Photo by Mick McDonald/National Rock Review

 

Queensrÿche vocalist Todd La Torre has launched a new official website. It features a blog, videos, news, a live tour date feed, along with Twitter and Facebook feeds. It also includes a music player with the latest Queensrÿche song samples. Check it out at ToddLaTorre.com.

La Torre's latest blog is entitled Musings On Sound. An excerpt is available below:

"If you muted the music for a film, it just wouldn’t have nearly the impact at all. A percussive tribal type of drumming for example can inhibit elevated blood pressure, create tension and anxiety, and can enhance any piece of film footage, and rightfully so. A somber scene without the beautiful orchestrations just wouldn’t reach the soul on its own. Sometimes there is even more impact with the syncing of music and film strobing in and out and just the right intervals. All of these are done for a reason, to capture and harness emotion.

Heavy metal music to many is just noise, while the same person may fully embrace the common musical thread that a neoclassical piece of music would share, all the while never knowing they were related. The low end power of bass drum hits coupled with soaring high vocals mixed with raging distorted guitar resonates to the core of the true heavy metal fan. The low frequencies of a cello, the higher frequencies of the violin, and the beauty of an opera singers voice makes for the perfect balance as well, all of which are covering a large spectrum of sounds to our ears.

How would the movie Jaws be without that classic tension of the cello building up? That’s my point simplified. Why does some music make you feel empty, lost, angry, sad, or happy?

Let’s get further down the rabbit hole..."

Click here for more.

Former Megadeth / King Diamond guitarist Glen Drover has teamed up with La Torre for a one-off song entitled "Discordia". Released last month as a digital download, La Torre has now posted a lyric video for the track:

"Discordia" marks Drover's first full-on metal tune in years, much to the appreciation of his distortion-fed fans. He and La Torre spoke exclusively with BraveWords about the collaboration. Asked to describe the music versus his back catalogue, Drover considers the track a mix of old and new territory.

"Does it sound like Eidolon? With the lower guitar tuning I think it sounds heavier, but I think it's got a sound that I'm known for. The song wasn't intentional. It's got a bit of a Nevermore vibe to it, and Todd's got these really power ful vocals. I think it gave him the chance to show off some of the stuff he hasn't had the opportunity to do so far, like add more aggression to his voice and use accents like the more growling kind of stuff. But he's still got his signature sound; for the people that know his voice, it's there. I think the song is a great marriage between my playing and his voice. I'm very happy with it."

As are the fans, with La Torre's following being particularly vocal in their appreciation of his aggressive performance on "Discordia"
"When I'm doing Queensrÿche stuff I can't use my voice like that because the music doesn't call for it," says La Torre. "When I heard Glen's stuff I knew what I could do with my voice for it because it's a different animal. There are parts on this song where nobody's ever heard that more aggressive side to my voice. As soon as I heard the track I thought it was great. Glen told me to just see what I could do with it, no pressure, no rush, and it turned out to be pretty quick and easy. I tried to be melodic but heavier in some parts. I wrote all the lyrics and the vocal melodies and harmonies, and sent it back to Glen when I was half done for his feedback because I wanted to make sure we were on the same page. He thought it was cool and told me to keep going."
"Glen initially told me he was doing a compilation with various artists and asked me if I'd be interested in doing a song," he adds. "I said yes because it sounded like fun. This song was intended for that compilation, but I think he liked it so much that he didn't want it to sit until the whole project was done."

Of course, some fans are hoping La Torre puts in a similar performance on the next Queensrÿche album, while the requisite number of online trolls have accused him of playing copycat versus having his own vocal style.

"I'm not a one trick pony; I write what the music calls for," La Torre states bluntly. "So, if people start saying 'I hope he sings like this on that next Queensryche album...' I have to say it's not going to happen. The Queensrÿche material doesn't call for those vocal stylings. If there's a sliver that does, fine, but don't count on it. 'Discordia' allowed me to show off the singing styles that I have, which most people have probably never heard from me before."

Fans should note that this is not a project and not the start of a new band. Drover has a number of projects on the go, while La Torre is 100% focused on Queensrÿche.