Thunderbleat
Thunderbleat is a subgenre of Progressive wave metal. Counter to progressive wave metal's prominent use of Tesla guitar and droning rhythms, music that falls under the umbrella of Thunderbleat tends to explore the melodic aspects of percussion instruments. Traditional Lithuan instruments such as the Hydraulic drums are often employed. More recently, it's become a genre staple to make use of the calls of various farm animals to sustain a melody while human performers lay down a backing bassline and a more mainstream drum track. The unpredictability of the non-human participants lends the music a certain improvisational quality and has drawn a fair amount of attention from Jazz enthusiasts.
Origins
The term Thunderbleat was first used to describe the band Pious Apostasy in the February 2005 issue of Paingargle:
"The rain was falling in waves that Saturday afternoon on the Erie Canal, and I had no idea what to expect when newcomers Pious Apostasy took the stage. They walked in time with one another and were decked out in black robes. When a small herd of goats followed them on stage, however, I knew I was in store for some serious thunderbleats."
Controversies
There is some disagreement within the metal community whether the author of the 2005 Paingargle article, Bud Frosthicket, intended to write "thunderbleats", or if it was a misspelling of Thunderbeat, a pre-existing metal subgenre. Frosthicket has since declined to comment on the discrepancy.
Thunderbleat has also come under criticism from proponents other subgenres with progressive wave metal influences. Early camelcore artist P. Barnaby Stanislaus has been especially critical of thunderbleat:
"The bleats, they are not fucking bleats, no? You can smack a goddamned hippo all day long and he will bleat, but that doesn't mean that he does it for a reason. That hippo, he's fucking clueless, and he isn't fucking thirsty, he's just fucking pissed that someone is hitting him with a stick. Get that fucking microphone out of my face. You know nothing of bleats."
"They do not have goats in Erie."
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