Can Death Metal Be Beautiful? (Piano Cover)

I pride myself as being a pretty open person.

I have what I consider to be eclectic musical tastes. I enjoy and appreciate pretty much any genre or type of music.

Except one…

I do not understand how anyone can like death metal music.

It’s so loud and angry. It hurts my ears.

But for that very reason, I’m setting myself a challenge. To find out…

Can death metal be beautiful?

That’s right, I’m going to listen to 3 different songs. I’ll then choose my “favorite” and try to create my own beautiful cover version to see if it can be done.

First, a disclaimer.

I do not listen to death metal (or any metal really), so I’m sorry if I get a genre or style wrong.

I know there are lots of sub-genres of metal music. These songs all sound like death metal to me.

If I’m wrong, I’m sorry.

But rather than focus on differences, this process actually helped me see something…

All music has so much in common

This might seem like a big statement.

After all, death metal doesn’t sound much like classical, jazz, or pop.

But hear me out…

Like all songs, death metal music uses chords and chord progressions. They sound different because of the heavily distorted guitars, but the underlying chords are there.

Which means we can play them on the piano.

And when we do…

They sound really nice! And that brings me to my next point…

Some of the piano riffs are stunningly beautiful!

You’ll see what I mean in the lesson. But some of the riffs and motifs that are used in this style of music are so pretty.

They almost sound classically-inspired.

What this taught me

This process was hugely challenging for me. To step out of my comfort zone and approach a genre of music that has traditionally been quite intimidating was a challenge.

But I loved it!

It helped show me that under all the “noise” of death metal is a beautiful, melodic foundation.

I have a new appreciation for it, although I don’t know if I’ll be adding any songs to my playlist anytime soon.

If you’re brave enough, you can see the original song that I chose to cover (viewer discretion advised).

Thanks so much and I hope you enjoyed going along on this experiment with me.

Happy practicing!

SHARE THIS: