Music
10 of the best quiet songs by heavy bands
A bit of hush, please.
It's always fascinating when a band ventures out of their element to try something completely different to what they're known for – and that's especially the case as far as heavy music is concerned. Historically, hard rock bands have found their biggest commercial success with a ballad – see Mr. Big's To Be with You and Poison's Every Rose Has Its Thorn for example. Even in the realm of more mainstream punk acts, Green Day and blink-182 both reached new chart heights with Good Riddance and Adam's Song respectively. Of course, it's a risk to throw yourself out into unfamiliar territory in any musical context – but if it lands, you can prove yourself as being more than simply a one-trick pony and fully demonstrate the power of musical versatility.
Here are ten instances in which a band of the heavier persuasion turned down the amps – if only for a moment – and came through with the goods.
Slipknot – Danger – Keep Away
Tucked away at the back of their excellent 2004 LP, Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses, Danger is perhaps the most un-Slipknot song in the band's history. With no distorted guitars, no screaming and no vinyl scratches in sight, the stripped-back affair allows for Corey Taylor's knack for close harmony to really shine through. An under-appreciated gem in the band's catalogue.
Defeater – But Breathing
Empty Days and Sleepless Nights is, for the most part, a propulsive, intense hardcore album. When it arrives at its final tracks, however, vocalist Derek Archambault picks up an acoustic guitar and turns his attention to a string of alt-country numbers that have more in common with Ryan Adams than Modern Life is War. This, a mournful look back on a broken family home, is the pick of the lot.
Walls of Jericho – No Saving Me
A force to be reckoned with in the 2000s metalcore scene, Walls of Jericho took a surprise turn on side B of 2006's With Devils Amongst Us All. Rather than throwing fists, this one is for raised lighters; as vocalist Candace Kucsulain shows off her impressive pipes amid a swell of strings and alt-rock balladry.
Touché Amoré feat. Julien Baker – Skyscraper
One of the most important post-hardcore bands to emerge in the last decade, Touché signed off on their exhaustingly-emotive Stage Four with a song that drew inspiration from their love of The National and Leonard Cohen. With Julien Baker's angelic lilt joining them in the background, the band broke away from their usual emo-tinged hardcore to immerse themselves in a more pensive, quaint musical environment.
Oathbreaker – 10:56
Before exploding into the furious Second Son of R., Oathbreaker's second album leads with this beautiful, ambient intro. When Caro Tanghe's voice rings out on its own for the first 45 seconds or so, it sends a genuine shiver down the spine – so rare is such true emotional vulnerability.
Converge – Cruel Bloom
Would you have ever picked a band as chaotic and high-octane as Converge to be Tom Waits fans? That's what they revealed themselves to be on this curveball from their album Axe to Fall, in which vocalist Jacob Bannon adopts a low husk atop bar-room piano and a 6/8 sway. Aside from its downtuned guitar inclusion in its final quarter, there's no way you'd know it was the same band.
Black Sabbath – Changes
A band often considered to be the first metal band, their turn to piano balladry on this 1972 single showed a completely different side of Ozzy that has stood the test of time – no matter how divisive it may have been. You may have recently heard the late Charles Bradley's cover version in the opening credits of the hilarious Netflix series Big Mouth.
The Chariot – Your
Technically not even by the band itself, this track from the chaotic metalcore band's final album, One Wing, re-contextualises lyrics from an earlier song, The Fiancee's They Faced Each Other. It's sung in layered harmonies by Bandit vocalist Angela Plake, who is a beautiful juxtaposition to Josh Scogin's belligerent shriek. It's 70 seconds of serenity before the cacophony of First comes crashing down and the band continues on its warpath.
Alexisonfire – Happiness By The Kilowatt [Death Letter version]
As a send-off to Alexisonfire as we knew it, guitarists Dallas Green and Wade MacNeil re-recorded several songs by the band as a duo, stripping them back to their core elements and experimenting with their sonic palette. This, the final song from the 2004 classic Watch Out!, had been performed by Green for several years as a solo acoustic number. Converted to a piano-centred focus, however, the song took on a life of its own.
Myrkur – Himlem Blev Sort
Amalie Bruun's voice is haunting enough when it's amidst the gnash and gnarl of her usual backdrop of gothically-tinged black metal. Imagine, then, how it sounds with only an acoustic guitar to back it. This moment of solitude is one that not only allows listeners to reflect, but for Bruun to temper the tides of her usual surroundings. Absolutely jawdropping.