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The Official Death Metal Recommendations Thread


RelentlessOblivion

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Re: suggestions?

Well, naturally I prefer tech-death so most of my recommendations will be in that vein. I'll be doing pretty much only straight-up death metal, so I won't include bands which mix harsh with clean very often (I can give you a list of those groups if you want) My death metal collection features songs off of the following albums: 'Damage Done' by Dark Tranquillity - this is melodeath, but it's well done. I haven't really heard the album 'Fiction' properly yet (only bits and pieces) but it sounds good as well. 'Weapon Of Hope' by Oskord - awesome band out of Ukraine. This is their only album, but it does Slavic metal right for once. 'Course I also like it because some of my ancestry is originally Ukrainian, but it's still a very well done album. (EDIT: This band does have clean vocals but they're still definitely worth checking out.) 'Ravnenes Saga' by Svartsot - great Danish folk/death. The rhythms are good, the melodies are great and the technicality is nice as well. 'The Dead End Experiment' by Sickening Horror - OK, I don't actually have this one, but I do intend to buy it. The bass is really loud compared with most bands, the groove is great and technicality is good. Don't let the name put you off, this Greek band is quite good. 'Waiting For Silence' by Dungortheb - it's not easy to get hold of this one. I got it from a friend. I know you can get a copy from amazon.co.uk, but otherwise this French group is pretty hard to find. They are good, though. You can hear their material on YouTube. 'Your Demons ~ Their Angels' by Miseration - I prefer this to Dreamdecipher. It's less chaotic and more to the point in its crushing power. This one does feature clean vocals but they're less prevalent than on Alvestam's other work. 'Side Effects Expected' by Centaurus-A - this German band is more rhythmic than a lot of tech-death bands out there, which helps make them unique. But don't confuse their rhythmic approach (which allows for easier headbanging) with technical laziness. They can duke it out with some of the best. 'Aeons Past' by Element - probably the most brutal death metal I listen to. Element plays very fast and pummels you almost throughout their songs. They are not mindless tremolo like Brain Drill or even Origin - this is fast done right, by guys from here in the US. 'Lunatic' by Pitbulls In The Nursery - yeah, not a very appetizing name at all. But the jazz influence and highly technical drumming this band has to offer are fantastic. The bass is loud as well, and overall this French group has a lot to offer. 'Dying Vine' by Aletheian - this is the first tech-death album I ever bought. You might not be able to make them out, but this US band writes probably the best lyrics I've ever heard. Yes, they are at least on par with Redemption. In addition, their humble and thoughtful approach to tech-death is refreshing. 'Anagogic Tyranny' by Sympathy - if you like your tech-death sprinkled with a bit of thrash, this is for you. The drumming is mad and the guitar work is a frenzy of glorious shredding. It's a pity this Canadian group never plays live because they've written some great stuff. 'Process Of A New Decline' and 'Leading Vision' by Gorod - both of these albums showcase Gorod's highly jazz-influenced style. This is professional tech-death; the guitars compliment each other, each playing a complex part which interlaces with the other, while these Frenchmen manage to insert some really groovy jazz melodies in there from time to time. 'Defiant Imagination' and 'Day Into Night' by Quo Vadis - my favorite technical death metal band. Their new growler is fantastic - he can hold on a 'note' for about 15 seconds (at the beginning of the song "Silence Calls The Storm"). The guitars are awesome as well, mixing melody, rhythm and technicality is perfect balance without sacrificing anything. The drumming is top-notch - Yanic Bercier is well-known for his talent in creating complex yet still rhythmic and flowing drum tracks. Definitely check these Quebecois guys out.
wow that was quite a lot of stuff to get through ok using that music app I found Oskord's album, it was completely different from what I was expecting, in a good way, also found Miseration, they were ok but less enjoyable then some of the other stuff I found, Sickening Horror were pretty enjoyable, Sympathy were brilliant I really enjoyed them, Pitbulls In The Nursery were the band I enjoyed least, I probably won't get any of their albums, I liked the jazzy feel of Gorod but the vocals were a little off putting, Quo Vadis was by far the most enjoyable band, I WILL BE getting their albums for sure
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Re: suggestions?

wow that was quite a lot of stuff to get through ok using that music app I found Oskord's album, it was completely different from what I was expecting, in a good way, also found Miseration, they were ok but less enjoyable then some of the other stuff I found, Sickening Horror were pretty enjoyable, Sympathy were brilliant I really enjoyed them, Pitbulls In The Nursery were the band I enjoyed least, I probably won't get any of their albums, I liked the jazzy feel of Gorod but the vocals were a little off putting, Quo Vadis was by far the most enjoyable band, I WILL BE getting their albums for sure
Aha! Quo Vadis reigns supreme! :P Funny, Pitbulls In The Nursery are one of my favorites. Eh well, to each his own. I'm glad you liked Oskord, there isn't much Slavic folk metal out there at all and they are doing it very well. Also pleased to learn you like Sympathy, I've come to like them a lot more. I'm rather surprised you didn't like Gorod's vocals, I didn't think they were that different from most death metal bands. They're my second-favorite tech-death group.
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Re: suggestions?

using a free music app on my xbox to check out suggestions, Wolverine weren't on there and neither were dismember but Gorguts were, checked out their "Considered Dead" album and now want to buy it, as for the others I've already bought Death's first album (for the second time now, wish I never sold it) and BlutAusNerd showed me the other bands you've suggested and I liked all of them
What's funny about that is I don't think Mike even owns any Gorguts albums. They were going to be on my video recs list, but I may skip them now that you've already heard them.
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Re: suggestions? May as well throw Arkaik in here, they're somewhat like Element but err a bit more on the brutal side. Very marginally. Also, if you don't like vocals that you can't understand at all, DON'T listen to Cryptopsy. Their growls are thoroughly unintelligible. They also have some of the worst lyrics ever written. That said, they do have remarkably interesting bass grooves and their drummer is remarkable.

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Re: suggestions?

May as well throw Arkaik in here, they're somewhat like Element but err a bit more on the brutal side. Very marginally. Also, if you don't like vocals that you can't understand at all, DON'T listen to Cryptopsy. Their growls are thoroughly unintelligible. They also have some of the worst lyrics ever written. That said, they do have remarkably interesting bass grooves and their drummer is remarkable.
My brother told me that he tried to follow along to the lyrics on None So Vile, and he said that when the song ended he was still about a paragraph away from finishing the lyrics for the song. Lord Worm sounds pretty insane, I've gotten better at hearing lyrics through extreme vocals but I can't understand a word of his.
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Re: suggestions?

Lord Worm sounds pretty insane' date=' I've gotten better at hearing lyrics through extreme vocals but I can't understand a word of his.[/quote'] Although it's still better than the wet fart vocals you can get in goregrind. As for recommendations...Immortal Souls is good, but don't even bother with their latest album, it's lousy. Instead, try Ice Upon The Night and Wintereich, those are better releases.
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Re: suggestions? I have actually heard some grind bands with fart noises that WEREN'T the vocals. Dead serious. So, I went through the Top 100 Technical Death Metal Albums list and I picked out these guys: Amoral Cerebrum Coram Lethe Neglected Fields Go ahead and watch the videos yourself though. I should also mention Natron, I remember liking what I've heard from them.

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Re: suggestions? Slow day for the holiday = more lists I guess, it's been a pretty lame day and this has been kind of fun.

 

Darkthrone - Soulside Journey:

While it's true that Darkthrone are best known as one of the founders of the Norwegian black metal sound, spawning many clones even to this day, their demo material and first album were death metal, and quite frankly Soulside Journey is one of the best death metal albums ever released IMO, and probably tied for my favorite Darkthrone album overall. This is technical, melodic, atmospheric, and extremely engaging and well written death metal, with it's closest sonic comparison (and it's a distant one) being At the Gates' The Red In the Sky Is Ours. It's impressive that Darkthrone have been masters at more than one metal genre, not a feat many bands have achieved.

 

Deceased - Supernatural Addiction:

Deceased are a very cool band, they started out as a straight up death metal band around the same time as most, but over time incorporated more thrash and traditional heavy metal elements into their sound, and as a result they don't really sound like anyone else I can think of. They go from being pretty brutal to extremely catchy, which is a great dichotomy many extreme metal bands can't conquer, focusing on one aspect or another instead of both.

 

Deicide - Deicide:

Deicide were probably the most brutal of the early Floridan death metal scene, but their riffs at this time were still based on the more brutal styled thrash metal bands of the time, especially Dark Angel (Sacrificial Suicide's riff is basically the same as Black Prophecies). However, the evil atmosphere they bring to the table, coupled with Glen's insane vocals, especially when layered, take up the intensity a few thousand notches. His vocals might be a bit much, but because of the coherence of the riffs, this might be a good bridge over to death metal's more relentless side for you, as it was for me.

 

Dismember - Like An Everflowing Stream:

I know that you mentioned Dismember earlier as one of the death metal bands you were formerly into, but I have no idea from which period. This track is from their best album, Like An Everflowing Stream, and is insanely catchy and heavy as fuck. This is probably my first video posted with the infamous Sunlight Studios guitar tone, thick and full, but buzzing like a chainsaw. This is one of my favorite Swedish death metal albums, so hopefully it will work for you too.

 

Entombed - Left Hand Path:

Entombed are probably the most celebrated Swedish death metal act, and I can't say it's without reason, their first 2 albums are pillars of the scene. I don't think they're as perfect as they're often made out to be, but it's hard to deny the awesomeness of tracks like this. This album also sports one of the best guitar tones EVER, Sunlight's production was always pretty awesome in the early 90's, but this album probably features the best tone they produced.

 

Furbowl - Those Shredded Dreams:

Furbowl were a lesser known Swedish death metal band, but probably the first band to play the style now known as "Death & Roll", which many other death metal acts like Entombed, Gorefest, and Dismember (for one album) would later adopt. This is a more rock/punk influenced approach to death metal, with varying results IMO, but this is probably my favorite example of it. I don't like a great deal of entries into this field, but I felt like it should be represented.

 

Gorefest - False:

Gorefest were a Dutch death metal band that set themselves apart with a groovier sound and more socio-political lyrics than others at the time. I'm hoping that his vocals aren't too much, but if you're started to grow to appreciate them you might dig it, I feel like they really benefit the music in this circumstance.

 

Gorguts - Erosion of Sanity:

Gorguts are one of the most popular, and honestly, one of the best tech/avant-garde death metal bands out there. They have a totally original take on crafting death metal's atmosphere with dissonance and seemingly awkward timing and phrasing, with some of their albums, like Obscura, coming across as a bit disturbing. Luc's vocals started to get a bit more adventurous on this album, much like their songwriting, but fit the horrifying tone better than any others I can think of. Their albums can be tough nuts to crack, but are extremely rewarding.

 

Hellwitch - Syzygial Miscreancy:

Hellwitch were an extremely manic, technical, and intense death/thrash band. This stuff is loaded with riffs and solos, and the production reminds me of Deicide's debut, which is far from being a bad thing. Not a lot to say about this, except that it's pretty underrated and insane, and I'm surprised they never got more credit.

 

Incubus - Beyond the Unknown:

Incubus is another band like Hellwitch that just assaults you with a relentless array of death/thrashing madness, with riffs galore that just don't let up. Both albums from them offer little variance, but lots of ass kicking, headbanging madness.

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Re: suggestions? Sinister's Diabolical Summoning makes anything Deicide has ever released look like shit, check them out if you want excellent old school brutal death. Pyrexia Sermon of mockery is also fucking intense if you like no holds barred brutal death without the trendy horseshit piggy vocals, and it souns like Suffocation's Effigy of the forgotten check it out.

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Re: suggestions?

Sinister's Diabolical Summoning makes anything Deicide has ever released look like shit' date=' check them out if you want excellent old school brutal death. Pyrexia Sermon of mockery is also fucking intense if you like no holds barred brutal death without the trendy horseshit piggy vocals, and it souns like Suffocation's Effigy of the forgotten check it out.[/quote'] As soon as I get that far, I'm planning on putting Perennial Mourning on this rec list. They're great, but they only make Deicide post-Legion sound like shit. I think they're the better band, Cross the Styx is better than either Deicide's debut or Legion, but Deicide largely helped inspire their sound, and were still a great band early on. As far as Pyrexia, I haven't heard their debut, but was turned off by one of their later albums (not sure the name) because it was basically homie wiggercore. If the debut sounds like Effigy, I'll give them another listen.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Re: suggestions? thanks Iceni, I'll check them out at some point you know I was going through my cd collection the other day and I have 62 different band and a total of 132 albums, hopefully by the end of the year I'll have at least doubled those figures and @ BAN mate that second vid list was brilliant, that Deceased track brought back memories of what first attracted me to the band, there was one band there that I didn't care for, Furbowl, but the others were brilliant, especially Deceased and Deicide

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Re: suggestions?

thanks Iceni, I'll check them out at some point you know I was going through my cd collection the other day and I have 62 different band and a total of 132 albums, hopefully by the end of the year I'll have at least doubled those figures and @ BAN mate that second vid list was brilliant, that Deceased track brought back memories of what first attracted me to the band, there was one band there that I didn't care for, Furbowl, but the others were brilliant, especially Deceased and Deicide
Glad to hear it, I've still got plenty of DM to post so hopefully I'll keep up my high success rate.
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Time for more death metal:

Immolation - Dawn of Possession:

I initially skipped over these guys for my last list, but since you mentioned that you like everything I posted last time, I felt like some stuff that was a bit more brutal and technical could stand a chance. Immolation is most definitely both of those things, only becoming more so as time went on, but this is their debut when they were at their most basic. It's still fucking great though, Immolation are one of the best and most original death metal bands ever.

 

Incantation - Onward to Golgotha:

Incantation is another band I initially withheld, but I'd like to see what you think now that you're warming up to more brutal stuff. And Incantation is most definitely brutal, Craig Pillard's vocals are very low and savage, and the riffs alternate between fast and slow, even doomy at times, but the whole thing just sounds dark and evil. Onward to Golgotha is one of my favorite death metal albums, and even though many modern bands are trying to imitate the sound, none of them are this good.

 

Kataklysm - Sorcery:

Kataklysm are pretty worthless these days, but their early albums are pretty spazzy, chaotic, and great death metal. The vocals are totally unhinged sounding, even though there are more brutal vocalists out there, something about Sylvain still just sounds totally psychotic. The riffs don't repeat much, and the songs change a great deal from start to finish, but are extremely enjoyable.

 

Macabre - Grim Reality (EP):

Macabre are a fantastic and often forgotten early extreme metal band that write all of their songs about serial killers, yet are pretty hilarious. They approach the topic with a pretty irreverent kind of morbidity, as you can see by their song titles. They're not really a proper death metal band, but more of a crossover/thrash band that played in a much more extreme way, and were quite influential to death metal. Regardless of this though, they are great.

 

Malevolent Creation - Revelations:

Malevolent Creation had a pretty typical Floridian sound, not being extremely original, but they did write some pretty great songs early on. They were a bit thrashier than their contemporaries, vocally and riff wise, but still maintained that early Floridian brutality.

 

Massacra - Final Holocaust:

Massacra was an awesome French death/thrash metal band hell bent on delivering great riffs with no breaks. Some parts are thrashier and/or deathier than others, but the whole package comes across as a pretty good balance between the two, but especially in the early stages of death metal, the combination of the two styles worked extremely well together.

 

Master - Master:

Master were one of the first death metal bands, but like other early death metal bands (Morbid Angel, Sadistik Exekution, etc...) had troubles releasing an album as early as they would have liked. As a result, they're often forgotten because of their less refined approach to a genre that was rapidly developing when they did finally start releasing albums. It's really too bad, because they were great at what they did, this album is loaded with great punishing songs and a bit more brash, almost punk like atmosphere than their contemporaries.

 

Merciless - The Treasures Within:

Moderator's Note: The original video (Mind Possession) is no longer on youtube and has been substituted for a different song from the same album.

Merciless were one of Sweden's earliest and thrashiest death metal bands. They don't really sound much like most Swedish death metal bands because of the thrash and black metal in their sound, but are nonetheless a fantastic band playing some insanely vicious death/thrash.

 

Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness:

Morbid Angel really needs no introduction, as they're revered by many as one of the best death metal bands ever, a position which I share. This is my favorite death metal song, from my favorite death metal album, I love everything about this. It's brutal, dark, complex, heavy, and evil sounding, and also showcases the perfect execution of a breakdown in a death metal song. Fucking amazing.

 

Morgoth - Resurrection Absurd/The Eternal Fall:

Morgoth were an early German death metal band that bore a striking resemblance to early Death. The vocals, riff and songwriting, drumming, pretty much everything recalls Leprosy-era Death, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with that in my opinion. Morgoth are a bit more vicious than Death on that album though, which makes it even better IMO.

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  • 8 months later...

suggestions?

still trying to understand how you can dislike Death Metal as a whole but like both Bolt Thrower and Death' date=' should check out some of Blut's video lists mate you may like some of what you hear[/quote'] I like death mainly becaause i think Chuck was a legend R.I.P. Chuck you will akways be awesome \m/ and yes i'll have a look, i do like morbid angel aswell only really heard first album though. I'm starting to emjoy DM a bit more, i have always respected it, but mainly it's the lyrical content and vocals most of the time, i quite like this song http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=RlsC7lJbofc&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DRlsC7lJbofc What i like about DM mainly is the fast drumming and riffs, thats why i like some of it, and i just think karl willets vocals are awesome, like this track, it starts off slow, doomy, and gradually gets faster and more extreme, has fast drums, great rifs and brutish vocals you can actually understand, all of what i like about DM.
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Re: suggestions? I would be surprised if you didn't like more of the stuff I've posted here, especially death/thrash stuff like Massacra, Merciless, Morgoth, and other doomy/groovy Bolt Thrower-ish stuff like Asphyx, Benediction, Gorefest, etc... I don't know if you've checked out all of these videos or not, but you should give them a chance if you haven't.

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