Death Metal

Death Metal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_metal
Death metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal that evolved out of thrash metal during the early 1980s.

Characteristics
Death metal generally includes violent or dark lyrics which focus on death as a nihilistic metaphor, chromatic chord progressions and a varied song structure without a standard verse-chorus arrangement; compositions instead emphasize an ongoing development of themes and motifs. The genre is often identified with downtuned rhythm guitars, fast percussion, and dynamic intensity. Blast beats, exceedingly fast drum patterns, are frequently used to add to the ferocity of the genre. The vocals are often grunts, snarls, and low gurgles colloquially called death grunts or death growls. Death grunts require use of the throat and guts, unlike traditional singing techniques which discourage this technique. Some people consider it an overtone style of singing. Music journalist Chad Bowar notes that, because of the similarity of the vocals to those of the Sesame Street character, the style is sometimes called "Cookie Monster vocals".[1] This term has become commonly used as a show of dislike for the genre.

Death metal is occasionally known for abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes, and extremely fast and complex guitar and drumwork, although this is not always the case, as seen in some forms of death metal which focus on ferocity and speed rather than technicality[vague]. Bands of this genre frequently utilize downtuned and distorted guitars, a downtuned, sometimes distorted bass guitar, a drum set 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 and saxophone. Death metal is very physically demanding of its musicians, especially in its more complex forms.

Death metal lyrics usually address more nihilistic themes than other forms of rock music (with the exception of black metal), usually using metaphors of a gruesome nature to explore a larger concept. The genre, originally an offshoot of thrash metal, was established to celebrate the darker underlying ideas that lay dormant in metal music. The focus on mortality along with the extreme nature of the music likely inspired the naming of this genre.

There are three common theories on the origin of the term "death metal." The first being is the title of the Possessed song Death Metal, which was featured on their 1985 debut album Seven Churches (an album widely regarded as the first death metal album, predating Morbid Angel's and Death's works). But in the same year, a song called Death Metal appeared on the debut album Power from Hell by thrash metal band Onslaught. A 1985 demo by Death was also called Death by Metal. The second theory is that the name of genre pioneers Death was the origin of the genre's name, since their 1987 debut album Scream Bloody Gore made death metal a more recognised form. Their austere name has said to have been adopted as the genre's title. A third theory emerged in 2003 when the late Thomas 'Quorthon' Forsberg of black metal band Bathory claimed in an interview with the British journalist Joel McIver that he had invented the term 'death metal' as far back as 1984, even though his band never pursued a death metal approach.

Early history (up to 1989)
Death metal is an offshoot of thrash metal. Thrash metal is a genre of extremes, fast tempos, blaring distortion, yelled and shouted vocals, and unpredictable song structures. Thrash bands experimented with new techniques and ideas in order to push the genre further away from mainstream rock music. The most extreme of these thrash bands created a proto-death metal sound by playing a faster, heavier, and darker version of standard thrash.

Genres are not usually identified solely by aesthetic form, and black or death metal labels are not easy to apply to some bands. One example of this is the American band Slayer, a pioneering thrash metal band. Slayer are not usually classified as a death metal band, and have never labelled themselves as such. Even so, with Reign in Blood from 1986, and subsequent works, they certainly influenced many early death metal bands.

Around 1983, aggressive U.S. bands such as Florida's Death, 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 Possessed's album Seven Churches from 1985, Messiah's album Hymn to Abramelin from 1986 and early demotapes by Death and Mantas from around 1982, 1983, followed by Death's album Scream Bloody Gore from 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, and in particular in Sweden with bands like Entombed (then Nihilist), God Macabre, Carnage (later Dismember) and Grave. The debut albums of these bands were mostly released in the early 1990s and characterised by a distinct guitar sound, which is heavily inspired by the sound of the UK grindcore act Unseen Terror.

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[citation needed]. 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-fertilisation 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 characterised 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[vague].

To close the circle, the band Death put out the album Human in 1991, an example of modern death metal. The band 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 Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious from 1991, Suffocation's debut Human Waste 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[2], with bands such as Carcass, Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, and Entombed, and Obituary, Sepultura, Pestilence, and Deicide respectively. 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-)
Death metal's popularity achieved its peak between the 1992-93 era, with some bands such as Morbid Angel 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
Melodic death metal, sometimes referred to as melodeath, is a less extreme form of death metal. 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. Grindcore band Carcass are sometimes credited with releasing the first melodic death metal album with 1994's Heartwork, although Swedish bands In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and At the Gates are usually mentioned as the main pioneers and popularizers of the genre and of the Gothenburg metal sound. Since the genre's creation, Finnish melodic death has also risen, with a more thrash metal/neoclassical influenced sound, such as those of bands like Etos, Kalmah, Norther, and early Children of Bodom.


Scandinavian death metal
Scandinavian death metal could be called the forerunner of melodic death metal. Bands like Entombed, Dismember, Unleashed, 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 Swedish 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, Brutality, Morbid Angel, and Death though later Death's albums fall more into the category of progressive death metal (see below).


Technical death metal
Technical death metal, a narrow but influential subgenre, refers to bands who are particularly distinguished by the virtuosity of their musicians. Technical death metal is musically characterized by chaotic riffs, atypical rhythms, polished production, and rapidly changing time signatures. It is a term commonly applied to such bands as Gorguts, Immolation, Necrophagist, Atheist, Decapitated, Cryptopsy, Spawn of Possession, Nile, Origin, Dying Fetus and Psycroptic.


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. 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), Opeth, Cynic, Novembre, Coprofago, Death, Pestilence (latest release), Nocturnus and Atheist are seen as progressive death metal. This and technical death metal are closely associated, sharing many of the same bands and often overlapping, but have different emphasis as descriptions.


Brutal death metal
Brutal death metal developed by combining certain aspects of the song structures of grindcore/goregrind with death metal. This genre tends to be a little less technical (see above). Brutal death metal is associated with bands like Cannibal Corpse, Brutus, Severe Torture, Krisiun, Disgorge, Devourment, Origin, Disavowed, Drawn and Quartered and Suffocation. One main characteristic of brutal death is the vocal style, called death grunt, which are almost always very low-pitched. The lyrics are mostly gore related, sung in a slow and choppy manner. In addition, the guitar riffs are usually chunky grooves or hyper fast and down-tuned, often with pinch harmonics. The drumming is usually highly varied in style, ranging from slow and churning to blast beat, as is often the case in grindcore. The album sound production on most brutal death metal bands albums usually have a dense sound. New York bands such as Suffocation and Pyrexia can be considered the origins of this style.


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 My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, Anathema, Winter, Asphyx 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
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. Necrophobic, Goatwhore, Incantation, Thelema-era Behemoth, Belphegor, Zyklon, and Dissection are examples. Rather than what the name implies, blackened death tends to be black metal played with the intensity and musicianship of death metal, i.e. more complex drumming with emphasis on fills as well as lower tuned guitars utilizing the heavier attack and percussiveness of death metal guitar playing.


Deaththrash
Deaththrash (also known as "Death/thrash") is a form of thrash metal with elements of death metal, including fast drumming, guitar picking techniques such as tremolos, death themed lyrics and possible "death growl" vocals. In the earliest incarnation this style was the progression from thrash metal to death metal began in 1986. These were the bands that started the "Deaththrash" sound from their albums such as: "Reign in Blood" by Slayer, "Pleasure to Kill" by Kreator and Dark Angel's "Darkness Descends" which inspired other thrash bands to use a dirtier sound. Some bands in this particular genre are: Pestilence, Epidemic, and Cancer.


Grindcore
Grindcore is considered by some to be an even more extreme variant of death metal and hardcore punk. However, many fans of grindcore and music historians would place it in a genre by itself, since the genre historically developed in parallel to death metal (both developed in the 1980s, death metal from thrash metal and grindcore from crust punk), each influencing the development of the other, but with early grindcore having a much more obvious hardcore punk, crossover thrash, and anarcho-punk influence. Early grindcore bands include Napalm Death (considered by many to be the founder of the genre, now a Death Metal band), Carcass, Impetigo, Fear of God, Terrorizer, Extreme Noise Terror and Repulsion.


Other fusion genres
On the 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 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.

With the recent rise in popularity of metalcore, strong modern hardcore punk influences have also been utilized in death metal. Dying Fetus is one such band, with a handful of members having been active at times in their local hardcore scene, and even releasing an EP with a cover song by their hardcore peers, Next Step Up, although this adoption predates the rise of metalcore, and Dying Fetus has very little in common with most metalcore bands.

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.