Murphy's Law...

I just came up with this oh-so-cool name: "ION DISSONANCE" for the metal band I am in the process of forming.
Alas! A Canadian mathcore band of exactly the same name exists. Life's a Bitch.

Bow Down To The GODS

I must admit I used to be an atheist until I happened to come across a band named TOOL. It is kind of ironical as it turns out that the members of the aforementioned band themselves aren't quite impressed by religion. But then again the phenomenal music this quartet creates is nothing short of inducing fanatism. You can certainly dismiss me as a sycophantic Tool fan but after reading this article :).


It is said that the best music is the hardest to describe and I couldn't agree more. Therefore I would conveniently skip raving about the Tool albums, the reviews of which you can find easily on the internet anyway. The purpose of this article wasn't to review the albums in any case. Instead lets embark on a journey frightfully intimidating and awe-inspiring.

For those of you unaware of the Fibonacci series: its a series which has its first two terms as 1 and each subsequent term as the sum of the previous two terms. So the series is 1,1,2,3,5,8,13 and so on. No I am not digressing. Its just that you need to know this small concept before you can grasp what I am trying to convey. The title track of Laterlus is based on the idea of this sequence. At first Lateralus appears to be simply another track about tripping on acid. However on repeated listens one realises its about evolution. Fact is: it is much more than that. The song is the key to decipher the album which contains 13 tracks(13 itself being a Fibonacci number). Just to give you an idea about this immensely complicated work of art sample this: the time signature in the track varies as 9/8,8/8 and 7/8 (987 being a Fibonacci number). This is certainly math metal but much more diverse and complicated than that. It has a drum sequence which progresses in Fibonacci series (1,1,2,3,5,8,13)and then repeats the pattern.Even the lyrics have the same pattern in the syllables. To really experience this you will have to carefully listen to the song.

The song Lateralus has the predominant rant towards the end "spiral out...keep going". Co-incidence?? There is no such thing as co-incidence in the parallel universe of Tool's music. It turns out that the Binet's formula,which gives the value of the nth Fibonacci term, when plotted on the Argand plane forms(hold your breath) a spiral!! For the geeks the formula is :
Fib(n) = 1/√5 [ {( 1+√5)/2}^n - {( 1-√5)/2}^n ]

Here (1+√5)/2 is phi or Φ which is the golden ratio(1.61803399). More about golden ratio and stuff later. The track numbers on the album when arranged,according to the spiral-beginning with the middle track, and listened produce an astounding effect. The apparently random tracks suddenly merge flawlessly with the time signature of the outro of the previous track matching with the intro of the next track. In some cases(like the transition from Schism to Ticks and Leeches)the drum beat is same and progresses mathematically. The effect is mindnumbing. The seemingly noisy meaningless long interludes fit in perfectly,as if they were just waiting to be put in the right place.

Another beauty of an example is the first and only single of the album Schism. The song is structured in 12/8 time signature and divided into 5/8 and 7/8.Can you guess what Maynard chants throughout the song eerily? I know the pieces fit!!!
There is so much more to blabber about. I can just go on and on...But i guess I have bored you enough already. So I guess I'll come up with the sequel to this post some other time.

Trivia: In case you didn't know(obviously you didn't), M.J.Keenan(vocals) went through rigorous curriculum in both Mathematics and English as a student. Now you wonder "no wonder the music is lyrically so cryptic and mathematically so beautiful". Danny Carey(percussions) is well versed(obsessed?)with sacred geometry apart from being one of the most technically proficient drummers ever. Adam Jones(guitars) has done special effects for Terminator 2, Jurassic Park and Predator 2.

P.S.: The music is dark,brooding and cerebral filled with narcotic passages. To say that its deep or complex is a gross understatement. Tool's music can't be classified,it transcends genres. The most you can do is label it : Art Rock,Progressive Metal,Math Metal and so on...

P.P.S.: Maybe now you can guess why my blog is named the way it is named. :D

Andy Timmons

Ok its 8:54 am in the morning,again.
Now I realize that perhaps this is the only part of the day when I can actually sit down and post.
Maybe because lethargy takes over on a much greater scale otherwise or maybe because I am too busy being jobless to actually sit up and think and write as the day progresses. Too much of work if you ask me.

Getting back to original topic...
Being the guitar geek I am, I usually start my day with a couple of virtuoso solo artists or technical death metal or progressive metal or symphonic metal or.....well you get the idea.
This morning as I was listening to Andy Timmons, I just youtubed him on impulse. The first song in the results was a predominantly acoustic piece "September" a song I had never heard before and being an avid Andy fan I obviously had to listen it. Anyway, the song is more than just beautiful. Its a classic. Brilliant acoustic intro and build up to an orgasmic heart wrenching electric guitar solo. The song is just so infectious that even though its an instrumental track you'll find yourself humming the tune along without even realizing it.

The beauty of the song lies in the melodic improvisations and the subtle string sections. The rhythm is beautiful not to mention the soulful main theme. On a technical level the guy is pretty accurate and can be very very technical if he wants to. The crying bends in the solo are pitch perfect. The icing on the cake,however,is the tone. I have never heard such a beautiful rich tone.
As Vai says the tone comes from your hands and not from the amps. Any connoisseur of instrumental music or simply anyone who loves music in any of its various manifestations is bound to like this beautiful melody.

The elan and panache with which the song progresses is quintessential Andy Timmons.
A true virtuoso in the league of Vai,Gilbert,Satriani and the likes.
Highly recommended.

P.S. : The 80's metal fans would recognize Andy from the band 'Danger Danger'.

The 1st Post

What we have here is a blog. Yes,nothing more than a blog. Just another blog in the whole wide web full of zillions of other blogs. Whats so different about this blog? Well the answer is nothing and that is the beauty of it!

Ah before I blabber any further allow me to tell you that its 7:47 am and I am at home listening to Extreme Unction by Necrophagist(hell - extreme it is!!). No I am not crazy I just woke up this early 'by mistake'. So you can well understand the reason for the bullshitting and excuse the atrocities hurtled upon you(presuming you have read the text above and are going to read no further). So thats that.

Lets get on with this post and get over with. I have other chores do to as well(at least thats what I would like people to believe).
Hmmmm so where were we?? Ah yes , the BLOG. The reason I made this blog was...well...er...I was (and still am) jobless, Hail Joblessness!!! But thats not all. The decision to make this blog was not entirely mine, as 'some people' would like to put it "I owe my lack of success to no one". The people I interact with were all of the unanimous opinion that I should stop tormenting them with my self-obsessed sadistic persona and 'get a life'. I rolled my eyes but at the same time considered it. Its not that bad an idea you know, besides almost everyone I know (who knows the i of internet) has a blog. That doesn't mean that I have to have one too but that certainly implies that I haven't tried something which all of a sudden became the thing on the internet. I decided there was no point on being the ignoramus any further. So here I am to experience the "pleasures" of blogging , have a life and of course to insult and humiliate as many people as I can.
Happy reading.


P.S. : If by any chance I offended you please let me know will you? I would definitely like to savour the taste of success. Thank you.