I heard Merzbow on Radio4 a few years back, at first it was awful but I really got into it, it allows you to get into a kind of meditative state. Really, it does. I think because is becomes so encompassing and effectively blocks the parts of your brain used for listening that other parts of your mind increase in activity.
I do understand what you mean, but the nearest I want to get to that kind of feeling is listening to Sleep's
Dopesmoker.
As for the death metal vocals, I love Opeth and I quite like Arch Enemy and Soilwork, because there's enough melodic stuff for me to latch onto, but I still suffer through the cookie monster vocal parts. I just don't see the
point of singing like that - lots of people like it, so it's obviously my problem, I just don't get it.
I
really struggle when the vocals are combined with that blastbeat drumming style - just can't listen to it. I need a groove, not a machine-gun assault. It's obvious some of the bands have talent, but it's just not for me.
