Friday, July 8, 2016

10 metal song pairs which have smoothest segues

Hello kind readers.

'Segue' is defined as an uninterrupted transition from one piece of music to another.
Somehow the concept of smooth transitions from one song to another has always fascinated me. I'm sure many of you feel the same.

Without further ado, here a 10 song-pairs from the metal industry which have the smoothest segues.
Note that I'm not listing songs which the bands have grouped together as multi-part suites in their album. (Ex. "2112" by Rush or "The Glass Prison" by Dream Theater)


10. The Ides Of March/Wrathchild (Killers) - Iron Maiden
Alright, let's kick off the list with the masters of NWOBHM. Instantly recognizable classic Maiden sound flows through these two songs. Starting off the album, the instrumental with the title of a significant date has two great solos, transitions smoothly into the fan favorite track's bass intro.

9. Dreamer Deceiver/Deceiver (Sad Wings Of Destiny) - Judas Priest
Talk about seguing with style. Rob Halford screams his way through and you won't even realize the song has changed, until the riffage starts. Coming from their second album, "Dreamer Deceiver" is best described as a 'space ballad' with some masterful vocal delivery and soon transforms into a great little piece called "Deceiver".

8. Aqua Dementia/Hearts Alive (Leviathan) - Mastodon
Mastodon's first concept album is epic. It has a great flow and you can listen to it from start to finish with ease. (and a lot of headbanging, of course) These two songs are connected by the sound of crashing waves and loaded with some killer music. Do give them a listen.

7. Polyphony/The New Black (The New Black) - Strapping Young Lad
Heavy Devy, you genius you! When I first heard this album, I instantly fell in love, mainly because of the typical dense 'wall of guitar' sound and Gene motherfucking Hoglan's drumming. I was in the process of listening to the album, and didn't realize when the songs even changed. One of the smoothest segues in the list.

6. Vicinity of Obscenity/She's Like Heroin (Hypnotize) - System Of A Down
Two of the most eclectic songs of SOAD form this incredible pair connected so well that I almost always listen to them one after the other. Definitely one of my favorite albums of all time. Check them out..

5. The Passing/In Your Words (Wrath) - Lamb Of God
This duo is particularly interesting. 'The Passing' is an instrumental starts off clean and builds into nice groovy piece with a beautiful outro and just when you think the song is over, 'In Your Words' takes off with vicious power. Wrath is one of the best Lamb Of God albums, IMHO.

4. Post Mortem/Raining Blood (Reign In Blood) - Slayer
No description needed. SLAAAAAYYYER!

3. Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)/Rosetta Stoned (10,000 Days) - Tool
A lot of people don't realize that the first part is actually another song track. You honestly cannot listen to one without the other, because the preceding track serves are prologue for the story of events which unfold in Rosetta Stoned. I don't understand what kind of trippy shit this is, but the song's arrangement is just mind blowing. GODDAMN, SHIT THE BED.

2. The Hellion/Electric Eye (Screaming For Vengeance) - Judas Priest
Well, you had to see this one coming. Second entry for Priest and rightly so, but wow. What a composition. 'The Hellion' instrumental acts as a perfect intro, to Electric Eye, which symbolizes a pseudo-omniscient satellite which watches over everyone, in a dystopian future. The album is a true, bad-ass heavy metal classic.

1. In the Presence of Enemies Part 1/Part 2 (Systematic Chaos) - Dream Theater
Here we are folks. With the working title 'The Pumpkin King' this two piece suite spans over 25 minutes. They are split as the first and the last song of the album. When I first heard these two songs, my soul turned inside-out. Extraordinary performance in every way imaginable and the band reaches absolute progressive musical perfection.

Special mention:
Parabol/Parabola (10,000 Days) - Tool
A special shout-out to this masterpiece. Only complete when you listen one after the other.

*Ends*