I don’t mind being almost 50. I have lived a pretty full, happy life, have traveled more than most and have done many, many things. If i died next week, and I was aware of the fact, I think I can say that I did pretty much all of the things I ever wanted to do in life. Getting old just doesn’t bother me much.
What does bother most about getting old is missing out on some of the things that only young people are privy to. I can hang with missing the boat on certain musical and fashion styles. Being unfamiliar with TV references doesn’t much phase me. Even the countless amounts of Internet memes and catch phrases, I don’t care about much.
But…..
Why the fuck was I never told about the ‘Pig Squeal’ phenomenon? Why did I have to discover this amazing skill by trolling alone on some dumb music-related message board?
I still don’t quite know what the origin of the pig squeal is (besides the obvious one, i mean). I’m assuming it’s some bizarre hybrid of the Cookie Monster vocal style some of the more extreme metal bands utilized years back when kicking it Osbourne or Halford wasn’t quite enough any more.
I remember driving back from the Bay Area a few years ago. It was late at night and as I was approaching the town of Dixon, I tuned my car radio to KDVS, the great little college station out of Davis. It was a metal show and they weren’t playing Iron Maiden or Metallica. It was all about death and black metal. Bands like Venom, Mayhem and Cannibal Corpse. I listened, mostly for amusement purposes because I’ve never really been a metal fan, past the NWOBM days.
Everything I was hearing was pretty intense and evil.
And then they played a song from Six Feet Under.
The singer (?) couldn’t be bothered with the old and tired Cookie Monster vocal style. Instead, what was emitting from his throat was a low, guttural wheezing sound. I’m not even sure he was singing actual words. I loved it.
The next song was similarly done, as was the one after. But nothing quite matched the awesome ridiculousness of the SFU tune. I went home and Googled away and before long, I was downloading SFU songs like there was no tomorrow.
As I said, I’m not much of a metal fan these days but whenever I hear that vocal style, I smile. I can’t help it. It’s hilarious to me. Same with all the corpse paint and uber-studded wrist bands. I know it’s suppose to be demonic and scary but to me, it’s comedy.
Anyway, I’m not certain but I’m guessing that there is a new strain of Pig Squeal and it centers around the newer bands in the current “Hardcore” music scene.
Maybe it’s even a Screamo deal, I dunno.
Here’s what Urban Dictionary has to say about pig squealing:
’A vocal style originating in late 1980’s involved with underground grindcore/Brutal Death Metal bands. The style is usually used by either inhaling or exhaling while coarsing your throat to either sound like a high pitched pig squeal, or a low pitched gurgle. Pig squeals have now become a style that is seen more in the light now due to hardcore/metalcore bands that have been recently becoming increasingly popular.
Job for a cowboy definently didn’t invent pig squeals, and they suck.’
So, whatever. There ya go.
Oh, and apparently, there is a BIG rift going on between pig squealers who inhale pig squeal and who those who exhale pig squeal.
Who fucking knew? It’s apparent that I fucking didn’t.
