Hey Dream Walkers, today I want to talk about modern day -core players and the approach I personally take when coming up with a bass line for a metal song. Bass guitar as an instrument is extremely undervalued and under looked in the metal genre, especially the core genres such as metalcore and Deathcore. Metalcore/deathcore as a genre is very lack lustered sometimes as far as bass playing is concerned. A major attributing factor is due to the low tuned guitars. The prevalent use of extended range guitars such as 7 or 8 strings which start creeping more and more towards the low end that is usually occupied by the bass player and cause you to be buried deep in the mix. Fortunately alot of these issues can be fixed by adjusting bass tones accordingly, a subject I will go into extensive detail another day. Sadly, we as bass players have slowly been turned into a member just there to occupy the sonic space below the guitars. Another factor is that the Bass lines are usually dumb down versions of the riffs played buy the guitar or just following the root notes. Mostly due to pressure from our brothers in the higher end of the string section. However, don't be afraid to challenge yourself and be right on top of that crazy fast riff, follow the guitars note for note. During the slower or groovier sections sit down with your musical best friend the drummer and come up with a cool groove to complement the composition.
Preach josh