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Death metal still excites me. It’s not hip now like black or doom metal, and it’s beset by technical wankery on one side and retro fetishism on the other. But as the oldest extreme metal subgenre in my consciousness (thrash relegated itself to museum status long ago), it’s still important to me. Sifting through the piles of it left at my digital doorstep still yields gems. I still get the “fuck yes” feeling I got as a kid when I discovered Carcass and Entombed. Here are 10 bands (spanning 37 minutes) that give me that feeling: blood, dirt, ugliness, death. Only death is real, indeed.
Woodcut by Hans Holbein
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DOWNLOAD: DEATH BY METAL #1 [70.73MB .zip]
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Death – “Death by Metal”
from Death by Metal demo (Self-released, 1984)
It’s appropriate to start this series with Death’s 1984 Death by Metal demo, featuring Kam Lee on vocals. I love the rehearsal room atmosphere of this demo. (Downloading it is left as an exercise to the reader.) You can keep up with Lee’s zillion bands at his blog, aptly called Kam Lee Rants.
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Witchrist – “The Cauldron”
from Beheaded Ouroboros (Invictus, 2010)
Deep, dark, and deadly death metal from New Zealand. “The Cauldron” retains its doomy vibe even during its fast parts. I plan to visit New Zealand sometime and take in the obligatory Lord of the Rings scenery. But maybe I can get away and catch a Witchrist gig while I’m at it – assuming I’m single at the time!
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Necros Christos – “Necromantique Nun”
from Doom of the Occult (Sepulchral Voice, The AJNA Offensive, 2011)
Doom of the Occult is incredibly frustrating. 14 out of its 23 tracks are interludes, a hip hop album level of absurdity. The interludes are pleasant organ and ethnic instrument ditties, but Nile went there first and left the listener wanting more. Here we must wade through endless “Temples” and “Gates” to get to actual death metal – which is fierce and oddly groovy. Check out “Necromantique Nun”, with magnificent Melechesh-esque bends in its outro.
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Goreaphobia – “The Attractor”
from Apocalyptic Necromancy (Dark Descent, 2011)
If you get one record from this batch, Apocalyptic Necromancy should be it. It’s an actual album, complete with varied feels and songs one can tell apart. Sometimes thrash is the engine; at other times black and doom metal take the controls. At all times a high level of detail is present. “The Attractor” is a Celtic Frost-esque d-beat pounder with subtle but atmospheric chord movement.
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Witchrist – “The Cauldron”
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Cianide – “Forsaken Doom”
from Gods of Death (Hells Headbangers, 2011)
Speaking of Celtic Frost, Gods of Death is a 40-minute death metal exposition on Tom G. Warrior’s nasal guitar tone. You can hear the pick digging into the string, a detail usually lost in this age of over-production. “Forsaken Doom” is really a beefed-up version of “Procreation (Of the Wicked)” – a perfectly acceptable result.
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Disma – “Spectral Domination”
from Towards the Megalith (Profound Lore, 2011)
Hello, low end! The guitars are way down-tuned, the growls are subterranean, and the lyrics of “Spectral Domination” nicely sum it all up: Sinking into fillllllth!
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Entrenched – “Anesthetic Death”
from Preemptive Strike (Horror Pain Gore Death, 2011)
This is a can of whoop-ass disguised as a death metal record. It harks back to old Bolt Thrower, but with modern chops hidden amongst the dirt. Thankfully those chops are invested in meaty riffs and solos. The payoff is a no-frills battering, refreshing in an age of metal bands with gimmicks.
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Zombiefication – “Anthem to the Death March”
from Midnight Stench (Chaos, 2010)
Mexico’s Autopsy, perhaps, but with a healthy dose of the atmosphere that made the bridge (remember the movie sample?) of Entombed’s “Left Hand Path” so memorable. If these guys were from the States, they’d be huge. Chaos, the Mexican label, has been putting out good stuff – also check out Warfield and Omision.
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Zombiefication – “Anthem to the Death March”
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Goregast – “Puerco de Dinero”
from Desechos Humanos (F.D.A. Rekotz, 2011)
Germany’s Brujeria – which is friggin’ weird. Masked German dudes with death/grind songs sung and titled in English and Spanish? I guess if the Japanese (Corrupted) can do that, then so can the Germans. Hell, I’ve encountered Germans that speak English better than Americans. Don’t get me started on America’s educational system!
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Apocryphon – “Synaesthesia”
from EP 2011 (Self-released, 2011)
Apocryphon is the death metal project of Shelby Cobras, head of Illogical Contraption. Like the blog, the band has, ahem, epic riffing, psychedelic tendencies (not as much as, say, Gigan, but enough to be noticeable), and a short attention span. So songs toggle between punching your face and smoking a bowl while listening to lo-fi avant-jazz downloaded from Cosmic Hearse. If that sounds sweet, download this EP for free from Apocryphon’s Bandcamp.
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Nothing from the new Morbus Chron?
FAILURE!!
Hell yea! Best DM album of the year.
>Morbus Chron
I don’t know…they rip off Autopsy pretty badly…
I really like that Disma record, but I still think their demo The Vault of Membros is superior.
If you’re going back to 2010, why not Vasaeleth? It give me that “fuck yes” feeling, especially on “Gateways to the Cemetery of Being”. And if you’re going with New Zealand, Ulcerate is of course another great pick.
@IgnacioBrown
You made me chuckle. It seems like not so long ago there was a post on this blog about how some people always say “the demo is better”. Personally I think demos are usually no better than the name implies, a demonstration of what the band could do if given a proper studio treatment.
Then you must check that demo out before chuckling. That demo has almost the same audio/proper studio quality of their full-length.
I may have to do that, but it’s too late to stop me from chuckling.
first you say death metal isn’t hip right now then you list the apocryphon ep. you better stop going to yoga with your girlfriend so much because you keep winding up with your foot in your mouth.
agreed about vasaeleth, too. or why not mitochondrion? those are two of the best DM bands in recent years.
Why would you waste the breath to nitpick sampler inclusions? It’s not like he titled it “the definitive list of the only death metal worth hearing”.
Hahah, D-man, Apocryphon are “hip”? Truly funny. Care to extrapolate on that claim?
This mix is solid! Only heard half-ish of the bands listed, gonna rock this at work.
We’ve already covered the latest Vasaeleth and Mitochondrion records (see that search bar up top?), and will feature the new Morbus Chron record soon.
This mixtape is for lesser-known releases not featured here yet. It’s really OK to learn about bands you don’t know.
I just thought it would fit nicely. I wasn’t nitpicking, just suggesting. I think you already know I’m voracious about finding new bands.
The first time I ever heard Cianide was their cover of “Dawn Of Megiddo” on a Celtic Frost tribute album back in the day, so I guess it’s nice some things don’t change.
I’m also a little puzzled by the omission of Vasalaeth and Mitochondrion as well…not to mention Bones. This site got me to check that album out and it is filthy as fuck.
Death metal is hip when the band releases something besides a demo. That is also the moment at which the demo becomes the only good thing the band ever did.
Metal fans are amazing
YOUR OPINIONS
it differs from mine… and thus you are wrong
I hate to be the second nitpicker…but the retro lo-fi doomy death metal thing is this years hip, black metal and sludge and whatever else have definitely been replaced by this stuff. It’s still good to great but nobody was losing their minds over Funebrarum two years ago, essentially they are Disma with a less “legendary” vocalist. If NPR is streaming it, it’s hip.
I was loosing my mind over the Sleep of Morbid Dreams.. which is definitely different from Disma.
Only on the Internet would folks complain about a free mix of death metal. If you had received this as a mixtape would you have complained when your favorite DM band was left off?
Agreed. I don’t think complaining ever existed when people actually sent mix tapes in the mail.
Back in the days the initial reaction upon listening to a mix tape coming from the mail was to check out the whole demo/album, thus band addresses almost always included in the package.
The comments remind me of the forgotten gem by Ensorcelled by Trolls – “Share My Taste or Suffer”
Hans Holbein congratulations!!! just a fine piece of art you have there!
beautiful!
Quite a few I’ve heard of but not yet heard, so thanks!
Also, just on the subject of death metal, I always like that Cosmo is so stoked on on Hate Eternal (more on that later). As someone who also liked death metal first, I have sort of lamented the lack of attention it’s received over the past several years (teenage me would’ve been dumbfounded that BLACK METAL, of all the subgenres, became the hip and trendy one…). I agree with the consensus that the tech metal years got a little out of hand and led to a lot of shitty, shittily recorded music (by which i mean overprocessed, triggered, post-edited garbage). However, the retro fetishism of today also bothers me; the revisionist appraisal of death metal sort of reminds me of the Tea Party. Vader’s ‘de profundis’ is exacting and intricate, in an unpretentious way; ‘Pierced from Within’ is the finest example of basement classical since ‘Master of Puppets’; Bill Steer could handle his axe. As much as I enjoy some great caveman stuff (antediluvian anyone?) it’s the contrast between the high and low aspects that make the style great. So back to hate eternal: eric rutan as enlightened caveman (i mean, just LOOK at him) is basically the embodiment of great death metal, and I was impressed when Cosmo listed I Monarch as one of his all time faves instead of something more revisionist-approved like Mental Funeral (which is still great). Though I happen to prefer king of all kings.
In short, listen to more portal and ulcerate!
Black metal became the trendy one because while you generally need proper chops to play death metal, you can totally half-ass black metal.
asa, what’s more hip than some blogger dude’s ep? don’t get me wrong, illcon is a good blog – but apocryphon on the same mix as a song from death’s demo? that’s, at the very least, hideously irreverent. however, i don’t wanna come off as a total hater, so i will admit that the apocryphon demo is almost as good as its artwork.
It’s just that “hip” is a knee-jerk pejorative. I’m glad you dig the music, but that wasn’t my point– I was more wondering what in the hell is hip about Shelby’s blog or his music. The dude and his compatriots are fucking nerds, and that’s what rules about Illcon. I love that his non-ironic interests in weird science, bizarre conspiracies and wacky aliens comes through in how Apocryphon sounds. I don’t really see what’s lame about having a blog and also playing in a death metal band, or why the music from such a combination shouldn’t be on a mixtape with the genre’s pioneers…it’s a mix. Y’know?
also, asa, did you mean “expound” instead of “extrapolate?” they’re easy to mix up, i know, but “expound” is the word you’re looking for, i believe. at least it’s more right in the given context.
Er, thanks! hides his English degree
Sweet, thanks for the mix! One kind of interesting thing about NZ metal is that none of the bands that anyone from outside of the country is interested in ever play, tour or make themselves known. I’ve been living in NZ for 8 years and I’ve never heard of ulcerate touring. Maybe they only play the north island though
Saw the name Entrenched and my first thought was “let this be a Bolt Thrower worship band”. Definitely going to check them out.
So many awesome bands. But I really need to cut down on the death metal; practically half the albums I own are death metal and I feel like I need more diversity in my life. But there are just so damned many good bands.
And maybe I’m crazy but I actually like the instrumental interludes on Doom of the Occult. There are probably too many of them, sure, but they do build a great exotic atmosphere. Those bits remind me in some ways of the calmer moments in John Zorn’s various Masada projects, probably because they’re using the same modes and scales.
That said, sometimes I’ll listen to the album straight through, and sometimes (most of the time, really) I’ll just skip ahead to the proper songs.
Add Morbus Chron to the list!
I’ve been playing Desolate Shrine’s new “Tenebrous Towers” LP this week a lot. It’s a lot better than most of the old school DM stuff coming out right now…
Feeding the Inevitable by Denmark’s The Cleansing is one of most brutal and interesting records that I’ve heard all year. You should all check them out, and that includes you Cosmo.
Aww man! Show some love for BLASPHERIAN!
New album is top-notch bestial death metal from the abyss of hell!
black, thrash and death metal are all now equally trendy if you mean every fucking fan of the genre has a band and people buy records, by the single digit hundreds if they’re lucky. there’s more death metal now and soon the oldschool DM equivalent of Municipal Waste will arise with a short sparked crowd those for and against before its just forgotten due to the glut of 500 bands coming out a week later. the only thing that will save underground metal is if it crashes hard and damn near becomes extinct, during that period of obscurity the best bands will come about before the genre gets popular again by other bands ripping off those good ones, might happen
honestly I remain a dedicated fan of the genre, its fucking impossible to keep up with everything and the one thing I fucking hate the most is reading peoples limp wristed mouth breathing opinions on the internet, I think I’m going to stop as it makes me want to troll, even though I think trolling is the only worthwhile thing doing on the net and I’d rather do it than read a bunch of a cock mouth flavored “serious opinion that watches out for your sensitive feelings” pussy fart replies, I’m gonna hold back, mind my own business, and single handedly keep a genre afloat with my paychecks
I’ve really enjoyed these mixes, Cosmo.
Am I totally bonkers, or does the Goregast track sound like a death metal version of this recent Agnostic Front tune? I didn’t even notice the Spanish connection at first, I just was thinking, “Whoa, I know this melody!”
I guess I should take a crash course and finally learn how to use these HTML tags correctly…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DXc8vxUfUU