Death metal songs that stand the test of time tend to be brutal, intense and chaotic – from Cannibal Corpse’s classic riffy perfection and Napalm Death’s diesel-engine thunder, all the way through Mastodon’s sea-sickening climax that marked their initial foray into longer song lengths.
Kataklysm offers up an irresistibly grinding sound while Euronymous delivers an epic take on Scandinavian metal in this epic compilation of death metal hits. Don’t miss it — get ready to headbang!
Chuck Schuldiner’s Death
Chuck Schuldiner and Death pioneered Death metal and set the standards for this genre, setting an ambitious standard with their unflagging consistency, visionary artistry and fearlessness of pushing boundaries – hallmarks of pioneering metal music. Their songs often dealt with darker subjects beyond Satanic themes to address issues like betrayal, abortion and crack cocaine use epidemic. Schuldiner’s vocal style differed significantly from classic Thrash metal screaming by conveying more terror and horror through Schuldiner.
After Death released its seventh album, Symbolic and Spiritual Healing, Schuldiner took it in a more melodic, progressive direction that would prove highly influential on other artists such as James Murphy from KISS, Ozzy Osbourne, and Angus Young of Judas Priest. He even inspired other musicians including James Murphy from KISS and Ozzy Osbourne as well as Angus Young from Judas Priest!
In addition to progressive riffs and lyrics, this song contains some of the greatest death metal guitar solos ever heard in rock or metal history. With an amazing combination of icy cold riffs, brutal drums, melodic vocals, and amazing solos this track simply amazes. Additionally, Schuldiner used a keyboard for the first time ever within this song which gave its overall depth further depth.
This song by an underrated band is absolutely incredible. It’s a slow but extremely powerful death metal tune featuring some incredible riffs and bass work from some of the band members. Additionally, the track is progressive while heavier than most death metal songs and includes plenty of thrash elements as well.
Obituary
Death metal pioneer Chuck Schuldiner helped create the blueprint for death metal music, leading the extreme music genre to its most progressive, technical, and thrilling heights. His band would go on to influence numerous bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Mastodon, Gojira and System of a Down; their songs such as “Hammer Smashed Face” became legendary classics.
On the 10-year anniversary of Death’s brain cancer death, NPR’s Lars Gotrich reached out to eleven metal musicians (such as Cynic guitarist Paul Masvidal, Gene Hoglan and fretless bassist Matt Harvey of Exhumed bassist Matt Harvey of Exhumed bassist Matt Harvey of Exhumed bassist Matt Harvey), including them (Paul Masvidal & Gene Hoglan of Cynic as well as fretless bassist Matt Harvey from Exhumed bassist Matt Harvey), asking them to choose their favorite Death song as well as explain its significance when thinking about Schuldiner himself. These writers delivered some truly stellar responses (ranging from memories reminisces to insightful pieces to written essays that could easily stand-in as essays). These writers produced some incredible submissions that deserve recognition & acknowledgement by all involved (Larr Gotrich).
Death metal music’s roots lie in horror, gore and death itself; however, its themes have expanded to encompass cultural influences as well as song compositions dealing with positivity, religion and space/cosmology. Many bands also draw influence from other genres like melodic death metal, progressive metal and thrash metal; the most typical setup for death metal bands involves two guitarists, bass player and vocalist playing heavily distorted or detuned guitars using techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking to give death metal its distinctive sound.
Misery Index
The Misery Index is an economic metric designed to measure the standard of living of average Americans by taking inflation and unemployment rates into account. It’s a straightforward formula that represents consumer discontent that exists throughout our economy; much like Metallica’s hit song of that name that inspired its creation, the Misery Index has experienced ups and downs ever since its conception.
Bloodbath stands as the pinnacle of death metal bands, helping popularize old school death metal and inspiring bands such as Opeth and Katatonia as they followed in their wake. Famous for tracks like “Resurrection Through Carnage” with its ultra-nasty chainsaw guitars, Bloodbath’s discography should not be missed!
Other highlights include Swedish band Merciless, who created classic extreme metal albums in their first two releases with high-intensity rhythms and semi-melodic death metal riffing that have inspired numerous later styles.
Sceptic from Poland are an underrated band whose 2005 album “Internal Complexity” is an undisputed gem. Their style combines fast, brutal death metal with more melodic influences such as excellent drumming – an influence felt by bands such as Hypocrisy and Carcass as well as being widely recognized for their gothic lyrics and dark imagery.
Bloodbath
Bloodbath are one of the most influential bands in death metal music history. Their debut ‘Resurrection through Carnage’ brought old school chainsaw guitar riffs back into fashion while drawing Katatonia and Opeth fans into their fold.
This album is an outstanding demonstration of the band’s ability to blend both extremes of metal music with technical proficiency and brutality. The riffs recall Entombed and Carnage with some influence from Morbid Angel, while vocals tend more towards death metal than thrash metal. Even so, songs are well arranged and don’t drag too far out into time.
This was Mikael Akerfeldt’s final Bloodbath album before leaving to focus on Opeth full time, so the line-up changed for their subsequent record with Peter Tagtgren of Hypocrisy on vocals and Dan Swano of Edge of Sanity drumming for them; but Nightmares Made Flesh remains an essential release in its genre.
Peak Malevolent
Florida death metal masters Malevolent Creation proved themselves as formidable opponents on their second album, the critically-acclaimed Second Incarnation. While their first record was impressive enough, its production on this second release truly stands out. Drums are left to function independently from guitars to allow riffs to dictate song rhythms and create a distinct feel distinctly unlike thrash metal; death metal thus becomes its own unique musical genre.
Malevolent Creation’s Retribution may not match up to their earlier works but is still an impressive splodge of percussive death metal from its golden days – Slayer-esque fast pounding is less prevalent while crustier riffs may still feature, yet with ample blast beats and an aggressive yet restrained vocal style that recalls NYC hardcore punk music, making for an intriguing listen.
Retribution’ is an outstanding example of brutal yet technically proficient death metal from the 1980s that has not been replicated since. Furthermore, it showcases how an outstanding band can reach new heights through consistent great music production.
Degrade
Degrade are another death metal band who push the genre to its logical extremes. While better known for their offstage antics and extravagant lifestyle, their music cannot be denied; from its first work released during the 80s up through to their most recent release they have left an incredible body of work behind them that cannot be forgotten.
Black Sabbath are perhaps more famous for their epic, fantasy and occult lyrics than for their heavy metal sound. Many consider them to be pioneers of heavy metal and laid the groundwork for more technical and melodic subgenres within this genre.
Some might argue that merging death metal and prog is sacrilege; however, Mikael Akerfeldt and Opeth’s work cannot be faulted on quality grounds. Songs like “Conflagrations” show this in full bloom without ever sounding forced or out-of-place.
Even bands such as Avenged Sevenfold, Mastodon and TOOL who may be associated with epic runtimes rarely venture into double digits; yet that hasn’t stopped them from crafting some truly remarkable tracks – like on Fear Inoculum where every non-interlude track tops 10-minutes! “7empest” by Avenged Sevenfold stands out for blending aggressive metal riffs with trippy, textural arrangements for maximum effect.