Heavy metal music is an extreme form of metal that features distorted guitars, thunderous percussion and rapid tempos, as well as lyrics with often graphic subject matter or sexual imagery.
Cannibal Corpse has become one of the most successful death metal bands worldwide, having sold over 2 million albums. Their lyrics explore themes such as murder, decapitation and necrophilia.
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the 1980s. Characterized by fast-paced guitar riffage and aggressive drumming, as well as lyrics addressing social and political topics, thrash metal has also given birth to other dark and violent sub-genres such as death metal and grindcore.
Thrash metal’s origins can be found in hardcore punk and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). Early pioneers, including Venom, Overkill, Slayer and Metallica were greatly influenced by these styles. As the genre became more mainstream during the mid- to late 80s with bands like Kreator, Destruction Sodom Flotsam Jetsam rising up on the scene to help mold and develop this sound further.
At the dawn of thrash metal’s early movement, many bands were heavily influenced by black metal’s dark themes and extreme brutality. Many bands included aspects of satanic religion, politics, and culture into their music while using harsh vocal style with aggressive music production to produce an intense listening experience.
Genre also emphasizes technical proficiency and using tempo changes to create an accelerating feel, often by employing multiple bass drum pedals and using cymbal chokes for creating an intense soundscape. Riffs often featured E minor tuning to add dissonance.
While American acts dominated thrash metal’s early days, European bands gradually made an impressionful mark in this genre as well. German band Exumer achieved something special by blending aggression from Slayer with Kreator-like musical proficiency and speed metal elements – other noteworthy European acts include Exodus, Testament and Flotsam and Jetsam.
In the 1990s, several thrash metal bands that had fallen into disuse since their peak years in the 80s reformed and released new albums, such as Metallica’s Death Magnetic (2008), Megadeth’s Endgame (2009), Slayer’s World Painted Blood (2009), Overkill’s Ironbound (2010) Testament’s Dark Roots of Earth (2011) and Flotsam and Jetsam Ugly Noise (2012). These groups continue to push the limits of thrash metal music and can often be credited with contributing towards its expansion into more technical and progressive sounds.
Black metal
Black metal music encompasses many distinct streams and influences, from death metal to symphonic black metal subgenres that push its limits with innovation and creativity. They offer an immersive experience that brings on feelings ranging from anger, sorrow and transcendence through to transcendence and empowerment; its lasting appeal lies in transporting listeners into its world of cold winters and dark forests.
Black metal music emerged from Norway’s underground scene during the 1980s. Mayhem, Darkthrone, and Burzum were early pioneers of this form of expression and pioneered its aesthetics; featuring fast tempos, shrieking vocal styles, raw (lo-fi) recording methods, unconventional song structures, images of nature and occultism as well as corpse paint and pseudonymous musicians who promoted political ideologies such as Neo-Nazi or far-right politics through their lyrics or images; this form of expression came to be known as National Socialist black Metal (NSBM).
After the death of Mayhem guitarist Euronymous in 1993, a second wave of black metal bands emerged following their focus on traditional values and dedication to Satan. At this time, Watain from Sweden rose with their album Casus Luciferi; its opening track made their intentions known with their line: “Ordered by angels we shall burn, slaughter and kill!”
Many black metal musicians begin listening to an eclectic range of music before discovering this genre. Their sound reflects this diversity; often including elements from other genres like doom, psychedelic and stoner rock as well as being heavily influenced by their native country and personal experiences.
With the rise of third wave black metal, bands began experimenting with different sounds and concepts, leading to the birth of genres such as melodic black metal – particularly symphonic and technical melodic black metal styles like Opeth’s Symphonic Melodic Black Metal that incorporates progressive rock, jazz, Scandinavian folklore with aggression of black metal music.
Technical death metal
Technical death metal music is a subgenre of death metal music which incorporates complex rhythms and riffs into their soundscape. Although not for everyone, technical death metal can be an enjoyable listen if you enjoy fast, brutal music with technical complexity. The best technical death metal bands combine technical complexity with songwriting that exudes aggression; additionally they incorporate other genres like jazz, funk and Latin jazz influences – this makes their style stand apart from other genres of metal.
Atheist was the pioneering band to bring tech-death music to life, followed by Necrophagist and Pestilence who soon after. Still, Atheist remains at the top of tech-death with their stunning guitar work making their songs extremely listenable; additionally their second album release ranks among one of tech-death’s landmark releases in history.
Cryptopsy stands out in this genre with their technical death metal music, widely-renowned for its brutal and heavy sound. Their albums serve as testaments to this genre’s growth; Blasphemy Made Flesh in particular features Lord Worm’s ungodly yet captivating vocals as a must-listen.
Furthermore, this genre of music explores new territory and pushes the limits of what is possible in music. Some bands experiment with more symphonic approaches while others focus on brutality of their soundscape. Not for those fainthearted; this genre requires extreme skill to succeed – which explains its popularity and success.
This list of technical death metal bands is always evolving and may never meet all standards for comprehensiveness. Some influential tech-death bands include Morbid Angel, Decapitated, Necrophagist and Pestilence; but the true masters of technical death are bands such as Obscura and Archspire who use jaw dropping techniques that leave audiences breathless every time they listen.
Progressive death metal
Progressive Death Metal has gone through many changes since its conception. Originally combining extreme metal and prog rock influences, Progressive Death Metal later began taking on influences from other genres. Progressive death metal music was difficult to define and therefore became fertile ground for experimentation and musical innovation, leading to melodic death metal and metalcore being formed within this genre of progressive death metal. Progressive death metal bands are well known for utilizing an eclectic combination of instruments and techniques, from complex structures, odd time signatures, dissonance to improvisation and unique sounds with psychedelic influences.
Cynic, Atheist and Death were pioneers in pioneering progressive death metal. Utilizing jazz elements for more dynamic and action-packed death metal performance. Furthermore, their progressive style employed intricate compositional structures which created more complexity within each song’s structure – shaping musical landscape for generations ahead.
Death’s album “Human”, featuring Cynic members Sean Reinert and Paul Masvidal as solo musicians, marked an important step forward for progressive death metal and is widely considered one of its finest examples. Furthermore, “Human” was notable as being the first progressive death metal album to incorporate jazz elements – an innovation not seen elsewhere at that time in this genre.
Veil of Maya and The Faceless have also contributed significantly to expanding this genre with their music, taking risks like no one else within it could. Both bands combine elements from melodic death metal with black metal for an experimental and unique sound; their music has gained global acclaim.
Amorphis, a Swedish progressive death metal act that blends elements of death metal, doom metal and folk to form their signature musical style is another fantastic progressive death metal band to watch out for. They incorporate keyboards that add much depth to their music which adds further complexity. A must listen for any fan of progressive death metal!