Whoever said ballet is above metal can politely see themselves out the door. For Lamb of God frontman, Randy Blythe, who was labeled "too brutal for thrash" by Rolling Stone, is defying expectations and scoring for a dance project.
Matthew Frain, a member of the Richmond Ballet in Virginia, and heavy rocker Blythe are collaborating for a dance short entitled Inventory, which is scheduled to debut at Richmond's dance festival on March 22.
Blythe says in Richmond Magazine: "[Frain] asked me if he could use some [preexisting music] and I said, 'Sure, but why don't we just conceptualize a piece from the ground up, together.'"
He continues:
"Artistically, I don't live in some heavy metal cave — most of my favorite frontmen all work in various disciplines — Nick Cave, Henry Rollins, David Yow; these are men whose musical work I admire and respect. These guys have made some of the most original and caustic tunes in the history of music, but they also have produced some really beautiful art and literature. Those are the types of artistic role models I look to for inspiration — they stay busy and work hard."
The piece predominately uses ambient textures to produce a landscape for the dance pieces to speak. Blythe is admittedly a ballet fan but is aware that he had to learn the "terms of the art form while collaborating on the score."
Preview the dance number below.
