4 weeks of DLC

We didn't have a chance to play last week due to Raikan's new work hours, but we'll be back this week for a special Friday session. We'll start catching up on 4 weeks of DLC (Disturbed, Country, Snoop Dogg and Dio weeks).

Here is my top 3 DLC from last week (after playing them on all solo instruments):

3. "Valkyries", by Amberian Dawn:

This is another fun symphonic power metal song. It is not as heavy as previous Amberian Dawn RBN releases, but is still worth checking out. The constant pedal beat is fun but can get tiring. The guitar and bass charts have tough variable strumming, with some sections that are constant and fast. The guitar solo is short and challenging. The keyboard part in the intro would be fun to play in RB3, but it is unlikely that current RBN tracks have that charted. The vocals were not too difficult, but as usual the female singer has a good operatic voice.

2. "Wake Up", by Me Talk Pretty:

This neat sounding group is like a "rock" version of Lacuna Coil with soaring vocals and heavy riffs. The drum chart is really fun due to a unique flowing beat. It has an odd pattern due to the bass pedal and lots of pad action, but it feels great when you get it. There is nice variety in the groovy bass chart, with slow and fast parts, plus occasional chords. There are simple chord changes on guitar but they are still fun. The singer has a good range.

1. "Bleed", by Meshuggah:

This song will make your ears bleed, but in a good way... :) The volume for RBN songs is louder than regular DLC, so after playing the Snoop Dogg tracks on drums, it was kind of a rude awakening to play this song, especially with my right speaker being fairly close to my drums. This 8 min. song has an awesome chugging technical death metal feel, with non-stop heavy riffs with complex time signatures except for one short interlude near the end. The drum chart is really tough but has at least 4 really fun patterns with loads of bass pedal. There is crazy strumming on Expert guitar and bass, so I had to play it on Hard difficulty. The guitar chart on Hard has some interesting sections that mix singles and chords.

Honorable mention. "We Are the One", by Anti-Flag:

Last week had a few interesting songs from Snoop Dogg (more so the Re-Records than the Mixes due to the better instrumentation, ex: guitar, flute), but the song that deserves special mention is the neat sounding RBN punk song, "We Are the One". It has a fast beat with 2-3 patterns so it can be challenging to keep up. What makes it stand out is a really awesome dynamic bass chart. On guitar there is also a great variety of chord patterns, plus the "Whao, Whao, Whao-ao" section is fun to sing.