Essential Listening: My top 5+ Death Metal bands

Hey Metalheads. Well I have been away for the week soakin’ it up down on the Cape. During my many hours of fun in the sun, I started to play a mind game about metal and all the sub genres. What is it to be a death metal band? Are the cookie monster vocals and blast beats obligatory? To tell the truth, I was never able to answer this question with much certainty. I think for a good rule o’ thumb if they have the cookie moster vox, they tune it fairly low and they have the double bass drum, then I can call em Death Metal.

I went through my library and started making a list of my favorite Death Metal bands. So here they are:

Cynic
Definitely technical. Definitely progressive. I can think of no other death metal band that fused elements of jazz, metal, and weird electronic shit better than Cynic. The whole album is rife with interesting guitar work previously unknown prior to Focus. My favorite tracks are the How Could I & Uroboric Forms. I never tire of listening to their sole album. If you like these guys, you might also like Gordian Knot, Spiral Architect, Aghora, and Athiest.

Death
Another technical and progressive death metal band. Every album gets better and progressively technical. What is especially appealing about these guys is that A) you can generally understand what the hell they are singing about and B) the subject matter ofttimes deals with the transcendental nature of the soul and human spirit. Then again there are plenty of tunes about anger and messing with people (wow, I really went all out there with that description). Another differentiating aspect is that though there are plenty of blast beats and typical death metal sections in their songs, there are also many non-death-metal riffs that blend perfectly with the genre. I strongly suggest listening to the albums Symbolic and Human.

Suffocation
Not so technical. These guys are just what I consider good death metal. Not too many blast beats, great subject matter and great guitar work. My only issue with these guys is the poor mixes on their albums. There isn’t a lot of consistency with the quality. Older albums sound better than newer ones. Hopefully they will re-release some of the poorer sounding albums. My favorite album: Pierced from Within.

Necrophagist
Highly technical and progressive. Though I have only heard about these guys within the last year, they are quickly in my top 5. Never I have I heard such agility being performed on the guitar within this genre. Better yet is that every song is unique and captivating. Another great thing is that they explore the whole range of the guitar. Its not always low, chugging riffs. There are plenty of dual arpeggios and heavy, low chugger riffs. My only complaint is that for all of the great riffs in laced in EVERY song, they are ofttimes too short. They never really groove for any length of time on one particular riff. My favorite songs are The Stillborn One and Only Ashes Remain.

Opeth
Another highly technical and progressive band. What I love about these guys is that they are beyond one genre of music. I still consider them a technical death metal band in that they have the typical death metal vocals (most of the time) and that they are super heavy when they want to be. I also like how they incorporate classical elements and they can convey a mood (that’s not associated with death metal) which most bands fail to do. There are a few songs I bore easily by listening to. But for the most part these guys are top notch. Favorite songs are Demon of the Fall and The Grand Conjuration.

Honorable Mentions

• Carcass
• Dying Fetus
• Spawn of Possession
• Krisiun
• Beneath the Massacre
• Aborted
• Nile

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~ by jwopitz on August 31, 2007.