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.

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Despite such dramatic changes, its base elements have remained the same even to this day. With all the blast beats, down-tuned and distorted guitars, and growls, this genre of rock music continues to grow. Here we present some of the best death metal bands of all time:

1. Death

This band from the city of Orlando, Florida, is considered the one that pioneered the genre of death metal. With their debut album Scream Bloody Gore released in 1987, this band became extremely popular. The leading man of this band, Chuck Schuldiner, died at the age of 34 in 2001. However, he left behind a legacy that would inspire the future rock bands.

2. Entombed

This band from the Swedish capital, Stockholm, pioneered death ‘n’ roll, a sub-genre of death metal. They incorporated the influences of garage rock into their sound, which was the major highlight of their music. One of the best examples of this change can be found in the tracks of their studio album, Wolverine Blues. The bands ‘Trap Them’ and ‘Black Breath’ seems to be heavily inspired by the sounds used in this album. 

3. Decapitated

Waclaw ‘Vogg’ Kieltyka, the main songwriter and guitarist, and his drummer brother Witold ‘Vitek’ Kieltyka formed ‘Decapitated‘ in 1996. This death metal band from Poland continues to be among the most significant ones even in the 21st century. 

In November 2007, Vitek was killed in the crash of a tour bus. After spending a significant amount of time grieving over his brother’s death, Vogg reformed the band in 2009.

4. Autopsy

Autopsy was formed in California’s Bay Area and took death metal to its doomy depths. They also had great influence on bands of other genres, such as Gorefest, Entombed, and Deicide. Of particular influence on these bands was their second album, which was titled Mental Funeral.

5. Vader

This Polish death metal band was formed in 1983. However, their debut album ‘The Ultimate Incantation’ could only be released nine years later. Before settling on a death metal sound, they had tried different genres like thrash metal and speed metal. They had so much influence in this genre that they were once described as ‘the eagles of death metal’. 

6. Carcass

Liverpool-based ‘Carcass’ had their roots in grindcore, but moved on to death metal sound with Symphonies of Sickness. Released in 1989, this was their second album. Heartwork, their fourth album, was released in 1993. It caught the attention of Columbia/Sony. 

However, even before the release of their album, problems arose between them and the label. This ultimately led to the demise of this group. The band was later reformed in 2007.

7. Deicide

This band is believed to be the most notorious of all death metal bands. Most of their lyrics are full of anti-Christian messages. Deicide has been surrounded by controversies. Glen Benton, the frontman of this band, burned an inverted cross onto his forehead. He had claimed that he will commit suicide at 33 years of age. This was apparently his anti-Jesus statement.

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Apparently, musicians of Norwegian black metal were fed up with the entire death metal scene during those times. In the 1990s, death metal diversified into various sub-genres, which still have a large following. Here are some of the remarkable features of death metal music.

Instruments

Instrumentation in the death metal genre usually comprises a vocalist, a drummer, two guitarists, and a bass player. Occasionally, some bands have been known to change this standard setup with the inclusion of other instruments. One of the examples is the incorporation of electronic keyboards. 

Among the salient features of this genre are fast, heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars. They are played with tremolo picking and palm muting techniques. Another remarkable feature of this genre is the aggressive and powerful percussion. Abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes are common in this genre. 

A varied song structure is included along with chromatic chord progressions. Under certain circumstances, melodic riffs and harmonies are incorporated for producing the desired effect. In the creation of melodic death metal, this incorporation was used extensively. 

Vocals

The vocals used in this heavy metal sub-genre are called death growls, snarls, or hoarse roars. Many often think that death growling is a form of screaming with the lowest vocal register. However, this vocal register or ‘vocal fry’ is, in fact, a form of overtone screaming. 

Growling is performed by experienced vocalists this way, but the ‘true’ death growling is created by a different technique. Thus, vocal fry screaming, ‘true’ death growls, and false chord screaming are the three major methods of vocalization used. These three methods of harsh vocalization are often mistaken for each other. 

Despite the criticism, death growls are used for presenting the aggressive lyrical content aesthetically. On certain occasions, high-pitched screaming is used in death metal. This can be heard in many songs of Deicide, Death, Cannibal Corpse, and other bands.

Lyrics

Death metal involves lyrical themes that may invoke slasher film-stylized violence. They may also involve topics like occultism, Satanism, mysticism, mythology, philosophy, politics, and nature. Although the violent topics are also explored in other genres, this particular genre can elaborate on the details. 

They include descriptions of extreme acts like psychopathy, blood and gore, mutilation, torture, exorcism, and cannibalism. Some have attributed this to the craving that some individuals have for the images of death and violence. Artists who have contributed to this genre have described death metal as an extreme form of art and entertainment. 

In defense of death metal, they associate it with the horror films of the motion picture industry. Many of the international activists still condemn the glamorization of violence in death metal lyrics without any awareness or social context. Many critics in the past were of the opinion that death metal would never go into the mainstream. According to them, the reasons for this were the gory lyrics and music.

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It makes use of distorted and low-tuned guitars, employing techniques like tremolo picking and palm muting. Time signature changes, atonality, abrupt tempo, and chromatic chord progressions are a part of this heavy metal sub-genre. This form of rock music gained popularity during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Origins

A British extreme metal band from Newcastle called ‘Venom’ released their albums Black Metal and Welcome to Hell. With these albums, they crystallized the elements of what would later become thrash metal, black metal, and death metal. The extreme metal bands were inspired by their harsh vocals, dark and blistering sound, Satanic imagery, and macabre. 

In 1981, another highly influential band called ‘Slayer’ was formed. Although their acts were primarily thrash metal, their music seemed to have more violence. It appeared to be more violent than their contemporaries of thrash metal, such as Anthrax, Metallica, and Megadeth. Slayer won a cult following with their description of death, war, violence, and Satanism in their lyrics.

Development

Much of the fury and sound that later evolved into death metal was invented by Slayer’s album titled Hell Awaits. What really inspired the entire genre of death metal was their third album called Reign in Blood. During 1983, a band called ‘Possessed’ formed in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

They were largely inspired by the bands Motorhead, Venom, and Exodus. In their years of formation, they had released only two studio albums and one EP. Some of the journalists and musicians believed that they were the first death metal band. The acts of Possessed furthered the cause of death metal. 

Another influential metal band called ‘Death’ was formed in the city of Orlando in Florida around the same time. They released Death by Metal in 1984, which was their first demo. It was followed by several more releases. The name of this band spread far and wide with their tapes getting circulated through the tape trader world.

Popularity

Many of the death metal bands had been signed by record labels by 1989. These record companies wanted to cash in on the heavy metal sub-genre’s popularity. Among the most sought-after bands in this form of rock music were Deicide, Obituary, and Morbid Angel. The debut album of Morbid Angel titled Altars of Madness released in 1989. 

With this album, the band pushed death metal’s limits lyrically as well as musically. Death metal then spread to Sweden. The early 1990s saw the rise of melodic death metal with Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, and other Swedish bands. By the end of the decade, new sub-genres of death metal began evolving. The British band ‘Carcass’ and New York-based band called ‘Suffocation’ contributed immensely to this early movement. 

Roadrunner Records, Earache Records, and Relativity Records became the most important labels of the death metal genre. Several death metal record labels went on to achieve successes in other death metal genres throughout the 1990s.

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Their music greatly influenced the early heavy metal music and served as an inspiration for several doom metal bands. Black Sabbath and Pentagram composed this dark and heavy music in the early 1970s. They also gave some thrilling performances based on this music. It came to be known and referred to as ‘doom metal’ by critics, musicians, and fans in the 1980s.

Development

The doom metal bands from the 1970s greatly influenced the heavy metal sub-genre’s development in the years that followed. One of the fusion genres called stoner metal was pioneered by the band ‘Blue Cheer’. They used guitar feedback and loud amplifiers, which was apparent in their debut album, Vincebus Eruptum. 

A Welsh heavy metal band called ‘Budgie’ also produced songs that were among the loudest in those times. Although the lyrics lacked the pessimistic content, it stylistically influenced many different acts of doom metal. A Japanese band called Flower Travellin’ Band also had a great infuence on early doom metal. 

This came from two of their albums, Satori and Kirikyogen. An important forerunner to doom metal is believed to be the self-titled debut of Bang in 1971. Other groups instrumental in the popularity of doom metal were Necromandus, Iron Claw, Leaf Hound, and Sir Lord Baltimore. 

Popularity

Doom metal as a distinct genre was formed in the early and mid-1980s. This was the result of some great contributions made by the bands from the United States and England. The album Death Penalty released in 1982 marked the debut of Witchfinder General, the English pioneers of doom metal. Two of the American pioneers also released their debut albums in 1984. 

In the same year, an American band called Cirith Ungol released their second studio album titled King of the Dead. The album is regarded as an early influence on doom by many. The Swedish band Candlemass also proved to be highly influential with Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. It was released in 1986 and gave this heavy metal sub-genre its name. 

The emergence of ‘death-doom’

The origins of death-doom, which is also written as ‘death/doom’ goes back to the mid-1980s. During this period, the early progenitors began mixing traditional doom metal with the sounds of death metal. As a result, death-doom emerged as a genre in the late 1980s. 

It gained considerable popularity in the following decade. Early records by bands like Autopsy and Anathema in the 1990s included the most prominent elements of death-doom. The doom sound from the mid-1980s were combined with growling vocals, keyboards, violins, and female vocals. 

It also led to the rise of funeral doom, which is a genre combining death-doom with funeral dirge music. Funeral doom uses heavily distorted electric guitars and keyboards or synthesizers to create a ‘dreamy’ atmosphere.

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