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'httptJ /wtot.mye- f g [ terynet.com/ WUSC n JOHN LYONS Features Editor Have you been flipping the dial in search of a radio station that offers songs about death, Satan, war and pestilence? If that's what you're looking for, then get ready to tune into WUSC-FM 90.5 on Monday nights for a weekly dose of metal. The Witching Hour on WUSC gives Columbia music listeners two hours of unabashed, pounding metal every Monday between 6 and 8 p.m. But, if you're looking for reincarnations of the big-hair glam bands of the '80s, then you'd best look elsewhere, because the Witching Hour focuses on metal, not hard JBm mi ' ' f"' M S sy f1' : ' ' ' :: /> ': ' ' : Never befon done so much IB : % i % li J I i jt i f ~ ' T ? ETC. AFTER SPRING BREAK All the en F1 lakes a c rock. From the cutting edge of black / metal to grindcore and thrash, ^ the Witching Hour presents the mi vital, thriving side of metal that rCUSi.*. most people don't even know overlooked IS 1 exists. # The shows hosts, Ching Chang prominent any] Charlie and the Wardog, both ^ kids wall sophomores at the university, said that the show defies the campUS in old popular thought that metal died ?, with the '80s. It s underg "I think all this questioning of whether or not metal is dead The Vli is kind of pointless," Ching Chang WTTC Charlie said. "If s not what was W U k. popular in the '80s. What people don't realize is that what we play is not y what was popular. What we play is extreme metal, and that has never been popular." The Wardog added that the genre of true metal has grown a lot in the last few years. "Metal has just branched out so much," he said. "It has so many subgenres now. If s all distinct, but if s all distinctly metal. And it's extremely alive. "The reason that metal is overlooked is because if s not prominent anymore. You don't see kids walking around campus in old metal T-shirts. It's underground now." The Wardog said that Columbia has one of the South's stronger metal scenes and pointed to the Cannibal Corpse's two recent shows at Rockafella's as proof there's a small, but thriving metal scene here. Both DJs said the main stepping stones to metal's success are the same qualities that endear it to fans. Double-bass drums are prominent in many types of metal, and while the drumwork is very complicated, it is also harsh and pounding to a point where it turns off as many listeners as it turns on. And then there's the lyrics. " ii i i . : : : ' ' 3 has a mani i with so little. : mm v S , r Iff i ,- ~'" gteff*'**' ..-. . svt-. . . . : * ; ' ' '; ,-A;' tertainment news you care to read. iriT latter wit / The lyrics to metal focus on W subjects most people don't like 41* ?4 or don't want to hear about. ill ^ ' "There's a brutal side to the beeause it's not world," the Wardog said. 'There's a side of the world that fMOPC. YOU doll t people avoid because they don't kilts around want to see and that's what & metal deals with. It s not metal T-shirts. glamorizing it, but if s drawing * attention to it." ,1*01111(1 llOW* In the '80s, one of the ideas metal bands brought attention Kfdoff was ^e possibilities of P ? nuclear warfare. And the lyrics to metal today are about topics like death, drugs, hatred, rape, y Satan, suicide and many other negative topics. "They don't glorify it," the Wardog said about the lyrics. "But they present it in the most brutal light possible because they don't hide it." And between the harsh, pounding qualities of the music and the negativism, if s not the simplest music to get into. As Ching Chang Charlie put it, "Most people just don't like this stuff." And the music the Witching Hour focuses on is probably the least accessible side of metal. Ching Chang Charlie said the show focuses on what he called "extreme metal." The show focuses mainly on eight different branches of the metal genre. These styles are black, death, doom, grindcore, heavy, speed, thrash and weird metal. Ching Chang Charlie and the Wardog explained what each of i.1 1 1M__ 11 il J i- .1 uitHstj genres suunu rnte ana now tney are ainerennaiea. They said heavy metal is the first type of metal and was started in the '80s by bands like Metallica. The name has become generic and is used to describe all types of metal. Black metal, on the other hand, is the most recent addition to the metal genre. The Wardog said the music earn ~ i ' m sti moi i w Learn direct* more market If you are thi here is your < We need stu( Make co Gain con 8 44 There's a brutal side to the world. There's a side of the world that people avoid because they don't want to see, and that's what metal deals with. It's not glamorizing it, but it's drawing attention to it Th~ W.?Ia? WUSCDJ 11 th metal * features high-pitch, screeching vocals, atmospheric overtones , and rapid guitar picking with lots of chords. It uses synthesized effects to create a somewhat ambient sound, and it is very tonal. Black metal developed recently in Scandinavia and is .still difficult to find in the U.S. Between this newest genre of metal and more standard heavy metal, there are several distinct styles of metal that iL _ TITM _1_ TT r mv _ TTT J ' J xL _x 1_ ine widening nour iocuses on. ine waraog saia max, ma addition to the show is older, more established genres, while Ching Chang Charlie brings newer elements to the show. One of the elements the Wardog brings to the show is speed metal, which was probably the first genre of metal to be defined outside of the generic realm of "heavy" metal. This style is very fast, rhythmic and melodic. Thrash metal added elements of punk to speed metal. Its a little bit fester, with a punk feel to it and lots of chords. Doom metal, on the other hand, slows everything down. It is, musically, the simplest style of metal and features slow single notes with deep, slow vocals. The band Napalm Death started the branch of metal called grindcore in the mid-'80s. This was probably the first definitive example of what Ching Chan Charlie call extreme metal. The music is extremely fast, sometimes sacrificing rhythm to speed, and it features snare and symbols in rapid succession. After grindcore came death metal. Death metal is a conglomeration of all the styles of metal that came before it. It features deep, raspy vocals, very fast guitars with long solos, and speed metal-like drums. The music is very deep and extremely chromatic. The Witching Hour covers all these types of music and glances at a few others. The hosts said they occasionally play bands like Fear Factory and Machinehead, which fell somewhere between metal and industrial. And the Wardog said he occasionally plays what he calls weird metal. He said this category is filled by bands like GWAR and ManOWar, which are oddballs and do things nobody else has done. MM M^^ra leys sales skills and make yourself 'able lor mat full-time lob! inking of marketing as a career, opportunity to get experience on campus, ients to work as Marketing Consultants rtedia Advertising. Internships, Co-op, or part-time positions are available for mer and Fall semesters. ires selling advertising for The Gamecock student jarnet & Black Quarterly student magazine or r fr\r W7T TQ^ Ctlirl^nt orltrv ; iui uuv/ x iTx oLuuutii iauiu. mpotltive earnings interpersonal skills lie management and budgeting skills own work schedule ifidence Is your sales ability m m IAiii Aovwilglmi