DT has always arranged their music in an orchestral way rather than in a standard rock or metal way, meaning that they assign parts to instruments based on what sounds good and on what best compliments the instrument with the melody line. I've never noticed this lack of "riffage" and I don't want DT to start blindly incorporating "riffage" during choruses when a few chords would be much more effective.
That makes it sound like there's no way to accomplish riffier choruses without killing them. A little too much finality in that statement considering how adept DT is at exploring various possibilities.
Not really -- you failed to redden the last few words of my sentence. I'll be the first to tell you, for instance, how much ass Honor Thy Father's chorus kicks, but JP has such a killer riff there because its chorus has a pretty weak melody.
Complaining that JP isn't always playing a face-melting riff is like complaining that JM isn't always tapping or JR isn't always using a ragtime patch -- that is, it's appropriate sometimes, but not always, and DT knows enough about music and what they want theirs to sound like to make the distinction.
Because that was the part my reply was referring to and it didn't take you out of context since, the way you worded it, it came off implying that if DT were to utilize riffier choruses then they'd be doing it in some kind of forced, aimless manner since you used the word "blindly" which is a word that seldom can be accurately used to describe the way they've gone about their writing when you consider how carefully they plan out most of their parts.
I'm not sure if the "face-melting riff" part is regarding my reply but you seem to assume that anything that diagrees with your stance must surely be indicating something in the completely opposite direction instead of understanding the reality of how wide that middle grey area is and the expanse of possibilities it may hold.
To be completely clear: my "face-melting riff" comment had absolutely nothing to do with you. I was referring to commanderbob's complaint which I still feel is a very silly complaint to make.
My point is not that choruses are not a place for awesome riffs, which would be a silly and close-minded view; if that's what you're taking from my posts, you're misunderstanding me. My point is that DT is a group of incredibly apt composers and we shouldn't slam them for a "lack of riffage" because they know what's best for the song.
As for "blindly", I still think it's important you consider the words in my sentence you didn't redden. Looking at it again:
I don't want DT to start blindly incorporating "riffage" during choruses when a few chords would be much more effective.
My point is that there is a world of possibilities for instrumentation, and, many times, we find that a few simple chords will be more effective. If commanderbob got his way and JP were obliged always to play killer riffs, DT would no longer be considering this world of possibilities and would only be considering one; they would indeed be blindly incorporating riffage. Instead, I want DT to do what's best for the song, and not what's best for commanderbob. Perhaps I should've said "whenever a few chords would be much more effective" to better express this?