Now being the biased metalhead that I am, this topic comes up in debate rather often. The breakdown is something that is essential in many sub-genres of metal (in actuality they would not exist without them) and almost non-existent in others. The breakdown is basically where the song is slowed down so the guitarist can play more intricate notes and the drummer abuses the double-bass pedals, and maybe a repetitive one line chorus is yelled while this is happening, depending on how bad their parents beat them as children….supposedly.
The officer of Death Metal in the Heavy Metal Enthusiast Club at USF (insert shameless plug) had a good quote to explain this: “One single note for an entire riff = boring as hell. Filler content that serves only to kill any momentum the song has. In general they are clinically proven to SUCK ASS!” The whole basis of the breakdown is not for the music (obviously enough), it is for the show. It usually will whip the crowd into a giant frenzy and cause a couple of mosh pits or hardcore pits (see my last post, its scary) to break out. The breakdown is only really abused by -core bands (Metalcore, Hardcore, Mathcore, etc.), which are basically the sub-genres of metal that are formed from teens with angst of whom only their friends are fans.
Now not to be completely biased, there are a few good breakdowns, but they are few and far between, like this one (Starts at 3:15). This is the proper use of a breakdown (in my humble opinion) as its bringing the song to a close (something you would thing the name “breakdown” would generally imply) instead of doing it mid-song. A few metal artists also use it as a bridge, such as Nevermore’s “Final Product” which makes it very intriguing.
Overall its one of those things that is there for a musician to use if he gets desperate, especially when their career sucks anyway.
\m/
Bane
P.S. Thank you Joe and Clay for helping me out on this…and they make such a cute couple too….
