Turns Out Metal Songs Without Distortion are Just Surf Rock

Perhaps the most important aspect of metal music — what makes music metal — is the sound of the guitars. Ozzy’s haunting vocals definitely helped define the genre’s sound, but one could have easily applied them to spooky prog rock; it was Tony Iommi’s amputation-aided guitar tone that made Black Sabbath the first of a new and powerful genre. Without that heavy guitar sound, it’s just not metal.

YouTuber VAALVLA takes it one step further — without distortion, he proves, metal isn’t just not very metal, it’s basically surf rock. In his latest video, the masked guitarist plays tracks by Slayer, Metallica, and Slipknot, and more without the aid of distortion, and the result sounds like something that would be in the background of a scene in a Quentin Tarantino movie.

At times, the distortionless songs are pretty hilarious, but be warned: metalheads will also begin to go through distortion withdrawal and be consumed by rage. MetalSucks is not responsible for any injuries caused by distortion deficiency, and suggest the new Hooded Menace track as a good recovery drug.

Watch below. You’ve been warned.