A sub-genre of heavy metal music, death metal evolved from early black metal and thrash metal in the mid-1980s. Celtic Frost, Kreator, and Venom were some of the bands that influenced the creation of this heavy metal sub-genre.
It was not until the late 1980s that it gained more attention in the media. Death metal bands began getting signed at a rapid rate by Combat, Roadrunner, and other niche record labels. This form of rock music has several fusion genres. Here are some of the popular ones:
1. Blackened death metal
Also called ‘black death metal’, it fuses the elements of death metal and black metal. The origins of blackened death metal can be traced to the early 1990s. It was the period when several black metal bands had begun incorporating elements of death metal.
This extreme sub-genre of heavy metal uses death growls, Satanic lyrics and imagery, tremolo picking, and blast beats. Bands of this genre usually employ corpse paint, which is a form of demonic black and white makeup. Lower range tunings of guitar and abrupt tempo changes are common in this genre.
2. Death-doom
Death-doom has slow tempos, and the depressive or pessimistic mood of doom metal. It also possesses the double kick drumming and growling vocals of death metal. This fusion genre of death metal emerged in the late-1980s and became considerably popular in the 1990s.
Although its popularity began to decline in the 21st century, it evolved into the genres of funeral doom and Gothic metal. Funeral doom fuses death-doom with funeral dirge music. This results in a slow tempo and a greater focus on creating a mood of despair and emptiness. Mournful chants or growls are often played in the background.
3. Deathcore
Owing to its frequent use of breakdowns, Deathcore has received a lot of criticism from heavy metal music fans. This is a sub-genre of extreme metal, which combines metalcore and death metal. It features death metal guitar riffs, metalcore breakdowns, and blast beats. Although similar concepts existed in the 1990s, deathcore as a defined genre emerged in the early 2000s.
It became popular in the mid-2000s within certain parts of the United States, such as Arizona and Coachella Valley. As it expanded, this extreme metal sub-genre saw the emergence of several bands, such as Suicide Silence and Whitechapel. During the following decade, deathcore bands started their experimentation with some of the other genres.
4. Death ‘n’ roll
A sub-genre of death metal music, it includes elements inspired by hard rock to the overall sound. The term ‘Death ‘n’ roll is a blend of the words ‘death metal’ and ‘rock ‘n’ roll. Death ‘n’ roll combines the highly distorted de-tuned guitar riffing and growled vocals. It also incorporates certain elements that reminds one of the hard rock and heavy metal from the 1970s.
The tag of ‘death ‘n’ roll’ was first associated with a Swedish death metal band called ‘Entombed’. However, there are some who associate this style of rock music with an earlier group known as ‘Furbowl’. The origins of this death metal music sub-genre can be traced back to the early 1990s. During those times, it was gradually becoming popular in Scandinavia.