Death Metal
Stylistic origins:	Thrash metal
Cultural origins:	Early-Mid 1980s United States, Germany
Typical instruments:	Guitar - Bass guitar - Double-bass drum
Mainstream popularity:	Underground in mid 1980s, growth in late 1980s and early 1990s.
Subgenres
Melodic death metal - Progressive death metal - Technical death metal - Brutal death metal
Fusion genres
Deathgrind - Death/doom - Death/thrash - Deathcore - Blackened death metal
Regional scenes
Florida - New York - Scandinavia - United Kingdom - Brazil - Japan
Other topics
Death growl - Extreme metal - Blast beat

Death metal is an extreme heavy metal subgenre. It is typically characterized by the use of heavily-distorted guitars, harsh low-pitched growled vocals, morbid lyrics, fast-paced rhythms and melodies, and unconventional song structures.

The first bands to pioneer the style were thrash metal bands that formed the prototype for death metal; bands such as Slayer, Possessed^[1] and later early death metal bands such as Death and Morbid Angel.^[2] In the late 1980s and early 1990s, death metal gained more media attention as various record labels like Earache Records and Roadrunner Records began to sign death metal bands at a rapid rate.^[3] Since then death metal diversified spawning a rich variety of subgenres.^[4][5]

Death metal has been met with considerable hostility from mainstream culture, mainly because of the violent themes, imagery and attitude of many bands.^[6] Death metal is generally seen as an underground form of music, in part because it does not appeal to mainstream tastes and because its musicians often choose to remain obscure.

Characteristics

The genre is often identified by fast, highly distorted and downtuned guitars, combined with guitar playing techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking. The percussion is usually fast and dynamic. Blast beats, double bass and exceedingly fast drum patterns are frequently used to add to the ferocity of the genre.^[7] The vocals are often grunts, snarls, and low gurgles colloquially called death grunts or death growls. This vocal style is sometimes referred to as Cookie Monster vocals because of the similarities with Sesame Street's character.^[8][9] Death metal's lyrical themes typically invoke Z-grade slasher movie violence,^[10] but also contain various themes of Satanism, Occultism and even mysticism.^[11][12]

Death metal is known for its abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes, as well as extremely fast and complex guitar and drumwork.^[13][14] Death metal may include chromatic chord progressions and a varied song structure without a standard verse-chorus arrangement. These compositions tend to emphasize an ongoing development of themes and motifs.^[15] The setup most frequently used in death metal is two guitars, a bass guitar, a vocalist and a drum kit almost universally using two bass drums or a double bass drum pedal. Although this is the standard setup, bands have been known to incorporate other instruments such as keyboards.

Origin of the term

There are multiple theories on how the term "death metal" originated. One of the theories is that the name of genre pioneers Death is the origin of the genre's name. A Florida journalist was explaining to his readers that Death play their own kind of metal: "Deaths Metal".^[16] Others believe Death is not the origin, but the harsh vocals and the morbid lyrical content generally used in death metal.^[17] Another possible origin is a fanzine called "Death Metal", started by Thomas Fischer and Martin Ain of the band Hellhammer (later Celtic Frost). The name was later given to the 1984 compilation Death Metal released by Hellhammer's label Noise Records.^[18][19] The term might also have originated from other recordings. Possessed's 1984 demo is called Death Metal, and a song with the same name is featured on their 1985 debut album Seven Churches.^[20] A demo released by Death in 1984 is called Death by Metal.^[21]

Early history (up to 1991)

Death metal is an offshoot of thrash metal. Slayer are credited by many as one of the most important group for the birth of death metal and Hell Awaits and Reign in Blood are cited by many bands of this genre as a big influence. Slayer and other thrash bands like Kreator, Sodom and Sepultura played proto-death metal by playing a faster, heavier, and darker version of standard thrash. The thrash metal band Possessed helped form the characteristic death grunt used by many death metal vocalists.

Around 1983, aggressive U.S. bands such as Florida's Death and Morbid Angel , California's Possessed, and Chicago's Master began to form. If one would call this diffuse genre "early death metal", the first recorded examples of this would be Death's first demo Death by Metal from 1983, Possessed's 1984 demo Death Metal, Messiah's album Hymn to Abramelin and Strappado by Slaughter, both from 1986, followed by Death's album Scream Bloody Gore and Season of the Dead by Necrophagia in 1987. Morbid Angel is another band that largely influenced the death metal scene, releasing numerous demos and rehearsal since 1983. To their credit, these "early death metal" bands did push the format forward, something that would ultimately pay off in a new form of music that was substantially different from their closest forefather, thrash metal.

The late 1980s saw the rise of death metal in Scandinavia, particularly in Sweden, with such bands as Entombed (then Nihilist), God Macabre, Carnage (later Dismember), Tiamat, Grave, Hypocrisy and Vomitory. Most of these bands' debut albums were released in the early 1990s, and many carry a guitar sound that is unique among death metal.

The alternative standpoint is that the modern concept of death metal — the point when it clearly decouples from the origins in heavy metal and thrash metal — can be set to 1989 or 1990. Just as the original creation of NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) by Iron Maiden and other bands was sparked by the youthful energy of punk rock in the late 1970s, so did cross-fertilization between metal and punk once more create something new in the late 1980s. The chaotic and often confusing development that took place around this time is well illustrated by the British band Napalm Death, often characterized as a "grindcore" band (see below). This band was simultaneously always part of the hardcore punk scene. However, Napalm Death themselves changed drastically around or before 1990, leaving grindcore behind.

In particular, on 1990s Harmony Corruption, Napalm Death can be heard playing something most fans would call death metal today, i.e. "modern death metal" by the above characterization. This album clearly displays aggressive and fairly technical guitar riffing, complex rhythmics, a sophisticated growling vocal delivery by Mark "Barney" Greenway, and thoughtful lyrics. Other bands contributing significantly to this early movement include Britain's Bolt Thrower and Carcass, Buffalo's Cannibal Corpse, Sweden's Entombed, New York's Suffocation, and Florida's Morbid Angel.

To close the circle, the band Death put out the album Human in 1991, an example of modern death metal. Death's founder Chuck Schuldiner helped push the boundaries of uncompromising speed and technical virtuosity, mixing in highly technical and intricate rhythm guitar work with complex arrangements and emotive guitar solos. Other examples of this are Carcass's from 1991, Suffocation's Effigy of the Forgotten from the same year and Entombed's Clandestine from 1992. At this point, all the above characteristics are clearly present: abrupt tempo and count changes, on occasion extremely fast drumming, morbid lyrics and growling delivery.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, various record labels began to sign death metal bands at a rapid rate. Earache Records and Roadrunner Records became the genre's most important labels,^[22] with Earache releasing albums by Carcass, Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, and Entombed, and Roadrunner releasing albums by Obituary, Sepultura, Pestilence, and Deicide. Although these labels had not been death metal labels to start with (Earache was founded for grindcore and Roadrunner for thrash), they became the genre's flagship labels in the beginning of the 1990s. In addition to these, other labels formed as well, such as Nuclear Blast, Century Media, and Peaceville; many of these labels would go on to achieve successes in other genres of metal throughout the 1990s.

Later history (1991-present)

Death metal's popularity achieved its peak between the 1992-93 era, with some bands such as Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse enjoying mild commercial successes; however, the genre as a whole never broke in to the mainstream owing to its extreme nature. Nevertheless, rather than fading away, death metal diversified in the '90s, spawning a rich variety of subgenres, including the following:

Melodic death metal

Main article: Melodic death metal

Melodic death metal, sometimes referred to as melodeath, is heavy metal mixed with some death metal elements, such as growled vocals and the liberal use of blastbeats. Songs are typically based around Iron Maiden-esque guitar harmonies and melodies with typically higher-pitched growls, as opposed to traditional death metal's brutal riffs and much lower death grunts. Goregrind band Carcass are sometimes credited with releasing the first melodic death metal album with 1993's Heartwork, although Swedish bands In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Arch Enemy, Hypocrisy, Soilwork and At the Gates are usually mentioned as the main pioneers and popularizers of the genre and of the Gothenburg metal sound.

Scandinavian death metal

Main article: Scandinavian death metal

Scandinavian death metal could be called the forerunner of melodic death metal. Bands like Afflictied, Entombed, Dismember, Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, Therion, Unleashed, Grave,Tiamat and the aforementioned At the Gates helped to define the sound that would evolve into melodic death metal. This term is generally interchangeable with melodic death metal. Entombed (ex-Nihilist) was the band, which started to combine punk and death/thrash riffs and set a trademark "Sunlight studios" guitar sound - mainly created by the use of the Boss Heavy Metal distortion pedal, creating a raw, mechanical, electric buzz, which many bands of this genre later tried to reproduce. Nevertheless, this sound was inspired by British deathgrind band Unseen Terror on their debut album Human Error.

Florida death metal

Florida death metal is more rigid and percussive than the Scandinavian variant, more precise, refined and traditional; in many ways this style can be seen, at least in the early days as an extension of thrash metal, especially the Kreator/Destruction variety, but with added complexity and brutality. It tends to be more direct and brutal than the "technical death metal" pioneered by bands such as Cynic and Atheist. Bands include Deicide, Malevolent Creation, Monstrosity, Obituary, Assück, Resurrection, Massacre, Brutality, Morbid Angel, and Death though later Death's albums fall more into the category of progressive death metal (see below).

Technical death metal

Main article: Technical death metal

Technical death metal refers to bands that are particularly distinguished by the complexity of their music and the virtuosity of their musicians. Technical death metal is musically characterized by fast chaotic, sometimes atonal, riffs and atypical rhythms with varied or layered time signatures. It is a term commonly applied to such notable bands as Atheist, Pestilence, Cryptopsy, Cynic, Decapitated, Suffocation, Gorguts, Immolation, Necrophagist, Nile, Origin and Spawn of Possession.

Progressive death metal

Progressive death metal is a subgenre of death metal that incorporates characteristics such as time signature and mood changes from progressive metal. The overlapping of genres is quite common, and jazz is a common influence. The genre typically showcases death metal's growls, blastbeats, chaotic alternating rhythms of progressive metal, acoustic parts and the use of instruments not common to traditional heavy metal such as the saxophone. Amorphis (early), Cynic, Akercocke, Death, Pestilence (later releases), Edge of Sanity, Opeth, Nocturnus, Sadist, The Faceless, Quo Vadis, Becoming the Archetype and Atheist are seen as progressive death metal. This and technical death metal are closely associated, sharing many of the same traits and often overlapping, but have different emphasis as descriptions[1]

Brutal death metal

Brutal death metal developed by combining certain aspects of the song structures of grindcore/goregrind with death metal but it should not be confused with deathgrind (grindcore that is very close in form to, and maintains the complexity of, death metal) because it has nothing to do with hardcore punk. The bands in this genre are often categorized as technical death metal, and as of now there is a sizable overlap between the two genres, with the boundary in many cases being negligible. Brutal death metal is associated with bands like Cannibal Corpse, Deeds of Flesh, Disavowed, Disgorge (US), Krisiun, Nile, Skinless, Immolation, Suffocation and Wormed. The death grunts are very low-pitched and the lyrics are often, but not always gore related. In addition, the guitar riffs are usually slow chunky grooves or hyper fast and down-tuned, often with pinched harmonics. Typically, if guitar solos are played, they usually make large use of tremolo picking, varied arpeggios, and wailing harmonics. The drumlines are usually highly varied in style, ranging from slow rhythms to churning blast beats. The sound production on most albums in the brutal death metal genre usually have a very dense sound.

Slam death metal

While similar to brutal death metal, slam death metal differs in the focus shifting away from speed and blast beats and more toward groovy "slamming" mid - paced riffs although blast beats are used sporadically. Vocals, generally, register no higher than the standard death growl and are usually much lower, often with a "gurgle"-type sound. Guitar tuning is usually dropped B or lower with frequent pinch harmonics and the prevalence of guitar solos many times sacrificed in favor of crunching riffs. Technicality is often used but is not mandatory, while melody, if present at all, is kept to an absolute minimum. The overall sound of slam death metal has a lower register than brutal death metal but is not as fast or complex. Regionally, slam death metal has been predominately associated with the United States, and more specifically, New York and Texas. However, as of recent, the genre has spread world-wide. Because of its similarity to brutal death metal, slam death metal shares a few bands with that subgenre, but there are many slam death metal bands that would not be considered brutal death metal at all and vice versa. Bands usually associated with slam death metal are Devourment, Dying Fetus, Internal Bleeding and Soils of Fate.

Death/Doom

Death/doom is a slow and melancholic subgenre inspired by and mixed with classic doom metal. The genre was created by the likes of Autopsy, Incantation, Asphyx, Katatonia (mid), My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost (early), Anathema (early), Celtic Frost, Winter, and diSEMBOWELMENT. Whereas traditional doom metal relies heavily on slow tempo to create a melancholic atmosphere, death/doom is slightly faster and emphasizes minor-key melodies to create a similar atmosphere, and usually utilizes a mix of death growls and singing.

Blackened death metal

Main article: Blackened death metal

Blackened death metal is a subgenre of death metal fused with the more fluid and melodic elements of black metal. These bands also tend to adopt some of the thematic characteristics of that genre as well; evil, Satanism, and occultism are all common topics and images. Akercocke, God Dethroned, Behemoth, Belphegor, Zyklon, Dissection and Sacramentum are examples. Rather than what the name implies, blackened death tends to be black metal played with the intensity and musicianship of death metal, often incorporating more complex and dynamic drumming as well as lower tuned guitars utilizing the heavier attack and percussiveness of death metal guitar work.

Other fusion genres

On one hand, there are also other heavy metal sub-genres that have come from fusions between death metal and other non-metal genres, such as the fusion of death metal and jazz played by Pestilence on their Spheres album, or the work of Florida bands Atheist and Cynic, the former of which sometimes went as far as to include jazz-style drum solos on albums, and the latter of which incorporated notable influences from jazz fusion. Gorguts are another band noted for creating jazz-influenced death metal on their Obscura album. Nile have also incorporated Egyptian music and Middle Eastern themes into their style, which has been labeled by founder Karl Sanders as "Ithyphallic". Alchemist on the other hand, are one of the only death metal bands that have incorporated psychedelia into their music. Some bands, such as early Therion, Nightfall, and Eternal Tears of Sorrow have incorporated the heavy use of keyboards and symphonic elements into death metal, thus creating a fusion of symphonic metal and death metal.

With the recent rise in popularity of metalcore, musical traits of modern hardcore punk have been utilized in death metal. Bands like Job for a Cowboy, Despised Icon, and The Red Chord combine metalcore with death metal influences. Death metal characteristics such as fast and dynamic drumming (including blast beats), downtuned guitars, tremolo picking and growled vocals are combined with slower groovy riffs and breakdowns. This metalcore/death metal hybrid is sometimes referred to as deathcore.

It is also noteworthy that many bands can easily be placed in two or more of the preceding categories, and a band's specific categorization is often a source of contention due to personal opinion and interpretation.

References

Literature

• Albert Mudrian, Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore (Feral House) ISBN 978-1-932595-04-8
• Kahn-Harris, Keith 'Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge' Berg, http://soulremnants.com, ISBN 1-8452-0399-2

See also

• List of death metal bands
• Death growl
• Blast Beat
• Extreme metal
• Metalocalypse

External links

• Deathmetal website

Heavy metal
Alternative Metal - Black metal - Classic metal - Death metal - Doom metal - Folk metal - Glam metal - Gothic metal - Industrial metal - Metalcore - Neo-classical metal - Nu metal - Post-metal - Power metal - Progressive metal - Rap metal - Speed metal - Symphonic metal - Thrash metal
Regional scenes
Scandinavian death metal - New Wave of British Heavy Metal - Bay Area thrash metal
Fashion - Bands - Umlaut