Many people conflate death metal music with violence; this is a common misperception. A study conducted by Thompson revealed that death metal listeners actually feel empowered and at peace while listening to this genre.
Bands such as Atheist and Cynic took the genre in an unconventional direction by employing jazz-fusion style compositions and exploring philosophical subjects instead of antireligious rants.
What is death metal?
Death metal music is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that features fast drumming, low-tuned guitars with distortion, blast beats and violent lyrics. Although not for everyone, death metal has amassed a wide following with many loyal supporters.
Death metal stands out from traditional metal by using guttural growls instead of clean vocals and melodic riffs; its vocal style has often been likened to that of Cookie Monster from Sesame Street! Such vocals add an aggressive element that matches its aggressive lyrical content perfectly.
Death metal’s themes often evoke Z-grade slasher movie violence, as well as Satanism, Occultism and Mysticism. Additionally, death metal can explore physical and moral problems related to man, such as death, war, hatred, sexuality torture serial killers cannibalism and other violent acts.
A typical death metal band typically comprises of a vocalist, two guitarists and a bassist. Death metal music is renowned for its complex song structures and unusual time signatures, making it difficult for musicians to play onstage; therefore many bands opt for smaller, acoustically inferior venues like backyards and VFW halls when performing it live.
Death metal is a complex yet technical genre, demanding immense skill to master. Musicians invest countless hours practicing without guarantee of fame or money making; their dedication makes the genre truly an art form. Death metal has given birth to various offshoots and variants; perhaps one of its most prominent forms, blackened death metal (combining fluid black metal melodies with the intensity of death metal), is probably most influential, represented by bands such as God Dethroned, Belphegor and Behemoth as an influential genre.
Origins
By the mid-1980s, some fans of thrash metal began adding new elements to their music in an attempt to push it further into extreme territory. Bands such as Death, Possessed and Morbid Angel still featured elements typical of early thrash metal music but quickly increased drum speed, reduced vocal range to guttural growls, and focused on themes of violence and murder more prominently than their earlier predecessors.
Similar to how thrash metal bands were inspired by punk rock and early black metal, Florida teenagers wanted to create something even more disturbing. Drawing inspiration from satanism as their source, these Florida teenagers added ritualistic lyrics, occult themes, graphic artwork depicting violence and murder and graphic artwork glorifying such activities to their music – an approach that remains highly unconventional yet continues to flourish underground scene.
Due to the violent nature of their lyrics and imagery, many death metal bands have faced considerable resistance from mainstream culture. Nonetheless, death metal remains immensely popular in places like Norway and Sweden, where people tend to be more conservative.
As death metal became more and more popular, more venues accepted bands. Although initially these venues were subpar acoustically and poorly equipped, as popularity grew they eventually became more accommodating for this genre and led to well-known bands like Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death finding mild success. Furthermore, death metal also gave birth to various subgenres such as death/doom which combined slow tempos with melancholic atmosphere of doom metal together with deep growling vocals, blistering guitar work and blistering guitar/drum work of death metal to form one unique genre of its own!
Influences
Death metal bands frequently explore themes related to death, deformity and murder in both realistic and fantastical settings such as lost kingdoms and lost races. According to studies by music psychologist William Forde Thompson, death metal fans tend to enjoy its extreme nature – according to this finding it had lower empathy scores than non-fans but higher scores when experiencing negative emotions such as anger or anxiety when listening to it.
At its roots, death metal emerged during the mid-1980s from thrash. Early pioneers like Slayer, Hellhammer and Morbid Angel resembled thrash but featured faster beats, distorted guitars, and raspy vocals that set it apart from its roots. Later on it would develop its own South American scene led by Holocausto, Sarcofago and Sepultura.
As the genre evolved, its own subgenres emerged. Bands such as Napalm Death, Carcass and Cannibal Corpse took the sound in different directions; speeding up drums even more; recording indecipherable vocals and exploring macabre topics were just some of their tactics.
Death metal bands also went beyond expectations when it came to artwork and logo design, engaging in an arms race that resulted in macabre designs emblazoned with bloodstained designs or bloodied branches. Yet despite this image of violent death metal musicians being reasonable people creating art they don’t glorify violence or promote it through their lyrics – thus prompting activists and media figures alike to criticize death metal musicians for glorifying or normalizing violence as part of life.
Subgenres
Death metal has evolved into multiple subgenres. Of the many subgenres within death metal, brutal death metal stands out as one of the most popular and well-known genres. Characterized by growled or roared vocals, heavily distorted guitar riffs performed through techniques like palm muting and tremolo picking, as well as aggressive double kick blast beats, this style typically features song structures with shifting time signatures and violent lyrics depicting violence, hate, and gore.
Technical death metal is an increasingly sophisticated subgenre of death metal music. Characterized by complex musical blizzards featuring impressive musicianship and instrument virtuosity from bands performing it live, technical death metal has quickly become an integral part of Japanese musical scene where it often blends together with black metal, neoclassical/jazz elements for an electrifying musical experience.
Melodeath is a musical subgenre that blends growled vocals of death metal with melodic and progressive elements, often more associated with heavy/power metal or doom metal than thrash metal. Bands performing this genre tend to sound closer to heavy/power metal or doom metal than thrash metal, yet still possessing elements associated with death metal such as highly distorted guitar riffs and fast drumming. Some of the top melodeath bands also draw influence from other genres like doom metal from My Dying Bride or melodic death metal from The Haunted to create their unique sound; such as doom metal from My Dying Bride or melodic death metal from The Haunted.
Though death metal lyrical themes don’t reach the extremes of other genres of metal music, death metal still explores themes related to violence – particularly dismemberment and mutilation – often with graphic descriptions of murder, torture, rape or other acts of extreme horror. Additionally, themes may explore Satanism, Occultism mysticism or social commentary more subtly and subversively.
Conclusions
Death metal music continues to thrive due to a dedicated following. Bands that specialize in this style spend weeks practicing and recording intricate guitar melodies, drumming patterns and vocal arrangements – not for money (though some do make a living from playing death metal), but due to a genuine love of art form; pushing musical boundaries until creating something truly epic on their instruments that can stand as musical masterpieces.
Death metal musicians purposely seek to distance themselves from the confines of pop and rock music by employing techniques such as tempo changes and other stylistic devices to keep listeners interested, as well as by forgoing conventional melody lines and chord progressions.
Due to this influence, metalcore has an interdisciplinary sound more closely associated with jazz and classical music than with conventional metal. This aspect makes metalcore appealing to listeners who may find the repetitive structure of mainstream pop too restricting.
Death metal music may feature lyrics with themes as diverse as Z-grade horror movie violence, Satanism, Occultism and mysticism – though generally seen as dark and disturbing.
Death metal may carry negative connotations, yet evidence shows it can have positive benefits on mental health for its fans. One study published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences discovered that those who like death metal tend to score higher on personality assessment tests of openness to experience, conscientiousness and agreeableness than non-fans of death metal; additionally they also reported feeling more empowered and peaceful when listening to it.