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[blackened]

Okay here's another post, but from our drummer, who is taking issue with some of the more unconstructive comments:

I have only just become aware of this forum which is why my response is late; apologies for that. I came away from Aberdeen with a really positive buzz from the crowd; I really enjoyed the gig and felt that the majority of the crowd did too, but maybe I was wrong.

In response to 'Tav's' comments, my first question to you is do you play the drums, or have a decent knowledge of rock/metal drumming or even musical theory? I'm not trying to sound patronizing, I only ask as some of your comments have left me totally confused. You complain that a lot of the set 'appeared' (come on Tav, either it was or it wasn't) to be in standard beats.

Well Tav you may be surprised to find that a lot of rock/metal is in standard 4/4. One of the reasons that I love Metallica is that they also throw in other time signatures to add a layer of complexity to many of the songs, but still the majority is in 4/4. Let's look at some of the songs we played.

For example if you look at Master of Puppets, the vast majority of the song is in 4/4, i.e the whole song is in 4/4 apart from every 4th bar in the verse (5/8 time) and a few other bars in the chorus and interlude which are in 2/4. Off the top of my head, the ENTIRETY of For Whom the Bell Tolls (bar a couple of bars at the very end of the song in 2/4), Enter Sandman, Creeping Death (technically the end of this song is in free time), So What and Whiplash is in 4/4. Conversely, Blackened is largely in 6/4 and 7/4 with the odd 5/8, 5/4, 3/4 and 2/4 bar thrown in. However, the interlude, chorus and guitar solo (to a degree) are in 4/4. I could go on but perhaps you can now see why I am bemused; if the majority of the music is actually in 4/4 and I reproduce this, playing in different time signatures only when Metallica have put them in their songs (sounds like a good idea to me) and not all over the place, it seems unfair to complain about it.

Basically, what I am saying is the question should be did we play (perfectly or not) the same riffs/drums as Metallica do? Yes we did. You can't ask for accurate reproductions and then complain about it. Perhaps what you meant by standard beats was that there weren't enough fills or that the fills were not accurate (though inaccurate and unfair, this would make slightly more sense)? Also, what is a 'sly china hit'? Am I supposed to hit it when no one is looking?

Seriously though, I have tried to reproduce the drum tab from the albums (throwing in a bit of the variations that Lars plays live) as accurately as I can. I bought the drum tab books to this end, and I believe that I do this. I can assure you that I do not play less or even different fills to Lars (for the most part that is; I'm not overly anal on songs such as So What or Last Caress). Some bands do try to cut corners and will play an easier variation of a section of music (shit, even Metallica have done this on occasion when playing live), but I (and Blackened as a whole) have made a concerted effort not to do this where possible. I can assure you that we do not play simplified variations, or that Lars plays anything more technical than I.

Now please don't get me wrong, I am most definitely not claiming to be some great drummer without fault; far, far from it my friend. It's just that the faults you have highlighted seem, to me, to be baseless. I thought to myself is it worth replying to this and I guess I did for three reasons; 1. personal pride 2. simply because it is my opinion that you are wrong in most of your specific complaints against us and 3. confusion.

I do not want Blackened to get a bad reputation on that basis; I do hope that some of the people who did enjoy the show even out the bias (maybe 'trend' is a better word) in this thread a little. To imply that the people who did enjoy the show were either too pissed to notice or not as musically knowledgeable as you (“gullible punters” – Frosty Jack’s words) is both slightly arrogant and insulting to the crowd. I'd be the first to admit that I do not have the immense personality of Lars (I’m not actually Lars you know), but I do try to play the songs that I love, to the best of my ability. I mess up more often than I’d like (that comes with the territory), but I (and we) don't cut corners. As has already been noted, some of the other comments are equally unjust. I'll just touch on a few of these at random in order to save space. For example, the impression given of the solos is, to be kind, a somewhat massively over-exaggerated account of any errors.

Also 'Mouse', to complain that we only played half of Am I Evil is absurd when you take into account that we only had a one hour slot. If we had played the full version then we would have had to cut something else short (probably a song written by Metallica). I'm sure you know that bands have to make decisions like that. If we had a two and a half hour set, as Metallica do (who incidentally do play medleys i.e they cut some songs short), then we could have played more. You couldn’t hear the bassist? Well blame the sound engineer then.

Finally, to complain that the singer swore and sounded too macho (have you ever heard James live? He doesn't talk like Hugh Grant! You do know that right?) seems bizarre to me.

You have my sincere apologies that you did not enjoy the gig and feel you wasted your money (possibly not helped by walking out before Motorheadache played), but it seems to me that the criticism was way over the top. I get the impression that you would not have been completely satisfied even if it had been Metallica up on stage. We don't mind criticism (whether we agree with it or not); it's a great way to learn how to improve (and sure, there's plenty of room for improvement), but when we don't agree with the criticism, and it has been made so strongly in a public forum, I'm sure you will appreciate that we have to respond. That is not 'throwing the toys out of the pram'. I really would appreciate a response on this. In what way was our performance of Enter Sandman sub-standard? Which songs did I play too slowly? ETC... If you could be kind enough to take the time (maybe you feel you've wasted enough as it is) to be more specific then we could at least work on improving these "mistakes".

The main point I've learnt so far is that I need to do some crazy jazz-funk drumming or something similar next time (and be out of time with the rest of the band) to please Tav; who cares about sticking to the Metallica score anyway? I'm probably failing in my attempts to mix some humour in, so I'll end by saying thank you for taking the time to read this essay. Look on the bright side; at least reading this didn't cost you a penny!

P.S it's not our fault you had to pay £9; we didn't bloody see much of it and after a round trip of 1200km only just about broke even

[Tav]

You still KEEP saying things like "Sorry for all those who expect everything note-perfect, but hey, even Metallica fuck their parts up!" I'll say it once more and hopefully you might have the balls to agree...the solos were not missing a few notes they were played badly. They were out of time and missing huge sections when the guitarist didn't know where he was. I am not going to continue and argue the point. I was standing about 4 feet from the guy!

Jeez...just accept that there was some people at your gig who know how to play guitar + have an extensive knowledge of Metallica/music in general and they thought you were a bad act!

Please come back to Aberdeen and I'll bring some more people along and see what they say...

[blackened]

And Merry Christmas to you too, Tav. Sweetie.

[PVH]

Originally Posted by blackened

And Merry Christmas to you too, Tav. Sweetie.

Why are you being a dick? He is only expressing his opinion....

[Mouse]

Originally Posted by blackened

Also 'Mouse', to complain that we only played half of Am I Evil is absurd when you take into account that we only had a one hour slot. If we had played the full version then we would have had to cut something else short (probably a song written by Metallica). I'm sure you know that bands have to make decisions like that. If we had a two and a half hour set, as Metallica do (who incidentally do play medleys i.e they cut some songs short), then we could have played more. You couldn’t hear the bassist? Well blame the sound engineer then.

It just seemed odd you cut it just before it got into the best bit. Fair enough if you had limited time, but then the remaining part of the song was only another 3 more minutes if I'm correct. Also a lot of Metallica's best songs are quite long. Playing a medley like the one on Cunning Stunts would of been a better idea than doing half a song and missing out the best bit.

That's unusual about the sound because the Lemon Tree is one of the best sounding venues in Aberdeen imo. And don't worry I ain't saying your bassist was crap, from what I could hear his playing was fine. You guys just need to practise more it seems. As I said before, some of the songs were played pretty slow, the timing wasn't too great in places, especially when it came to the solos.

Metallica aren't the easiest band to cover, and personally I'd admire the band's guts to take on such a task. Yes we all make mistakes, but then I've seen many tribute bands and at least half I can safely say were flawless. It isn't that hard with the practise. If you guys came up again and could prove me wrong, that would be great.

[Tav]

Originally Posted by Project: Ven-Hell

Why are you being a dick? He is only expressing his opinion....

and finding it difficult to do without sounding like a negative ninny all the time...I don't want to sound like a tosser I just want you to realise what some people think. Mouses post looks much more positive and I wish I could write one like that but I can't...too often people say to bands "that was a great gig" I've had it happen to me...then 1 year later I look back and think "the lying bastards we were crap personified!"

I was going for the honest approach, it's not going to be the most popular that is for sure...perhaps some photoshop humour to lighten the mood...

[Mac Atom]

Originally Posted by blackened

And Merry Christmas to you too, Tav. Sweetie.

... and you guys were worried that Tav's comments would prevent anyone from booking you again?

[blackened]

JESUS - I WAS ONLY TRYING TO LIGHTEN THE MOOD MYSELF!

I cannot be bothered responding any more - you've made your point. You think we're shit - fair enough - don't come see us again!

We were out of practice I admit - and this has been our first gig in a few months due to personal circumstances - and I'm sorry we ruined your evening. We will definitely file this under experience, and make sure everything is tip-top when we head back your way.

Criticism is always good - it keeps us on our toes, but I thought that you were going to quite extreme lengths to prove your utter dislike of us.

I cannot say any more - and I don't want to, because I am fed up of it.

Anyway, our lead guitarist has asked me post his response - and our drummer says thanks to mouse for his comments - much appreciated!

Tav's note "We were right at the front...at the barrier. Its not that the solos "weren't quite right" it was the fact that they went like this "3 notes....pause...pause...2 notes...ermmm how does it go?.....oh I'll just waggle the whammy bar....phew!"

I have to assume this note was referring to the Blackened solo which admittedly I did fuck up, I basically lost my place leading up to the solo and couldn’t really hear where we were in the song but regards to the whammy bar I only use it twice in the whole set and the ironic thing is that the whammy bar part of blackened was one of the few things I did right in the solo.

So by all means slag me off for that solo.

Regards to the latter two songs which I think were Battery and Whiplash my first two fingers on my left hand just ceased to move. I just couldn’t move them at all which I have never experienced before.

Some songs I do improvise like Seek & Destroy and Whiplash but as for the others they are pretty much how they are on the album but no doubt there were some mistakes but to say that no solos were any where near close is just horse shit.

I suppose practice makes perfect so when you’re in a tribute band there are no excuses (apart from my fingers ceasing); I mean if Colin McRae had the shits you would hardly expect him to win the race. J

[misterdale]

Guys... it was just a gig, they're supposed to be fun, people are entitled to opinions but sometimes you're never going to agree. We do have the best sound engineers and gear though...

[Monk Rocker]

No publicity is bad publicity! I'd certainly go and see you guys soley on the back of this thread. Aberdeen has a reputation as a town full of meanies, and an Aberdonian could feed a family of 4 for a month on £9!!!!

Get your asses up to Inverness, and I'm sure you'd have a great night! We don't get any gigs up here