Death metal music offers something for everyone; from catchy riffs to galloping rhythms designed specifically for headbanging, this extreme genre offers something special.
Death metal bands take the themes of thrash metal one step further by adding minor keys and atonality, multiple tempo changes, as well as minor key singing to create music with powerful feelings of empowerment and joy for fans. According to Thompson, this approach creates feelings of empowerment and satisfaction among listeners.
Cattle Decapitation
Cattle Decapitation has been around since 1996 and are known for their distinctive sound and aggressive music. Since their formation, eight studio albums have been released by this extreme metal group featuring Travis Ryan on vocals, drummer Olivier Pinard on drums, bassist Dave McGraw on bass guitar and guitarists Josh Elmore and Belisario Dimuzio on guitar.
Listening to Cattle Decapitation’s songs makes it obvious they hold strong antipathy for humanity, from its title track through “Just Another Body”, displaying strong anger and distaste for humanity while conveying feelings of helplessness in every song on this album. That combination makes the experience especially compelling.
With its grim themes of death and destruction, this album stands out amongst their catalog as one of the more aggressive offerings. Additionally, songwriting techniques such as pacing and variation in tone/style usage shine brightly here as well. Furthermore, on some tracks such as “The World Will Go On Without You”, they veer from their usual sound by employing slower piano melodies with cleaner vocals on “The World Will Go On Without You.”
This record by Animal Slaughter is an outstanding release, full of all the brutality you would expect from a band named after animal slaughter. Additionally, this album boasts some truly compelling songs like its title track which hearkens back to earlier works as well as “Just Another Body”, with its haunting piano intro before turning into an emotional full-on epic. A must listen for anyone interested in this genre!
Cryptopsy
Cryptopsy has long been one of the premier death metal bands. Renowned for their brutal, technical death metal with influences from grindcore music, they are also famed for Flo Mounier’s incredible drumming skills. Over the years they have undergone multiple lineup changes but always manage to come through and deliver hard hitting and brutal music that is sure to burn out your brain cells!
This album marks their first post-Lord Worm departure and, while it contains some stellar guitar work, overall it falls short. While not as brutal as their older albums and lacking intense, almost human nature of their old work, its song structures largely remain similar with lots of chugs and more subtle yet simple riffing that still sounds awesome but lacks the same intensity of old work.
It also contains many generic, standard breakdowns that lack any personality whatsoever – a drastic departure from their typical sound that ultimately doesn’t work well; although, drumming remains superb and vocals decent enough.
Fans of the genre should give this album a listen; however, I wouldn’t advise newcomers. While it’s an okay compilation album from None So Vile or DiSalvo albums respectively. My rating: 8/10.
Rivers of Nihil
Rivers of Nihil’s 2018 release Where Owls Know My Name showed massive progress; fans who witnessed that transformation may be relieved to find that with The Work they have not gone backward. With an enhanced focus and wider sound spectrum, Pennsylvania-based Rivers of Nihil have taken prog death metal to new levels without losing any of the brutality that made them famous; all elements such as saxophone, intricate guitar melodies, gorgeous execution are present without overindulgence in technicality as may happen with other acts within this genre – never going beyond where it should.
The band’s new release features some of their boldest arrangements to date, with several tracks pushing well beyond death metal boundaries. Standout tracks include opener “The Tower (Theme from The Work)”, which showcases their signature “Post-Death Metal,” with its haunting verses and piano progressions leading into an epic musical landscape that showcases more thoughtful aspects of their sound than before. “Episode,” too, shines brightly – its twists and turns producing an intricate orchestration resulting in an evocative and symphonic arrangement unlike anything found today on death metal albums!
Rivers of Nihil save their heaviest moments for the middle section, with tracks such as “MORE?” and “The Void From Which No Sound Escapes” serving as proof that Rivers of Nihil has no intention of going backward. While tracks like “Maybe One Day” come close to crossing into progressive death metal territory with too much sentimentality, “Terrestria IV: Work” strikes an effective balance between their brutal beginnings and more progressive influences.
Testament
Testament is a multi-season series designed to introduce audiences to the timeless truths found within Acts in an approachable, relatable way, making biblical principles relevant and applicable for everyday living. This story will speak directly to young audiences eager for stories they can relate to while learning something of great biblical value in this modernized version.
The initial concept behind Roarlight began with a feature film featuring short films that recreated Jesus’ parables in contemporary settings, receiving significant interest from distributors and becoming the basis for this television project.
Testament will resonate with a wide audience, but particularly with millennial and Gen-Z audiences who seek stories set in modern times that make an impactful statement about faith. These audiences are looking for captivating, thought-provoking narratives and are open to exploring their beliefs in various directions.
Chuck Schuldiner’s Death
Chuck Schuldiner was the visionary behind Death. However, his fierce devotion to his vision often resulted in contentious break-ups with musicians and difficult business negotiations.
Death’s sound stood apart from that of early Slayer and Metallica by combining crushing brutality with memorable melodies, often juxtaposed by musical intricacy; for example, Schuldiner introduced complex rhythms and riffs into their sound while maintaining brutality’s core throbbing heart even as their sound transitioned to new, progressive forms – an influence evident today with bands like Carcass and Djent.
Human was released by Schuldiner to cement Death’s place in metal’s landscape, moving beyond Satanic tropes into more topical themes such as personal betrayal, abortion and crack-cocaine addiction – while pushing their music in an entirely different direction – featuring an electrifying guitar duel between Schuldiner and James Murphy where James added weird chromatic patterns with graceful leaps across the fretboard to Schuldiner’s squalling solos for an electrifying guitar duel experience.
Schuldiner continued his efforts in expanding Death into an even more complex band on Leprosy (1988) and Spiritual Healing (1990), adding Paul Masvidal (Cynic), Steve Di Giorgio (Fear Factory), and Sean Reinert (Charred Walls of the Damned) into its lineup and creating an overall sound which was heavier, more violent, and better-crafted than previous albums; furthermore, its production became more professional; this would continue with subsequent releases.
Schuldiner was performing with Control Denied when he suddenly collapsed during a performance in San Francisco on December 11, 1999 and died weeks later due to pontine glioma brain cancer, but his legacy lives on through the bands he founded and the fans who love them.