony you use can work differently. compare interval choices of a band like suffering hour with the dissonance that deathspell omega uses or ad nauseam. all sounding very gnarly, but pretty different in execution.

[@malaquiasalfaro81]

When writing about music, I only consider music to be “heavy” if it was influenced Jimi Hendrix. I feel that he laid the groundwork that really took us into the 70s Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Back in the 60s the two were one and people just called it “Heavy Rock, Downer Rock or Hard Rock.” Purple Haze and it’s newer harder strain of Psychedelia essentially ended the Garage Rock era, and we made the switch from teen dance music to some seriously heavy and hard music. Here’s the fun question though, with mind-expanding themes and roots in Acid Rock, can Heavy Metal still be considered Acid Rock?

[@alexschneider8494]

I feel like an emphasis on transients should’ve been on here. Modern metal is very big on lining up the transient information from every instrument to absolutely pound you into the ground. Whether you like it or not that every instrument seems to be used in a percussive manner, there’s no denying that it creates extremely heavy results. This is basically the foundation of every breakdown ever.

[@helloheadcrab5554]

Mass and gravitation.

[@WilliamMoscato-jw4hx]

1:34 this scared me because he's telling the truth 😂

[@adamdaw5313]

Recording elements can also be contributed to heaviness

[@killingsleep]

All hail "The Sentinel" !

[@voorheesjason3161]

You either feel it or you don't. I do 🙏

[@foreverthestudent]

Listening on my phone while taking a shit. Exactly what im doing. Wow

[@kostas_11182]

“Heavy metal or no metal at all. Wimps and posers, leave the hall” MANOWAR…1992 AC 🤟🏻

[@BrokeAssBass]

double kick definately plays a part

[@Nelvalak]

Heavy metal = truth ,honesty,family,friends, love and most of all soul + many things I can’t feel on right now , one more thing ,blood 🤘🩸it’s a message in blood peeps 🤘😈

[@Wind-nj5xz]

What

[@WEAPON-X-LOGANA.D.]

I think the deep gore with high screaming vocals like Cris barns from cannibal corpse deep drum beat from Amon Amarth make viking chant solo drum solo from Vinnie Paul good guitar solo from dimme Bag a little pinch of jimmy hindrixx 💪😎👍 💪😎👍

[@louiswitherspoon2212]

Symphonic elements can as heavy as well. Ala Lorna Shore.

[@LongLiveRockAnRoll]

Note/interval choice, tone, how hard you pick, volume (in a live context), varying between slow/fast or loud/quiet...or maybe it's tune as low as you can, all the gain, no mids, who's to say really? 😅

[@JeremiahDaniel1995]

What Makes Music Heavy? In Metal… High Gain Amp Settings Distortion Pedals Overdrives Drop Down Tuning Booming Bass Lines And Sometimes drums and keyboards with synths make the guitar sound heavier by using lighter and softer sounds to put weigh the heavy sounds 🤘😏🤘

[@HEAR_Instrumentals]

slow heavy chugs - switch from normal time to half time - basic rhythms in general

[@TlustyFavorek666]

I think he wears those glasses because he's stoned (I'm stoned and it's awesome to watch)

[@KAOTSOUKI]

The riffmaster, it isn't by luck Tony Iommi the best as papaHet mentioned. Devil's triad.

[@timothysmith4557]

It’s more like the jazz guy that wants to play death metal licks

[@mr.broski4849]

you may have meant to refer to the thing that should not rather than the call of ktulu duyring the lyrics section lol

[@benthecartoonist3518]

The bass is the lyrics in Ktulu

[@bertkarlsson1421]

Les morts von vite by Shub Niggurath is probably the heaviest album ever made! It's way heavier than anything by Slayer!!!

[@wesdavis6942]

attitude

[@FAFetus]

can you do a music theory of Light And Darkness by Babymetal? por favor, kudasai

[@ProfessionalNwah]

I heard John Lennon makes some heavy stuff, like cannibal corpse

[@bertkarlsson1421]

Classical music can be very heavy! Listen to passacaglia by Krzysztof penderecki! Doesn't get much heavier than that!!

[@cooperstapleton684]

how did my man know i was poopin

[@PURPLE_SHADE_SMOOTHIE]

9:05 Werd

[@kevingrant6349]

The heaviest music that I have heard is probably Mortician..

[@loophole5215]

In my opinion, Dimebag tone makes music heavy lol.

[@MsTruebi]

Gravity. Gravity makes things heavy. And fast food.

[@peterjanjanin9883]

Distortion

[@zmechaconysweterek]

Does he music theory teacher?

[@EricMossthestrongmanexperience]

I was about to hit the like button but saw it’s 666 and thought better to leave it like that

[@bertkarlsson1421]

Blackwater Park by Opeth has to be one of the heaviest songs ever!

[@Hypocrisyfanboy]

not the heaviest Opeth song... Wreath and Heir Apparent are more insane.

[@bertkarlsson1421]

@@Hypocrisyfanboy I disagree, those songs might be more agressive but they are not heavier. If you want to hear something truly heavy, check out: Incipit Tragaedia by the zeuhl band Shub Niggurath and De Futura by Magma!!!

[@bertkarlsson1421]

Zeuhl is probably the heaviest music genre! Listen to de futura by magma or les morts vont vite by Shub Niggurath and tell me that's not heavy!

[@smooches-the-deathmetal-bunny]

phil bozeman makes something heavy

[@Chon.Jenkins]

Damn dude, you were more impressive with fat. But results are great!

[@DeadRingerMachine]

Warzone by Slayer is the heaviest song ever recorded.

[@infinidominion]

Black Metal is really the one

[@NAT-turners-Revenge]

So many choices. I go with catatonia by suffocation

[@zacharyluhman9022]

669nth like

[@Hydefighter1134]

Simple answer.....1-0-0-0

[@darkman237]

It's a weighty topic...

[@PolkCountyWIProgressive]

11. Texturing with Frenetic Elements. 12. An introduction that menacing or ominous. 13. Lyrically brutal. Disasterpiece by Slipknot really taps into 13.

[@jordanhasch2544]

14. Attitude. 15. Riff(s) and arrangement(s). 16. Pacing. 17. Of course, a solid recording and mix helps to no end.

[@infinidominion]

Lyrics are just tough guy poetry

[@claudiasolomon1123]

Piano, cello, double bass are non metal instruments that are capable of being legit heavy.

[@RickDalton_]

weight

[@MrHouseparty6]

Jump in the Fire.

[@siliyemoodislam]

Heavy song doesn’t mean necessarily be a heavy metal song. Try Berlioz Messe De Morts . Or Five Late Quartets by Ludwig Beethoven.