intro tracks... love em or hate em?

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Mon October 16th, 2006, 11:39 pm

So I'm sitting here listening to Emperor's Anthems album for about the 2,000th time, and I got to thinking about how much I hate intro tracks in metal albums in general. It seems like the days of a band just jumping right into their music and pummeling you non-stop from the start are few and far between. For a while the intro track seemed to be a black metal-only thing where each album would start with like a minute and a half of wind whispering through a forest or something equally retarded, but it seems to have permeated into just about every genre of metal now.

In fact, the intro to Anthems is pretty much the only non-song "intro" track I can think of that I like and don't mind listening to. I love how it just sets the mood for the whole album with the eerie guitars and keyboards and whispering that builds up to the death march drums then blasts right into "Ye Entrancemperium".

So what's your take on intro songs? Can any of you name any other time you've actually listened to an intro track of an album without skipping immediately ahead to the first actual song?

Vaxthrul · Post by **Vaxthrul** » Tue October 17th, 2006, 4:52 am

Ive been listening to alot of electronica, so ill start off by using that. I really like how certain Depeche Mode albums start with the odd electronica beat. Yes yes, i kno, not metal, but to loves of symphonic metal, electronica is atleast a "somewhat" respected genre. The Birthday Massacre (again, electronica) also has a good into on thier Violet album.

Now for metal, the intro tracks arnt a nessecity at all. The new Amon album starts off kicking your ass, as does Gorgoroths new album. But sometimes they are usefull, I.e., setting the mood for the album. One way that I like to look at it is from the perspective of Dimmu Borgir, post Stormblast. Listen to the newest album, Deathcult, and listen to Puritanical, the album before that. To me, Puritanical Euphoric Misinthropia's intro track is a great one that deserves a title of "Love em". I like the Puritanical Album far more than the Dethcult, and I think that it is because of the mood set in the begining. The moods of the two albums are compareable, though not the same, so dont rip my head off.

But sometimes, certain bands just cannot do a good job with into tracks <Cough>Aborym</Cough> hehe

sometimes its hit or miss. But if you know the band, you probably can tell wether or not they are good with intos.

All praises to the black Lord Bathory!

ProstheticHead12 · Post by **ProstheticHead12** » Tue October 17th, 2006, 9:04 am

I hate intro tracks. They're useless and cliche. Having reviewed nearly every metal CD we get at WUOG I'm sick of 'em. One notable exception is the intro on From Exile's CD. It's actual music that kicks off the first real track in fine fashion and doesn't come across as filler.

kfoll · Post by **kfoll** » Tue October 17th, 2006, 9:09 am

I kind of like them if they arent' too long. I have a live Carnal forge album (can't remember which one atm) that's got like a bunch of newscasts about murders and so forth, and it really sets an atmosphere. I liked the intro tracks that Vital Remains and Dismember did at their shows too, they really set a tone for the show. Maybe it's that they were live shows. I'm not too crazy about the stuff Dissection did on several of their live albums, nor the "Demon Burger" tracks, and I agree that most all black metal intros are kind of lame, but the one on Anthems kicks ass.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Tue October 17th, 2006, 9:20 am

love em if they fit right, depends on what you consider an intro track.... you cant go wrong with 2 of the best metal intro songs EVER...
the ides of march by maiden
into the lungs of hell by megadeth

depends if you are talking about stuff like this, or you are referring to long movie samples or some shit that start out cds, depends on the artist and the quality of the intro in my opinion....

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Tue October 17th, 2006, 11:50 am

I'm referring mostly to long, drawn out ambient-type intro tracks. I like stuff that provides an actual buildup to the first song, like the intro to Death Cult Armageddon mentioned above, and certain spoken word/movie clip intros, though the shorter the better.

Again, these seem few and far between these days though. Last Friday Mike and I had to listen to a bunch of black metal CD's that recently got sent to us, and after a while I got tired of immediately skipping the first track every single time about 5 seconds into a bunch of rustling leaves or a long drawn out keyboard note or something.

Post by **BoB** » Tue October 17th, 2006, 1:18 pm

On the whole I hate em. They're incredibly cliche and when they're cut as a seperate track they fuck up the shuffle/random listening experience.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Tue October 17th, 2006, 3:06 pm

I definitely hate them. But like Greg and WUOG Greg I've listened to more CD's in one sitting then most people do in a year.
I'll clarify what Greg is talking about. We hate those intro tracks that are clearly an afterthought, not a song that was written with the rest of the album. These bands are only using them because so many others have already.
If an 'intro' track is actually a short song, or overture type piece that connects with the rest of the album, then we tend to like them.

AmoebicDysentery · Post by **AmoebicDysentery** » Tue October 17th, 2006, 4:40 pm

Samples and intros...just a bunch of faggotry if you ask me.

TheKshatriya · Post by **TheKshatriya** » Tue October 17th, 2006, 5:52 pm

I dont hate them in general. But i dont like long boring ones that are just like a machine making noise or wind blowing.

I love the Anthems intro, I will listen to that album cause I remember how awesome it is, and I think it fits well with the next song, even though there isnt much of a transition.

But more times than not I wont listen to an intro track if its not a real song.

Post by **BlazeTSU** » Tue October 17th, 2006, 11:23 pm

i don't really like them at all but there are a few exceptions. my brain isn't working well at the moment but the anthems intro is good and the intro song to cephalic carnage's lucid interval is badass.

Mitch · Post by **Mitch** » Tue October 17th, 2006, 11:31 pm

Finally, these things have been getting on my nerves for a long time. Every now and then one comes along that really is a pretty good lead-in (like on the most recent Nile album), but even then I usually don't listen to it. The worst is when they call it "Intro." It's so obvious no thought went into it.

TheKshatriya · Post by **TheKshatriya** » Wed October 18th, 2006, 2:02 am

The only exception to that rule would be on the newst Municipal Waste record. Intro/Deathripper is the first track, and the intro is only about 5 seconds long but i guess it is an intro.

kfoll · Post by **kfoll** » Wed October 18th, 2006, 8:58 am

You guys ought to record an album that is one long intro, just so you can make an ironic statement about intros.

Vaxthrul · Post by **Vaxthrul** » Wed October 18th, 2006, 12:15 pm

will do will do

AtlantaMetal

intro tracks... love em or hate em?

intro tracks... love em or hate em?

not only for metal

Who is online