We've all had guitar cables wear out. The only way you find out is when you go to plug in, strike a power chord, and it comes out with anything but power. Hopefully it happens at home instead of onstage and saves some embarrassment. Well here, one guitarist going by the name VAALVA intentionally plugs in and plays some metal classics without distortion, effectively taking the "heavy" out of heavy metal.

The faceless guitarist lulls around in his bedroom tearing through bits of Slayer, Metallica, Pantera and Slipknot hits. The songs underwhelm to say the least, proving the true power of distortion. There's plenty of music that sounds great without distortion, but to hear what sounds like Buddy Holly and the Crickets playing "Raining Blood" just doesn't cut it. Yes, the '50s rock 'n' roll outfit were extreme at the time and these songs certainly would have devastated back in the day, but they just don't hold up in the modern day in this format.

Distortion is one of the defining qualities of heavy metal and provides unmistakable power. There are masters of guitar tone like Tony Iommi and Gary Holt and those who can control incredible amounts of distortion and volume like High on Fire's Matt Pike and Sunn O))). It would be hard to imagine any of these artists and their respective bands sounding the same without all of that distortion. Clean tones are still used by all, but only to contrast the heaviness of the music for the sake of dynamic songwriting.

Let's keep the distortion cranked and the metal heavy!

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