Sometimes it's hard to to appreciate the bass in metal

[Barking Spiders]

Beneath the heavy riffage on downtuned twin guitars, powerhouse double kick drums and growly vocals it's sometimes hard to pick out the bass but when you get to listen to isolated bass lines you get a whole new level of appreciation for the bass player. I'm a big Lamb of God fan and have been checking out some isolated basslines on YT played by John Campbell and yikes he's some player. Any other  quality metal bassists that tend to get drowned out by the guitars and drums?

 

[Doctor J]

When Relapse put out the remasters of Atheist's first three albums, on Unquestionable Presence they included the demos featuring Roger Patterson and a bass and drum track where you really get to hear Tony Choy at work.

 

[christhammer666]

ME

but seriously though I have noticed this a lot with players who follows the guitar patterns. you can hardly here the bass but their player is awesome, especially john who has a right hand like a metronome

 

[Hellzero]

There's bass in metal ?!?

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

I know that with dream theater , the bass is more or less inaudible live. Cant say much about them on record as I don't listen to them on record anymore these days.

On a slight tangent, DD verni ( overkill) was probably the first time I heard the bass really cut through on the mix . Quite tangy for metal at the time 😼

[SH73]

... and justice for all, virtually no bass, thanks Lars.

This enhanced bass version is worth a listen. Incredible bass tone and playing.

 

[Doctor J]

The original And Justice For Jason didn't have Jason on it either, ironically enough. It was some dude playing his interpretation of what he thought Jason played. It looks like it has been tweaked to include the original tracks which became available through Guitar Hero. I'd love to hear the whole thing mixed again by Steve Thompson, who has offered to do it more than once. Jason's playing on it is worth hearing for sure.

From the comments

1. 0:00:00 - Blackened – *(Original Jason’s bass track)
2. 0:06:42 - …And Justice For All – *(Original Jason’s bass track)
3. 0:16:30 - Eye Of The Beholder – (Bass Cover)
4. 0:23:09 - One – *(Original Jason’s bass track)
5. 0:30:44 - The Shortest Straw – *(Original Jason’s bass track)
6. 0:37:34 - Harvester Of Sorrow – (Bass Cover)
7. 0:43:29 - The Frayed Ends Of Sanity – (Bass Cover)
8. 0:51:12 - To Live Is To Die – (Bass Cover)
9. 1:01:00 - Dyers Eve – *(Original Jason’s bass track)

[Graham]

3 hours ago, Hellzero said:

There's bass in metal ?!?

Yes

[TheLowDown]

If the bass player played Moonlight Sonata underneath all those screaming guitars, would it make any difference to the above songs?

Edited April 21, 2021 by TheLowDown

[LeftyJ]

Fun exception: djent without guitars, with two bass players. 

 

[Doctor J]

A mate just sent me this. Tight. Tight as fooook.

 

[Daz39]

39 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

A mate just sent me this. Tight. Tight as fooook.

 

Dave Ellefson is a very notable exception: Dave M and the lead guitarist du jour always leave room for the bass clank, and his noodly bass lines open so many tracks up.

But yes. Also very tight. If you watch him doing instructional/demo spot videos filmed at guitar stores etc., his left hand’s like a CNC machine in speed and precision.

[Crawford13]

Not exactly hidden but incredible bass in metal. 

For instrumental metal I would also high recommend Nuclear Power Trio, and also Polyphia. 

Chon & Witherfall also have the mighty Anthony Crawford on bass absolutely blowing my socks off. 

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Doctor J said:

A mate just sent me this. Tight. Tight as fooook.

 

The 90" from 0'55"

 

[Doctor J]

Fantastic. Gar was such an incredible drummer, too.

[Geek99]

12 hours ago, Hellzero said:

There's bass in metal ?!?

If there wasn’t, then there would be no point in asking if any pictured bass “was any good for metal”, would there ? Hmm ? Think it over

one of our major talking points would totally disappear ...

Edited April 21, 2021 by Geek99

[Killed_by_Death]

 

I'm in Lamb of God country, they started the band in the same place GWAR came from.

Here's the irony, I saw GWAR perform in L.A. at the Whisky, LOL!

It's a constant struggle for me, finding bass arrangements in Heavy Metal or Punk that are not just a human metronome or copying the root from the guitar arrangement.

Original Heavy Metal is the answer, Black Sabbath!

 

[Guest]

26 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

Fantastic. Gar was such an incredible drummer, too.

I rather like the third album, but I can't help calling it No Gar, No Good

[SH73]

1 hour ago, Doctor J said:

A mate just sent me this. Tight. Tight as fooook.

 

I have watched this few times on YT over and over in the past. Amazing

[Killed_by_Death]

14 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

Any other  quality metal bassists that tend to get drowned out by the guitars and drums?

not only was he drown out, he was virtually erased:

The more I 'learn', the more I don't get it. I don't understand the praise some players get for playing relatively rudimentary arrangements.

 

[Graham]

7 hours ago, Crawford13 said:

Not exactly hidden but incredible bass in metal. 

For instrumental metal I would also high recommend Nuclear Power Trio, and also Polyphia. 

Chon & Witherfall also have the mighty Anthony Crawford on bass absolutely blowing my socks off. 

 

That Job For A Cowboy is stunning,.I wrote them off as a MySpace deathcore band before stumbling across this a couple of years ago, sadly I think it was their last record.

Conquering Dystopia is another great instrumental metal band, with Alex Webster on bass

[Doctor J]

7 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

I rather like the third album, but I can't help calling it No Gar, No Good

Behler was a good drummer, my first gig was Megadeth touring this album in 88. He could play. The way they recorded that album screwed him, though, as they recorded the drums and cymbals separately, as was fashionable at the time. He was no Gar, for sure, but he was better than that album.

[megallica]

I finally got to see Testament last year and Steve Digorgio was amazing.

His work with Death and Iced Earth was pretty good too.