Written by:	Insineratehymn
Published:	November 23, 2005

The Categorization of Death Metal

Introduction:

Everyone on this site clearly knows that I am a huge death metal fan, and I am quite proud of being one as well. Today, I shall be speaking about death metal and the many wonders that it beholds. Even though death metal is almost unknown to the outside world (i.e. The mainstream), it is a large genre that has a great deal of ground for one to explore. There are even parts of death metal which still remain uncharted to this day. Music-wise, it is the most flexible of the metal genres. Not only can the music have an excessive amount of brutality, but it can also possess properties of technicality, complexity, melodicism, what-not, and still remain death metal. Other metal genres cannot do that. To put it in a way, death metal is just like water. It might seem ordinary to everyone on the outside, but it contains properties that other substances do not. Have you ever seen a progressive metal band use growling almost all the time? Have you seen a power metal band possess extreme brutality in their music? No. Didn't think so.

Characteristics of Death Metal:

Before I get down into the real beef of the genre, you must first learn what it is all about. Put simply, it is the conglomeration of deep growling, low-tuned, heavily distorted guitars, dark, heavy, bass, and intense, electrifying drumming. The lyrical content is the real attention getter in the creativity department. The topics may range any where from blood and gore to Satan to inner struggles to horror to philosophy. The musical structure may range from the simple and brutal to the intense and technical. The growls may range from the high and raspy to the gritty and guttural. One might even say that death metal is as diversified as the animal kingdom!

History of Death Metal:

And now, we will go on to the history of death metal. The genre itself has a deep and colorful background, and I cannot possibly get through the entire legacy of this wonderful genre in one day. Instead, I am just going to give you some of the detailed highlights, all of the important events that brought forth innovation, topics like that. Now sit back and let me take you on the journey through death metal.

The First Wave of Death Metal:

History:
(1983-1990)

Death Metal can find its roots way back in the heavy metal hay day of the 1980's. (Take note that the first wave of death metal lasted from 1983-1990.) Influenced greatly by thrash metal bands such as Slayer and Kreator, death metal emerged when a few people scattered across the states took the fast, aggressive thrash metal sound, signature of Slayer and Kreator, and decided to pour on an extra supply of brutality. It is not known for certain which band invented death metal, but research and deduction have reduced the list down to three key bands: Florida's very own Death (Death was originally known as Mantas back when they formed), California-borne group Possessed, and the Illinois based band Master; all three bands formed back in 1983.

The sound attributed to those bands were blazingly fast drumming, mainly consisting of blast-beats, lightning quick riffing, and the le coup tre mas, low, raspy growls, combined with high, earsplitting screams. The lyrical content was essentially gore and Satan. Quite a few important events for death metal occurred in the 80s. Death eventually created the Florida Death Metal scene, leading on to influence two more innovative bands of the 80s, Morbid Angel and Obituary. Possessed helped establish Satanism as a major lyrical topic, and influenced the death metal bands of California. Master helped create the death metal scene in the North East (Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, etc).

Aside from the three main innovators (Death, Possessed, Master), there were also other very important death metal bands that arose in the 80s that would become very important later on. These include bands like Morbid Angel, Obituary, Deicide, and Cannibal Corpse. We will talk about those bands later on.

Musical Highlights:
1. Low, raspy growls with high-pitched screams
2. Distorted, low-tuned guitars
3. Dark, gritty bass
4. Fast, blast-beat drumming
5. Overall, the sound was closely related to its parent genre, "Thrash Metal"

Key Albums of the Era:
1. Death: "Scream Bloody Gore"
2. Possessed: "Seven Churches"
3. Master: "Master"
4. Obituary: "Slowly We Rot"
5. Morbid Angel: "Altars Of Madness"

The Second Wave of Death Metal:

History:
(1990-1999)

The second era is where death metal really started to take off. Many events happened in this era; new important bands, changes in the sound, a wave of controversy spawning around the genre. In fact, so many events happened in this era, I am going to have to break it up by year. Do not be surprised if it changes subject quickly.

In 1990, Death released "Spiritual Healing", an album which was a bit of a departure from typical death metal lyrical matter. In this album, it focused more on social and philosophical issues rather than blood and gore, which was found in their first two albums. Deicide released their debut album, "Deicide". This album essentially took Satanism to a whole new extreme. This was not the cheesy kind of Satanism you find in Venom either. This was the serious Satanism. However, I might be over-exaggerating things, after all, I am a Deicide fan. Anyway, this album was a huge success in the underground, because it was both more catchy and more memorable than anything present at the time. Also released was Cannibal Corpse's debut, "Eaten Back To Life". This album brought forth a new style of growl called "The Cookie Monster" growl, which was used by the vocalist, Chris Barnes. This growling style portrayed a harsher and deeper voice, close to the equivalent of the Sesame Street character, the Cookie Monster, and because this vocal style had a much more aggressive and demonic sound than the raspy growls, the words, when spoken, became less decipherable. This style would later go on to become the most recognizable attribute when death metal would be brought up in casual conversation.

Now moving on to 1991. This year saw the rise of brutal death metal, played by two main innovators of the genre, Suffocation and Immolation. This genre was characterized by ultra-heavy and low growling, close to the point of loud grumbling, greater emphasis on the bass, lower tuned guitars, and much more frequent use of the bass drum. This genre, although seeming very simple, takes a great deal of technical flair and musicianship in order to perform. The two brutal death metal albums released in this time were Suffocation's "Effigy Of The Forgotten" and Immolation's "Dawn Of Possession".

We now move on to 1992. This is where death metal started to gain commercial success. It started of with Obituary's masterpiece, "The End Complete". This album eventually sold 250,000 copies worldwide, making it one of the most successful death metal albums of all time. There were several factors contributing to this. First off, was the label. Obituary was signed to the large label and former death metal powerhouse, Roadrunner Records. They had the funds to produce many copies and be able to send them to distributors. Next, was their large fan base. The band already had a rabid fan base when the album came out. Third was the fact that in the same year, they toured with another famous death metal band, Cannibal Corpse. Another successful album released that year was Deicide's "Legion". It was successful because it was also released on Roadrunner Records and was widely distributed around the world.

The most innovative album of that year, however, came in the form of Fear Factory's "Soul Of A New Machine". This release was the very first death metal album to feature clean vocals, a move that was once considered forbidden long ago. This would soon lead the way for many more death metal bands who would innovate the genre to the fullest.

Now moving on to 1993. The most noticeable event of this year is the release of Morbid Angel's "Covenant". This album was an important release because it was the very first death metal album released on a major label, making Morbid Angel the very first death metal band signed to a major label. The label they signed to was called Giant Records. Although it does not sound like a major label, they are a subsidiary of Warner Brother Records, making them indirectly linked to one of the largest record labels in the world.

Well, time to kick it into gear. In 1994, Cannibal Corpse released "The Bleeding", their last recording with original vocalist Chris Barnes. Cryptopsy released "None So Vile", one of the best brutal death metal albums to be released by a Canadian band. In 1995, Suffocation released "Pierced From Within", which instantly became a brutal death metal classic.

Blazing over to the year 1998, we find Florida death metal pioneers with the release of their last album, "The Sound Of Perseverance". This album shows Death in their most advanced form. With the release of this album, they sounded less like death metal and more like progressive metal. This album featured complex percussion work by the famous Richard Christy, incredible bass performances by Scott Clendenin, and deep, intricate guitar play by both Shannon Hamm and Chuck Schuldiner. This was an album which truly redefined an entire genre. Aside from "The Sound Of Perseverance", there were several other important releases as well. Exhumed released their genre defining debut album, "Gore Metal". A derivative of death metal, Gore Metal features a more melodic sound with catchy riffs and often involves three distinct vocalists, sort of like old Carcass. This album would soon go on to inspire thousands of clone bands who would play the same type of music. Anyway, this era is so expansive, I cannot go on all day to describe everything that happened, so I will stop here.

Musical Highlights:
1. The rise of brutal death metal
2. The development of a more progressive kind of death metal
3. The spawning of Gore Metal

Key Albums of the Era:
1. Death: "The Sound Of Perseverance"
2. Morbid Angel: "Covenant"
3. Deicide: "Legion"
4. Cannibal Corpse: "Eaten Back To Life"
5. Suffocation: "Pierced From Within"
6. Immolation: "Dawn Of Possession"
7. Exhumed: "Gore Metal"

The Third Wave of Death Metal:

History:
(2000-Present)

This is the latest wave of death metal. In this era, we see death metal regaining popularity throughout the world (considering Grunge is dead, hahaha). We see new ideas cropping through the underground and new bands taking steps towards new realms. The first major release of this era is Morbid Angel's "Gateways to Annihilation", released in 2000. This album follows the same progressive death metal influence that was created by Death. Another album released that year was Deicide's "Insineratehymn". This was their album which reinvigorated the Deicide influence.

Tragedy befell the entire death metal community in 2001, as death metal pioneer Chuck Schuldiner died of brain cancer. The community was grieve-stricken as they had now lost one of the greatest mind of the entire genre. Moving on to 2002, we find more gore metal spreading across the land, as gore metal band Impaled released their collaboration of innovation, "Mondo Medicale". Greatly influenced by Carcass, they built upon the gore metal genre with melody and excellent musicianship. The genre was built upon even more in 2003, when Exhumed released "Anatomy Is Destiny". This album featured obligatory riffs, greater focus on skill, and Swedish death metal influence. In fact, we are living in the third era of death metal right now, and it is currently changing. To find out what else it will bring us, we will just have to wait.

Conclusion

As this report comes to a close, we must remember that death metal is continually evolving at an accelerating pace, and will keep changing as time passes. Five years from now, the information in this report will become obsolete! Also, if you see anything wrong with this report, such as missing information or important events have been left out, then that is my fault, and I sincerely apologize. However, I should not be worried, because everyone thinks differently, and I wrote this report not as some sort of requirement, but for people who would like to read up on the genre, and have information to live off of in the future.

This report has been brought to you by Metal Storm's very own think-tank, Insineratehymn.