Music
Tourniquet's early albums are technical thrash metal and are characterized by dark atmosphere. The song writing is technically precise, and drummer Ted Kirkpatrick is known to play the guitar parts himself when he thinks that the other members' playing isn't precise enough. Kirkpatrick's drumming incorporates poly-rhythms and peculiar, technical patterns. Many Tourniquet songs are said to include more guitar riffs than most bands write in their entire career. Their first album is influenced by 1980s speed metal, but on later releases the band began incorporating more classical music in their songwriting, most notably on the albums Psycho Surgery and Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance. This is mostly due to Ted Kirkpatrick's role as the main songwriter. Kirkpatrick cites Beethoven, Bach, and other classical composers as some of his primary musical influences. While there are some progressive elements on Pathogenic, such as on "The Skeezix Dilemma", their later releases Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm and Where Moth and Rust Destroy have more marked progressive metal influences.
Tourniquet's lyrical influences span a wide range; everything from Old Testament narrative, to medical allegories, to Edgar Allan Poe type descriptive horror. Many Kirkpatrick-penned lyrics incorporate medical terminology. Tourniquet has also dealt with unique social issues as well. "Ark of Suffering" from their very first release, Stop the Bleeding, generated a lot of attention by addressing animal abuse. "Ruminating Virulence" (from Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance) offers hope to the severely disabled. "Twilight" (from Vanishing Lessons) addresses the neglect of the elderly. All of these topics are addressed from a Biblical perspective.
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