Post-hardcore II: Escape The Fate

Hi GMC!

Welcome to my new for these series based on Post-hardcore bands. This time I decided to cover the composing and arranging style of Escape the fate, an American post-hardcore band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The current line-up is Robert Ortiz (Drums), Craig Mabbitt (Lead vocals), Thomas “TJ” Bell (rhythm guitar), Kevin “Thrasher” Gruft (Lead Guitar).

Music Style:
Their music is defined as Post- Hardcore, emo, scream and hard work. While listening to their albums we can find lots of influences coming from Metal classics like Metallica and Iron Maiden but also from many bands from rock, punk, new metal and even hip hop. When talking about guitars, classic metal but also modern metal styles come to mind. They combine really powerful riffing with very clever arrangments making their songs really cool to play on guitar. This lesson is based on their faster and more powerful side to illustrate how most of their songs are build and arranged.

Tonality, Chord Progression & Scales:
As their music is metal but also has pop influences, the chord progressions and tonalities are mostly based on minor keys but some major keys are also found in some of their most pop punk style songs. This composition is in C minor and combines minor with harmonic minor to give that neoclassical feel that is also found in bands like My Chemical Romance and The Used. The use of the fifth chord of the tonality as major (also in its inverted version G/B) is the main characteristic that switches C minor to C harmonic minor and gives that special feel.

Techniques:
This is a rhythm lesson that combines different types of note values and techniques as only down strokes, alternate picking, palm muting, pinch harmonics and vibrato. The last part includes a classic post hard core break down that can give problems to many beginner / intermediate played.

Sound:
I used LePoin plugins to create the guitar tone. These are free amp emulators that are extremely recommended. The cabinet used for this guitar tone is HyBrit which is a Marshall amp emulation and before it a tube screamer emulation. Check out the settings:



Click HERE to download my Patch.

I used Cubase to record audio and midi, superior drummer for drums and Trillian for bass.

Tuning: Standard 440

Tempo: 190 BPM