I will be keeping with a theme for a while.
Music from Howard Stern's 60th Birthday Party.

There were words in that song? I'm being serious, not trollin' at all.

I know people always joke around that a lot of the harder types of metal and such have a bunch of screaming and howling thats not really words... but there wasnt a single audible word in that entire eleven minutes. The sad thing is that the music in the background was actually pretty decent, but was completely unbearable to sit through due to the hissing / howling noise that I could only assume was supposed to be the 'singer'. Even with the lyrics on screen I was unable to follow the song and had to go find THIS version that puts the words up one at a time.

I perfectly find with songs that dont have lyrics, I love a lot of electronic and instrumental music that have zero words in them at all. But if we're talking about lyrically powerful songs, the songs should like...have lyrics.

Breaking from my fore-announced theme.
Thought about this release a few weeks ago and tore into the basement to find it as I hadn't heard it in a while.
What an awesome, genius piece of Americana.

Bounty, for throwing out the idea of minimalist lyrics I give you this.
Get it a listen. This is on Mars Audiac Quintet. One of my favorite albums of all time and that says a lot considering many are picking up on my musical tastes by now.
I love Mini Moog.
I own one.

Edit: After all these years I just noticed the cover is a Moog Modular and not a Mini.
Screw it. I know Laetitia plays a Mini in most of the songs.

Bounty... the words are more "audible" when youve been listening to that kind of music for years. Ive been listening to extreme metal for 10 years. The words are perfectly audible to me, because Ive put the effort into actually training my ears to hear them, rather than just listening to the song's surface value. With work comes reward, and when it comes to black metal, that is infinitely true. I hate to sound pretentious (actually, I lied; I really dont care if I do), but I dont expect you to understand, but I enjoy music that takes multiple listens to fully appreciate. It's the music that has longevity for me, and I will be listening to when I'm 80, because I will always be discovering new things even in that one song.

That so reminds me of what's to come.
An eighty year old guy, lowriding, bumping hydraulic with the subwoofers thumping, driving down the street shouting to the Beeach's

Lyrical power doesn't mean anything when the "singer" (if you can call it that for this song) isn't understandable without a step by step walkthrough of the song. No offense, but that song would only ever be worth listening to without the vocals. Screaming and screeching is neither singing nor musical. Again, not for me. Have some more Poets.

Wrong. your views of what is "musical" are very narrow. The screamed vocals are meant as both an added rhythmic layer, and also to convey added atmosphere. Believe it or not, but some people enjoy abrasiveness in music, and I like the cold, visceral sonic quality the vocals convey.

So no, you are being close-minded. To say "its not for me, I don't like it" is fine. But to say "its not musical" because basically 'my fragile ears can't decipher the sound' is wrong, and I find it to be quite a dim mindset.

First off, throwing in roundabout ad hominems doesn't help your argument. Then again, I did directly attack your taste so we're even. Let's set this kind of stuff aside because I do honestly like the discussion.

Secondly, decipher? Now THAT I need explained on how you can enjoy it. How do guttural or screeching noises come across as musical to you?

I challenge someone to figure out the lyrics.

Arq: I already explained. The vocals in extreme metal serve a different purpose than in traditional music. As both an added rhythmic layer (much in the same way drums are musical; except the vocals provide a sort of... counterpoint to the drumming, so to speak), as well as providing atmosphere. Whether you like the vocal style or not, these songs would not have the same visceral, straight-for-the-throat, ice-cold quality with clean vocals. I mean, there are many instrumental black metal tracks... but they are usually meant as more spacey, ambient pieces.

As for the "deciphering" thing, thats part of the appeal of extreme metal. Songs that take multiple listens to appreciate and comprehend are the best. Music is an adventure, it should take you on a journey, not be just instantly accessible. As I said, with work comes reward, and I enjoy hearing artists I know will take multiple listens to fully understand.

So just because you listen to music for different reasons than those who enjoy extreme metal, and therefore do not fully appreciate the artistic aesthetics of said genre, does not give you the right to fault the artform based on a half-baked understanding of why it is the way it is.

Also ignore the Caninus song Wuster posted for the purposes of the debate, as they are a lackluster joke band, and their vocalist is a pit bull, not a human.

Ruiner!!!

It's rare I find a cover that I like more than the original, but Pentatonix did an amazing job.

Check out their Gagnam Style.
I posted a video of Kevin doing his beat box style classical cello playing a while back and it got not one response.
Don't even know if anyone watched it.

A very sparse interpretation of John Lennon's Mother.