Post by xMaurox on Feb 6, 2007 15:51:17 GMT -5
There are various styles of headbanging, including:
The up and down: the most common style, which involves shaking the head up and down. This style is demonstrated at the climax of the "Bohemian Rhapsody" scene in the movie Wayne's World.
The circular swing (windmill): swinging the head in a circular motion. This style is more commonly known as the Windmill or Helicopter. It was popularized by Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. and George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher of Cannibal Corpse, and is used by members of Amon Amarth, Slipknot, Meshuggah, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, the late Dimebag Darrell, Brian Fair of Shadows Fall, Corey Beaulieu of Trivium, Tom "Trav" Clamp of Serfry and Neon Dreams, and many other bands.
Drunk style: a form of head banging in random directions, as if the person is drunk.
The half-circle: swinging the head repeatedly from side to side in a downward arc or pendulum motion. This style is often used by Tom Araya of Slayer.
The figure eight: shaking the head in a figure eight.
The side to side: shaking the head from side to side, whipping the hair on each transition. This style is used by Wayne Static of Static-X, Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom, James Root of Slipknot (during the "build-up" moments of a song), Martin Mendez of Opeth, and Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo.
Dave Tyo of Bipolar demonstrating the 'whiplash' technique at CBGB in New York City.The whiplash: an especially violent form of the traditional "up and down" style, characterized by the hair of the headbanger moving about so rapidly that it obscures their face. This style may have been pioneered by AC/DC guitarist Angus Young, and has also been used by Mick Thomson of Slipknot and former Metallica bassist Cliff Burton.
The Two up, Two down: Similar in style to the whiplash but instead of moving alternately up and down to the beat, the performer executes two beats 'down' and two beats 'up'. This is an attempt to accurately mimic the movements of Angus Young who appears to only 'go down' every other beat. When performed properly, the heel of the back leg is lifted on the 'down' strokes, and the heel of the front leg is lifted on the 'up' strokes.
The all-out: dropping on the ground, holding oneself up with the arms, and violently swinging the head between the arms. This style sometimes involves grabbing onto tables and other fixed objects, as their head movements have become so violent they seriously affect balance. Sid Wilson and Craig Jones from Slipknot often perform this style of headbanging during their live sets.
The tandem. Judas Priest guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton pioneered and perfected this form of headbanging, in which they stand side by side and headbang in unison. (See also Wolf Hoffman and Jörg Fischer of Accept.Or for an example in more recent year see I Killed The Prom Queen and Parkway Drive.)
The thrust: an antisocial form of headbanging where the person violently swings forwards and backwards from their waist, often headbutting people in front of them, or in more extreme circumstances, behind them.
The hammer: a form of headbanging performed by Till Lindemann of Rammstein performed by semi-squating and hitting the opposite knee of the hand you're doing the hammer motion to, while moving your head side to side or up and down. The speed of the Hammer fist goes hand in hand with the drum beat.
The breakdown: When several members of a band (especially guitarists, if there are two) all headbang simultaneously in a violent "down and back" variant during a particularly intense part of a song.
The low-profile: a variation on the "up and down" where the performer's headbanging movements are short and more subtle, but still noticeable.
The full body: also known as the body bang, is a variation of the "up and down" where the performer brings the head down to almost his knees, brings it back up does a standard shake down, and then goes back down to the knees, in a swinging motion, used extensively by Jens Kidman of Meshuggah, Jason Peppiatt, the vocalist of Psycroptic and Jonathon Davis, vocalist of Korn. This style is also particularly popular among metalcore groups.
The half body: Similar to the Full Body, the half body is a bizzare variation of the "up and down" where the performer keeps their head straight, but bends at the hips, usually in time with every second beat of the song. Usually the performer only bends to approximately a 45-degree angle, to maintain balance. This style of headbanging can be seen performed in tandem by James Root and Paul Gray of Slipknot, in their live performance in the movie Rollerball. It is possible this style of headbanging was formed by guitarists who found conventional headbanging too distracting while performing.
The up and down: the most common style, which involves shaking the head up and down. This style is demonstrated at the climax of the "Bohemian Rhapsody" scene in the movie Wayne's World.
The circular swing (windmill): swinging the head in a circular motion. This style is more commonly known as the Windmill or Helicopter. It was popularized by Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. and George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher of Cannibal Corpse, and is used by members of Amon Amarth, Slipknot, Meshuggah, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, the late Dimebag Darrell, Brian Fair of Shadows Fall, Corey Beaulieu of Trivium, Tom "Trav" Clamp of Serfry and Neon Dreams, and many other bands.
Drunk style: a form of head banging in random directions, as if the person is drunk.
The half-circle: swinging the head repeatedly from side to side in a downward arc or pendulum motion. This style is often used by Tom Araya of Slayer.
The figure eight: shaking the head in a figure eight.
The side to side: shaking the head from side to side, whipping the hair on each transition. This style is used by Wayne Static of Static-X, Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom, James Root of Slipknot (during the "build-up" moments of a song), Martin Mendez of Opeth, and Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo.
Dave Tyo of Bipolar demonstrating the 'whiplash' technique at CBGB in New York City.The whiplash: an especially violent form of the traditional "up and down" style, characterized by the hair of the headbanger moving about so rapidly that it obscures their face. This style may have been pioneered by AC/DC guitarist Angus Young, and has also been used by Mick Thomson of Slipknot and former Metallica bassist Cliff Burton.
The Two up, Two down: Similar in style to the whiplash but instead of moving alternately up and down to the beat, the performer executes two beats 'down' and two beats 'up'. This is an attempt to accurately mimic the movements of Angus Young who appears to only 'go down' every other beat. When performed properly, the heel of the back leg is lifted on the 'down' strokes, and the heel of the front leg is lifted on the 'up' strokes.
The all-out: dropping on the ground, holding oneself up with the arms, and violently swinging the head between the arms. This style sometimes involves grabbing onto tables and other fixed objects, as their head movements have become so violent they seriously affect balance. Sid Wilson and Craig Jones from Slipknot often perform this style of headbanging during their live sets.
The tandem. Judas Priest guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton pioneered and perfected this form of headbanging, in which they stand side by side and headbang in unison. (See also Wolf Hoffman and Jörg Fischer of Accept.Or for an example in more recent year see I Killed The Prom Queen and Parkway Drive.)
The thrust: an antisocial form of headbanging where the person violently swings forwards and backwards from their waist, often headbutting people in front of them, or in more extreme circumstances, behind them.
The hammer: a form of headbanging performed by Till Lindemann of Rammstein performed by semi-squating and hitting the opposite knee of the hand you're doing the hammer motion to, while moving your head side to side or up and down. The speed of the Hammer fist goes hand in hand with the drum beat.
The breakdown: When several members of a band (especially guitarists, if there are two) all headbang simultaneously in a violent "down and back" variant during a particularly intense part of a song.
The low-profile: a variation on the "up and down" where the performer's headbanging movements are short and more subtle, but still noticeable.
The full body: also known as the body bang, is a variation of the "up and down" where the performer brings the head down to almost his knees, brings it back up does a standard shake down, and then goes back down to the knees, in a swinging motion, used extensively by Jens Kidman of Meshuggah, Jason Peppiatt, the vocalist of Psycroptic and Jonathon Davis, vocalist of Korn. This style is also particularly popular among metalcore groups.
The half body: Similar to the Full Body, the half body is a bizzare variation of the "up and down" where the performer keeps their head straight, but bends at the hips, usually in time with every second beat of the song. Usually the performer only bends to approximately a 45-degree angle, to maintain balance. This style of headbanging can be seen performed in tandem by James Root and Paul Gray of Slipknot, in their live performance in the movie Rollerball. It is possible this style of headbanging was formed by guitarists who found conventional headbanging too distracting while performing.
