English extreme metal bandVenom, fromNewcastle, crystallized the elements of what later became known asthrash metal, death metal andblack metal, with their first two albumsWelcome to Hell[19] andBlack Metal,[20] released in late 1981 and 1982, respectively. Their dark, blistering sound, harsh vocals, andmacabre, proudly Satanic imagery proved a major inspiration for extreme metal bands.[21] Another highly influential band,Slayer, formed in 1981. Although the band was a thrash metal act, Slayer's music was more violent than their thrash contemporariesMetallica,Megadeth, andAnthrax.[22] Their breakneck speed and instrumental prowess combined with lyrics about death, violence, war, and Satanism won Slayer a cult following.[23] According to Mike McPadden,Hell Awaits, Slayer's second album, "largely invent[ed] much of the sound and fury that would evolve into death metal."[24] According toAllMusic, their third albumReign in Blood inspired the entire death metal genre.[25] It had a big impact on genre leaders such asDeath,Obituary, andMorbid Angel.[22]
Possessed, a band that formed in theSan Francisco Bay Area during 1983, is described by AllMusic as "connecting the dots" between thrash metal and death metal with their 1985 debut album,Seven Churches.[27] While attributed as having a Slayer influence,[28] current and former members of the band had actually cited Venom andMotörhead, as well as early work byExodus, as the main influences on their sound. Although the group had released only two studio albums and an EP in their formative years, they have been described by music journalists and musicians as either being "monumental" in developing the death metal style,[29] or as being the first death metal band.[30][31][32]Earache Records noted that "the likes of Trey Azagthoth and Morbid Angel based what they were doing in their formative years on the Possessed blueprint laid down on the legendarySeven Churches recording. Possessed arguably did more to further the cause of 'Death Metal' than any of the early acts on the scene back in the mid-late 80's."[33]
During the same period as the dawn of Possessed, a second influential metal band was formed in Orlando, Florida. Originally called Mantas, Death was formed in 1983 byChuck Schuldiner,Kam Lee, andRick Rozz. Inspired by theBrandon, Florida actNasty Savage, they took the sound of Nasty Savage and deepened it.[34] In 1984, they released their first demo entitledDeath by Metal, followed by several more. The tapes circulated through the tape trader world, quickly establishing the band's name. With Death guitarist Schuldiner adopting vocal duties, the band made a major impact in the emergingFlorida death metal scene. The fast minor-key riffs and solos were complemented with fast drumming, creating a style that would catch on in tape trading circles.[29] Schuldiner has been credited by AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia for being widely recognized as the "Father of Death Metal".[35] Death's 1987 debut release,Scream Bloody Gore, has been described by About.com's Chad Bowar as being the "evolution from thrash metal to death metal",[36] and "the first true death metal record" by theSan Francisco Chronicle.[37] In an Interview Jeff Becerra talked about the discussions of being the creator of the genre, saying that Schuldiner cited Possessed as a massive influence, and Death were even called "Possessed clones" early on.[38] Along with Possessed and Death, other pioneers of death metal in the United States includeMacabre,Master,Massacre,Immolation,Cannibal Corpse,Obituary, andPost Mortem.[39][40]
Metal was always aboutoneupmanship, right? How to play it faster and heavier and make it more evil… You had speed/thrash metal taking it all to new speeds. So how do you top that? You add in death metal vocals and make it sound even heavier and more evil.
By 1989, many bands had been signed by eager record labels wanting to cash in on the subgenre, including Florida'sObituary,Morbid Angel andDeicide.[41] This collective of death metal bands hailing from Florida are often labeled as "Florida death metal". Morbid Angel pushed the genre's limits both musically and lyrically, with the release of their debut albumAltars of Madness in 1989.[42][43] The album "redefined what it meant to be heavy while influencing an upcoming class of brutal death metal."[44] According to Jason Birchmeier ofAllMusic, "Venom andSlayer redefined the extent to which a metal band could align itself with all things evil during the beginning of the decade, but Morbid Angel made these two groups sound likechildren's music."[45]
Following the original death metal innovators, new subgenres began to develop the end of the decade, such asmelodic death metal. Death released their fourth albumHuman in 1991, which has become a hallmark intechnical death metal. Death's founder Schuldiner helped push the boundaries of the genre with uncompromising speed and technical virtuosity, combining intricate rhythm guitar work with complex arrangements and emotive guitar solos.[46]
Earache Records,Relativity Records and Roadrunner Records became the genre's most important labels,[47] with Earache releasing albums by Carcass, Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, and Entombed, and Roadrunner releasing albums by Obituary, andPestilence. Although these labels had not been death metal labels, they initially became the genre's flagship labels at the beginning of the 1990s. In addition to these, other labels formed as well, such asNuclear Blast,Century Media, andPeaceville. Many of these labels would go on to achieve successes in other genres of metal throughout the 1990s.
In September 1990, Death's managerEric Greif held one of the first North American death metal festivals,Day of Death, inMilwaukee suburbWaukesha, Wisconsin, and featured 26 bands including Autopsy,Broken Hope, Hellwitch, Obliveon, Revenant, Viogression, Immolation,Atheist, andCynic.[48]
Death metal's popularity achieved its initial peak during 1992–1993, with some bands such as Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse enjoying mild commercial success. However, the genre as a whole never broke into the mainstream. The genre's mounting popularity may have been partly responsible for a strong rivalry betweenNorwegian black metal andSwedish death metal scenes.Fenriz ofDarkthrone has noted that Norwegian black metal musicians were "fed up with the whole death metal scene" at the time. According to Joel McIver ofMetal Hammer, "Many metalheads were fixated on the new wave of black metal emanating from Scandinavia, the UK and the US. Just as grunge had killed glam back in 1991, a new movement of corpsepainted bands was making the death metal scene look tedious, or worse, obsolete. Only the best would survive." Consequently, death metal diversified in the 1990s, spawning a variety of subgenres that maintain cult followings to the present day.[49][50]
In the 2010s, a movement of bands reviving the sound of original 1980s death metal emerged, termed the "New Wave of Old School Death Metal".[52] One of the earliest groups in this wave wasHorrendous, who formed in 2009,[53] who along withTomb Mold took a progressive take the genre.[51] Tomb Mold, Necrot, Undergang andBlood Incantation were some of the earliest bands to gain traction in the 2010s, with theCOVID-19 pandemic amplifying the amount of attention drawn to the movement, throughCryptic Shift, Slimelord and Vaticinal Rites.[54] In a 2022 article byMetalSucks writer Christopher Krovatin stated "Right now, as a music journalist, all I hear about is death metal."[55] In the UK, this movement became the "New Wave of British Death Metal", fronted by Mortuary Spawn, Vacuous and Celestial Sanctuary, this name being coined by Tom Cronin, of Celestial Sanctuary, in order to separate these hardcore-indebted bands from the country's prior movements. The earliest bands in this wave were Cruciamentum and Grave Miasma.[56]
A large part of the New Wave of Old School Death Metal was death metal bands who originated from the hardcore scene, some of which merge elements of hardcore into their style.Xibalba andFuming Mouth were two of the earliest groups, with the wave being solidified byGatecreeper,200 Stab Wounds, Creeping Death,[57]Sanguisugabogg and Kruelty.[58]Venom Prison came from this scene and gained particular attention for their confrontation of whatKerrang! called death metal's "misogyny problem", by instead writing "rape-revenge narrative[s]".[59] Their lead vocalist Larissa Stupar was described by the publication as "metal's most important - and uncompromising - voice".[60]
The setup most frequently used within the death metal genre is two guitarists, a bass player, a vocalist, and a drummer often using "hyperdouble-bassblast beats".[61][62] Although this is the standard setup, bands have been known to occasionally incorporate other instruments such aselectronic keyboards.[63]
Death metal vocals are referred to asdeath growls; which are coarse roars/snarls. Death growling is mistakenly thought to be a form of screaming using the lowest vocal register known asvocal fry, however vocal fry is actually a form of overtone screaming, and while growling can be performed this way by experienced vocalists who use the fry screaming technique, "true" death growling is in fact created by an altogether different technique.[64] Growling has been calledCookie Monster vocals, tongue-in-cheek, due to the vocal similarity to the voice of the popularSesame Street character of the same name.[65] Although often criticized, death growls serve the aesthetic purpose of matching death metal's aggressive lyrical content.[66]
According toAlex Webster, bassist ofCannibal Corpse, "The gory lyrics are probably not, as much as people say, [what's keeping us] from beingmainstream. Like, 'death metal would never go into the mainstream because the lyrics are too gory?' I think it's really the music, because violent entertainment is totally mainstream."[69]
By 1984,Venom-influenced acts crept through theunderground, peddling aggressivethrash with gruff vocals: San Francisco'sPossessed released theDeath Metal demo, Switzerland'sHellhammer appeared on a compilation calledDeath Metal, and Florida'sDeath put outDeath By Metal. Notice a theme yet?
Verifiable uses of the term "death metal" began around 1983, however it was largely interchangeable with what is now understood asthrash metal.[76] The 1983 premier issue of thezineMetal Chaos used the term to describe the music that disc-jockey Gene Khoury played onWMSC (FM)[77] and the Winter 1983–1984 issue ofMetal Forces used the term to describeMetal Church[78] andHellhammer.[79]
During 1984, use of the term began to gravitate towards more extreme bands, such asBathory,Destruction,Onslaught,Slayer andSodom. Hellhammer, in particular, put a significant emphasis on the term, being used in the liner notes forApocalyptic Raids (1984),[76] and being used as the name for bothThomas Fischer andMartin Ain's zine, and their split albumDeath Metal (1984).[80] The same yearPossessed released their demo,Death Metal; featuring an eponymous song which would also be featured on the band's 1985 debut album,Seven Churches.[80] In an interview forChoosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore, Possessed vocalist and bassist Jeff Becerra said he coined the term for a high school English class assignment, stating "I figured speed metal and black metal were already taken, so what the fuck? So I said death metal, because that word wasn't associated with Venom or anybody else. It wasn't even about redefining it. We were playing this music and we were trying to be the heaviest thing on the face of the planet. We wanted just to piss people off and send everybody home. And that can't be, like, flower metal."[81]
Cited examples are not necessarily exclusive to one particular style. Many bands can easily be placed in two or more of the following categories, and a band's specific categorization is often a source of contention due to personal opinion and interpretation. The musical genres in this list are sorted alphabetically.
This is adynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help byediting the page to add missing items, with references toreliable sources.
Blackened death metal is commonly death metal that incorporates musical, lyrical or ideological elements ofblack metal, such as an increased use oftremolo picking, anti-Christian orSatanic lyrical themes and chord progressions similar to those used in black metal.[88][89][90] Blackened death metal bands are also more likely to wearcorpse paint and suits of armour, than bands from other styles of death metal.[91] Lower range guitar tunings,death growls and abrupttempo changes are common in the genre.[92] Examples of blackened death metal bands areBelphegor,[93]Behemoth,[94]Akercocke,[95] andSacramentum.[96]
Slam death metal is a brutal death metalmicrogenre that evolved from the 1990sNew York death metal scene, incorporating elements ofhardcore punk.[6][118] In contrast to other death metal styles, it is not generally focused on guitar solos and blast beats; instead, it employs mid-tempo rhythms, breakdowns, and palm-muted riffing, as well aship hop-inspired vocal and drum beat rhythms.[118] Thebreakdown riff ofSuffocation's "Liege of Inveracity" has been credited byRolling Stone as the first slam riff in death metal.[119] The first wave of bands in the genre were New York bands likeInternal Bleeding and Pyrexia,[120][121] with notable subsequent acts includingDevourment[122] andCephalotripsy.[123]
Funeral doom is a genre that crossesdeath-doom withfuneral dirge music.[126] It is played at a very slow tempo, and places an emphasis on evoking a sense of emptiness and despair.[127] Typically, electric guitars are heavily distorted anddark ambient aspects such askeyboards orsynthesizers are often used to create a dreamlike atmosphere.[128] Vocals consist of mournful chants or growls and are often in the background.[128] Funeral doom was pioneered byMournful Congregation (Australia),Esoteric (United Kingdom),Evoken (United States),Funeral (Norway),Thergothon (Finland), andSkepticism (Finland).[129]
Deathcore is a subgenre that merges the intensity of death metal with the aggressive elements of metalcore. It is characterized by fast drumming, includingblast beats, down-tuned guitars,tremolo picking,growled vocals, high-pitched shrieks, and thebreakdowns typical of metalcore.Decibel magazine noted that "one ofSuffocation's trademarks, breakdowns, has spawned an entire metal subgenre: deathcore."[131]Dying Fetus was also influencing deathcore through their extensive use of slam riffs, breakdowns, and hardcore-inspired grooves. Their 1996 albumPurification Through Violence and 1998'sKilling on Adrenaline introduced a mix of brutal death metal and hardcore elements that would later be adopted by deathcore bands.[132] Bands such asDespised Icon,Suicide Silence,Salt the Wound andAll Shall Perish combine the technicality of death metal with the breakdown-driven structures of metalcore, creating a distinct and influential sound.[133]
Melodic death metal bandAt the Gates performing in 2008.
Swedish death metal could be considered the forerunner of "melodic death metal". Melodic death metal, occasionally shortened to "melodeath", is a fusion ofheavy metal with elements of death metal. The subgenre is heavily influenced by thenew wave of British heavy metal.[157] Unlike most other death metal, melodeath usually features screams instead of growls, slower tempos, and much stronger emphasis on melody. Clean vocals may be used on occasion.Carcass is sometimes credited with releasing the first melodic death metal album with 1993'sHeartwork, although Swedish bandsIn Flames,Dark Tranquillity, andAt the Gates are usually mentioned as the main pioneers of the genre and of theGothenburg metal sound.
Technical death metal bandNile performing in 2010.
Technical death metal (also known as tech-death, progressive death metal, or prog-death)[165] is a subgenre of death metal that employs dynamic song structures, uncommon time signatures, atypical rhythms and unusual harmonies and melodies. Bands described as technical death metal or progressive death metal usually fuse common death metal aesthetics with elements ofprogressive rock,jazz orclassical music. While the term technical death metal is sometimes used to describe bands that focus on speed and extremity as well as complexity, the line between progressive and technical death metal is thin.Tech death andprog death, for short, are terms commonly applied to such bands asNile,Edge of Sanity, andOpeth.Necrophagist andSpawn of Possession are known for a classical music-influenced death metal style. Death metal pioneersDeath also refined their style in a more progressive direction in their final years. Some albums for this subgenre areHallucinations (1990) by the German bandAtrocity and Death'sHuman (1991). This style has significantly influenced many bands, creating a stream that in Europe was carried out at first by bands such asGory Blister and Electrocution.[166] The Polish bandDecapitated gained recognition as one of Europe's primary modern technical death metal acts.[167][168]
^ab"Death Metal".AllMusic. Archived fromthe original on April 2, 2012. RetrievedJuly 4, 2008.Death Metal grew out of the thrash metal in the late '80s.
^abcDunn, Sam (Director) (August 5, 2005).Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (motion picture). Canada: Dunn, Sam.Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. RetrievedNovember 18, 2007.
^abcLee, Cosmo (March 14, 2007)."Phazm: Antebellum Death 'n' Roll".Stylus Magazine. Archived fromthe original on June 17, 2008. RetrievedSeptember 18, 2007.Death 'n' roll arose with Entombed's 1993 album Wolverine Blues ... Wolverine Blues was like '70s hard rock tuned down and run through massive distortion and death growls.
^Sullivan, Andy (August 25, 2012)."Death metal, the sound of Tampa, won't be heard at Republican convention". Yahoo News. Reuters.Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. RetrievedAugust 25, 2012.When they convene in Tampa to nominate Mitt Romney for president next week, Republicans will not hear a note from the city's most notable musical exports: death-metal bands such as Deicide and Obituary.
^Morton, Luke (May 27, 2019). "Venom Prison the Remarkable Story of the Rise and Rise of Metal's Most Important - and Uncompromising - Voice".Kerrang!.
^Shapiro, Lantz (1983)."Northwest Metal".Metal Chaos.1: 15.Archived from the original on March 13, 2025. RetrievedMarch 7, 2025.
^Shannon, Mike (1984)."Metal Church Let Us Pray".Metal Forces (2): 8. RetrievedMarch 7, 2025.Kurdt Vanderhof, the band's founder and guitarist, constructed the CHURCH even before the likes of Mike Varney, METALLICA or stateside Death Metal were ever established.
^Doe, Bernard (1984)."Demo-Lition".Metal Forces (2): 45. RetrievedMarch 7, 2025.HELLHAMMER take the meaning of "Death Metal" to its extreme (you've surely got to be dead to appreciate this although brain damage may help!) However, the band like to describe their music as "Blood Attack" and proclaim themselves as being "The Axe Attack From The Darker Side Of Metal"
^Prato, Greg."Behemoth".AllMusic.Archived from the original on October 20, 2023. RetrievedSeptember 3, 2012.
^Lee, Cosmo (February 21, 2006)."Akercocke – Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone – Review – Stylus Magazine".Stylus Magazine. Archived fromthe original on May 9, 2012. RetrievedOctober 22, 2012.Death metal and black metal are notoriously insular, but Akercocke has distinguished itself by freely drawing from both. Death metal tends to emphasize the low end, while black metal mainly resides in the midrange and treble, so Akercocke's 'blackened death' hybrid is rich and full-bodied.
^Pretorious, Neil (July 30, 2009). "Review - Sacramentum - Far Away from the Sun"].The Metal Observer. "If you think that Blackened Death Metal begins and ends with DISSECTION, then think again. SACRAMENTUM seriously dropped the (snow) ball with 'The Coming of Chaos' and 'Thy Black Destiny', but on 'Far Away from the Sun' they really delivered the goods on all fronts."
^Purcell, Natalie J. (September 17, 2015).Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture.McFarland & Company. p. 59.ISBN9780786484065.Cannibal Corpse's first album, Eaten Back to Life, was deemed pure, brutal Death Metal
^McIver, Joel (March 10, 2010).Extreme Metal II.Music Sales.ISBN9780857122247.Buffalo band Cannibal Corpse are perhaps the most devoted brutal death metal act in this book, rarely diverging from the path of the blastbeat and the throaty roar.
^Stewart-Panko, Kevin (December 2, 2011)."Cryptopsy - "None so Vile"".Decibel Magazine.Archived from the original on March 1, 2023. RetrievedMarch 1, 2023.
^Purcell, Natalie J. (September 17, 2015).Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture.McFarland & Company. p. 9.ISBN9780786484065.Many New York style bands like Suffocation, Dying Fetus and Internal Bleeding are slam-orientated and bass-based; this sort of music promotes dancing with rapid shifts from low and slow to fast and blast.
^Purcell, Natalie J. (September 17, 2015).Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture.McFarland & Company. p. 19.ISBN9780786484065.Slow 'slam' riffs helped bands like Internal Bleeding and Pyrexia, inspired by Suffocation, to become successful in the mid 1990s. Today, New York style bands like Skinless and Dying Fetus dominate the scene with 'crowd-pleasing mosh riffs'
^Butler, Will. "Cannabis Corpse - Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise LP".Don't be Swindle (1).Most standard death metal, and particularly its more brutal offshoots, is just too damn serious. Not too many people can enthusiastically back slam metal shit like Devourment or Cephalotripsy.
^ab"Doom Metal Special: Doom/Death",Terrorizer #142.
^abEbner, Arne (July 25, 2010).Ästhetik des Doom(PDF) (Bachelor) (in German). Macromedia University of Applied Sciences for Media and Communication - Cologne. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on March 4, 2016. RetrievedAugust 18, 2018.
^James Minton, Kim Kelly, and Jenn Selby, "Filth Parade",Terrorizer #188, September 2009, p. 56.
^abSteve, Huey."Gorefest Biography".AllMusic.Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. RetrievedFebruary 15, 2008.Erase, was released in 1994 and found the band moving subtly toward more traditional forms of metal, partly through its sure sense of groove. That approach crystallized on 1996's Soul Survivor, which combined death metal with the elegant power and accessibility of '70s British metal.
^Lee, Cosmo (September 2009). "Suffocation reclaim their rightful place as kings of death metal".Decibel (59).One of Suffocation's trademarks, breakdowns, has spawned an entire metal subgenre: deathcore
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