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The Rise of the Squeeze Box.

Posted on May 14, 2008 in the Music, News category

Personally I love the use of odd instruments in music. I consider myself on some level to be a Glockenspiel fetishist even. in my fandom of the myriad worlds of rock I’ve noticed time and time again the cycles these odd instruments go through. You’ll hear one band use a mini organ and two months later you can’t move without hearing twinkling keys. Though the moment you first hear these things used its innovative, its new, its entertaining. Before it happens you wouldn’t even consider the possibility of fairground punk music or original Doors revivalists.
Likewise we are now entering the time of the accordion. From genres ranging from Folk/power metal to… other forms of metal there are some bands putting such a squeezable key box to good use.

In particular for this little endeavor lets suggest at least two bands of merit.

Up first we have legendary Pirate Metallers from Perth, Scotland; Alestorm.

On latest album “Captain Morgans Revenge” Alestorm let lose with a hard rocking sea shanty of epic proportions in the track “Wenches and Mead”. What hit me about this song more than anything else was save for the use of electric guitars everything about the song was pirate. right down to the folksy squeezings of the accordion. The sound gave it the right element to suggest a time and a place. It evoked a lot more than just entertainment, and was played so vigorously that it kept up with the energetic guitar playing that would easily be as at home in any decent power-metal band. The accordion was what brought the Pirate to Pirate Metal. While its coupling with the typical accoutrement of Metal instrumentation was curious, the use of the very instrument harked back to its own traditions in folk music. Still, The accordion was used to great effect and Likewise it is the case with other Power/Battle Metal bands using this instrument, such as woad painted Turisas for instance.

For a more experimental and yet equally provocative use of the concertina we are concerning ourselves with we now look to the Screamy Theatre Metal of female fronted Stolen Babies.

While a great many bands in this age are shunning traditional instruments for synthetic Processed beats and loops made, for the most part, Digitally, It is refreshing to hear what would typically be some form of abnormal bass or keyboard track filled in with the semi discordant instrument of the accordion in a great many of Stolen Babies songs. Nothing new however given Korn’s history of using the bag pipes in their music but if anything it shows that you can still find originality in using ancient instruments in a fairly recent way.

[G.I.R]

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