Playing & Singing In Character:

Inspector #20

Inspector #20

Ambassador of Tone
Fallen Star
Country flag
My vocalist takes issue with any song that mentions - or infers reference to - The Devil. I have been asked why i have no reservation singing about The Devil, hell or any similar topics in various songs. As a contract musician, my persona has neither religion nor deeply rooted personal or political opinions. He is a musical character, much like an actor. Having played The Devil in a theater production once, I think I can best explain it as a very similar arena to that of acting. I certainly have very Judeo-Christian beliefs, but I also one that is very skeptical of organized religions in general, so I don't take those things into the studio.

We have abandoned such really good songs like Hell's Bells and Burnin' For You - and others - because of the evil connotations associated with the lyrical content. This matter was revisited recently when I recorded Rory Gallagher's Road To hell and I thought I would post this in hopes I do not offend anyone with the presentation.

Recently, the studio was tasked with creating a full rehearsal track for hire of Ghost's song 'Rats.' Several guitarists - much better than I - refused the job because of Ghost's medieval/satanic imagery and lyrics. Since I really love Ghost's arrangements - and their masked, dramatic stage presence -, I was familiar with both band and song, as I had been playing it at home for several months.

I accepted the job and did all the rhythm guitars. Drums were eventually added by another session player, as was bass and eventually lead guitar and people were brought in for the backing vocals as well.

I was really proud of this track and even though it's a repost, i had so much fun with it that I wanted to re-share. This is a post-mixdown version with volume drops, cut-outs and special effects added.

I used my stock 2016 Gibson les Paul on this track.

My Isolated Tracks - Ghost 'Rats' Studio Production With Control Board Volume Drop & Effects

Hope you guys are having a great day... :)

P.S. I also have a MP3 of this track with the rums and bass added, but nothing else.
 
Amen (pun intended). :iagree:

That topic never bothered me because I'm comfortable with who I am. The only thing that bothers me is...
20190225_022957.jpg
I've had it for years, so I guess it doesn't bother me that much. It's just kindda ugly.
 
Last edited:
So, I guess he's not into Black Sabbath, then?:D

Honestly, I regardless of anyone's religious inclinations, I never understood how people are unable to see that the use of "evil" metaphors and imagery in lyrics in has nothing to do with actual devil worship or satanic beliefs.

I remember when I was in high school, there were a few Christian kids sin school who were very preoccupied with preaching against heavy metal, because they regarded all metal bands as satanists because of their theatrics, lyrics, imagery etc. My dad (who is a theologian and worked as a chaplain for a while) was a teacher at the high school attended had a girl in one of his classes who brought along a video she wanted to show class. This was towards the end of the spring term, the holidays was just a couple of days off, and school was basically done for the year, so without really thinking about it he said ok. The video was about how metal bands allegedly were devil worshippers sneaking in subliminal messages in their music to pervert the young. My dad turned the video off about halfway and proceeded to lecture that class about how outrageously stupid the video was. He taught Norwegian, and used the opportunity to give them a lecture on the use of imagery and metaphors to stirr people's imagination and to underline lyrical ponints.

I have a cousin (same age as me) who used to be really scared of anything having to do with hell or the devil. He was a member of a pentecostal congregation, and refused to listen to any band who had any song or song lyric he deemed inappropriate. I remember he loved "Jump" by Van Halen when it first came out. But then he learned that they had a song called "Running With the Devil"... No more van Halen for him. As far as he was concerned, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Motley Crue, WASP, basically any hard rock band not explicitly Christian, were satanic. We used to be best buddies, but in the end it just got so crazy I couldn't take it anymore. Thankfully he mellowed down considerably as he got older, and he's now a really nice fellow.

What I don't understand is that some people seem to think the actual words themselves are evil and dangerous. Like simply uttering the world "hell" will somehow send you there, instead of just realizing that when Bon Scott tells you he's on a highway to hell or David Lee Roth says he's running with the Devil, they are just using relatively powerful metaphors describing a hard life.

Stuff like this is REALLY what is wrong with the world; People assuming the worst and not just letting other people be.
 
Most people aren't bright enough to recognize a metaphor. Image means everything to them. The song "Crazy Train" is now used in commercials and at sports games. In the 80s, I had to stay up until the local station had the "Metal Shop" program so I could hear it. The funny thing is the song is about peace and love. Ya' bite one bat and one dove and the world has you stereotyped. I also love Black Sabbath. "War Pigs" is the greatest anti war song I ever heard: "Satan laughing spreads his wings...". It's war that's evil! Iommi is a guitar god to me.
 
Last edited:
Chubbles said:
Most people aren't bright enough to recognize a metaphor. Image means everything to them. The song "Crazy Train" is now used in commercials and at sports games. In the 80s, I had to stay up until the local station had the "Metal Shop" program so I could hear it. The funny thing is the song is about peace and love. Ya' bite one bat and one dove and the world has you stereotyped. I also love Black Sabbath. "War Pigs" is the greatest anti war song I ever heard: "Satan laughing spreads his wings...". It's war that's evil! Iommi is a guitar god to me.
Click to expand...
Black Sanbath just might be the most misunderstood band of all time. Lyrically, a lot of their songs WARN against the evils of mankind. Just listen to «Children of the Grave» or «Hand of Doom». Or they are about the things that are GOOD in life, like «Spiral Architect» for instance. The quality of Black Sabbath’s lyrics might be debatable at times, but satanic they are not.
 
Last edited:
Gahr said:
So, I guess he's not into Black Sabbath, then?:D

Honestly, I regardless of anyone's religious inclinations, I never understood how people are unable to see that the use of "evil" metaphors and imagery in lyrics in has nothing to do with actual devil worship or satanic beliefs.

I remember when I was in high school, there were a few Christian kids sin school who were very preoccupied with preaching against heavy metal, because they regarded all metal bands as satanists because of their theatrics, lyrics, imagery etc. My dad (who is a theologian and worked as a chaplain for a while) was a teacher at the high school attended had a girl in one of his classes who brought along a video she wanted to show class. This was towards the end of the spring term, the holidays was just a couple of days off, and school was basically done for the year, so without really thinking about it he said ok. The video was about how metal bands allegedly were devil worshippers sneaking in subliminal messages in their music to pervert the young. My dad turned the video off about halfway and proceeded to lecture that class about how outrageously stupid the video was. He taught Norwegian, and used the opportunity to give them a lecture on the use of imagery and metaphors to stirr people's imagination and to underline lyrical ponints.

I have a cousin (same age as me) who used to be really scared of anything having to do with hell or the devil. He was a member of a pentecostal congregation, and refused to listen to any band who had any song or song lyric he deemed inappropriate. I remember he loved "Jump" by Van Halen when it first came out. But then he learned that they had a song called "Running With the Devil"... No more van Halen for him. As far as he was concerned, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Motley Crue, WASP, basically any hard rock band not explicitly Christian, were satanic. We used to be best buddies, but in the end it just got so crazy I couldn't take it anymore. Thankfully he mellowed down considerably as he got older, and he's now a really nice fellow.

What I don't understand is that some people seem to think the actual words themselves are evil and dangerous. Like simply uttering the world "hell" will somehow send you there, instead of just realizing that when Bon Scott tells you he's on a highway to hell or David Lee Roth says he's running with the Devil, they are just using relatively powerful metaphors describing a hard life.

Stuff like this is REALLY what is wrong with the world; People assuming the worst and not just letting other people be.
Click to expand...
Chubbles said:
Most people aren't bright enough to recognize a metaphor. Image means everything to them. The song "Crazy Train" is now used in commercials and at sports games. In the 80s, I had to stay up until the local station had the "Metal Shop" program so I could hear it. The funny thing is the song is about peace and love. Ya' bite one bat and one dove and the world has you stereotyped. I also love Black Sabbath. "War Pigs" is the greatest anti war song I ever heard: "Satan laughing spreads his wings...". It's war that's evil! Iommi is a guitar god to me.
Click to expand...


Chubbles said:
Most people aren't bright enough to recognize a metaphor. Image means everything to them. The song "Crazy Train" is now used in commercials and at sports games. In the 80s, I had to stay up until the local station had the "Metal Shop" program so I could hear it. The funny thing is the song is about peace and love. Ya' bite one bat and one dove and the world has you stereotyped. I also love Black Sabbath. "War Pigs" is the greatest anti war song I ever heard: "Satan laughing spreads his wings...". It's war that's evil! Iommi is a guitar god to me.
Click to expand...

Exactly right, on all points, gentlemen...
 
Robert Herndon said:
This serial ends in '610.'
Click to expand...

Thats the "ranking" number, basically it means that it was the 610th instrument that was stamped on that day.

The first and fifth numbers are the year, the second third and fourth numbers are the day of the year, so for example my guitar is 72899506, which means it was the 506th instrument stamped on the 289th day of 1979.
 
Chubbles said:
Amen (pun intended). :iagree:

That topic never bothered me because I'm comfortable with who I am. The only thing that bothers me is...
View attachment 22639
I've had it for years, so I guess it doesn't bother me that much. It's just kindda ugly.
Click to expand...
I have the ZACT same pedal-- its my ONLY overdrive/dirt pedal-- however it is HARDLY even impish-- much less satanic -- especially compared to ....you know --- the MEsa -- AKA -- THE HAND OF DOOM!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top