Death metal

Throughout the history of heavy metal, new bands have always tried to become heavier than those that preceded them. Venom succeeded when they released Welcome to Hell which was more raw and vicious than anything that had come before it. Slayer then entered the scene, and with the release of their first three albums, they proved to be the heaviest band that had ever existed to that point.

Two years before Slayer released their legendary third album, Reign in Blood, though, the term “death metal” was coined by a band called, Possessed. Possessed released their debut demo simply called, Death Metal, and they instantly attracted the attention the band, Exodus, who then sent the demo to Metal Blade Records.

After Metal Blade decided to release one of their songs on a Metal Massacre compilation, they were soon signed to another label and they released their debut album a year later. This record called Seven Churches would end up being one the first real death metal record. Possessed only released one more album before disbanding, but it is important to note that they were the first true pioneer of death metal.

The members of Possessed didn’t go on to have much success with other projects, with the exception of Larry LaLonde, who soon went on to found the very famous funk metal band, Primus. The members of Possessed did list Venom, Motörhead, and Slayer among their main influences however, which is a testament to how much the more aggressive thrash and speed metal acts impacted death metal.

At this point, it is important that we specify what the musical qualities of death metal are. The subgenre is usually characterized by fast, highly distorted and drop-tuned guitars that use palm muting and tremolo picking techniques. Drum patterns in death metal are usually particularly fast and technical, making use of blast beats. There are also abrupt key, tempo and time signature changes that compliment varied song structures. Death metal vocals usually consist of guttural roars, grunts, snarls, and death growls.

Around the same time that Possessed was active, a new death metal band made its way on to the scene. This band was simply known as, Death. Death would soon go on to become the best-selling death metal band worldwide. Chuck Schuldiner was the only constant member of Death until his death in 2001. Schuldiner is also known as “Father of Death Metal.”

Death’s debut album, Scream Bloody Gore, is a legendary death metal album, and some critics consider it to be the first actual death metal album, claiming Possessed was more of a transitional band between thrash and death metal. Personally though, I think Possessed’s debut is the first death metal record, but there is no denying Scream Bloody Gore’s immense impact and legacy.

Death would go on to change their style in the future. The first few records were very straight-up death metal, however on their landmark record, Human, they began to become even more technically complex, and they started to incorporate progressive metal elements to their music. Human is Death’s best-selling record, and after it was released all following albums would incorporate more and more progressive influences.

There were a few other death metal bands that helped to popularize the genre that helped to popularize the subgenre during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Along with Death, bands such as Morbid Angel, Deicide, and Obituary were from Florida, and were labeled as “Florida death metal” because of the popularity of the subgeenre in that area. Other important death metal bands of the era are Suffocation, Necrophagia, Master, Entombed, Immolation and Autopsy.

Morbid Angel particularly put out several extremely important releases during their extensive history. Their first two records, Altars of Madness and Blessed Are the Sick are considered to be two of the best and most influential death metal records of all time. Their third album, Covenant, is the best-selling death metal album in the U.S, and is also a legendary death metal record.

Two other very important death metal bands are Obituary and Deicide. Obituary released several important records such as Slow We Rot and The End Complete that greatly contributed to the development of death metal.

Deicide also greatly contributed to the development of death metal with such releases as their self-titled record and Legion. Those two albums also were the second and third best-selling death metal albums in the during the Soundscan era. Deicide is also notable for being one of the first very directly anti-Chrisitan metal bands. This led to them being banned from playing at many venues, and caused controversy within the media.

The best-selling death metal band of all time in the U.S is Cannibal Corpse. With seminal records such as Butchered at Birth and Tomb of the Mutilated, they have established an extremely devoted cult following. Both of those records have also reached over a million sales worldwide. Cannibal Corpse is considered to be a very violently themed band, and have often caused controversy to due to the extreme and gory nature of their lyrics and artwork.

Death metal reached its peak in popularity from 1992 to 1993. Afterward death metal started to be divided into various types, each of which would achieve its own degree of popularity. These types consist of melodic death metal, technical death metal, brutal death metal, progressive death metal, blackened death metal, etc. and we will discuss them in more depth at a later date.

Death metal still remains a fairly popular genre today however, and there are many active and newly formed death metal bands who continue to put on shows around the world.