Death metal

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Death metal
Stylistic origins Thrash metal,[1] first wave black metal, hardcore punk[2]
Cultural origins Mid 1980s, United States (particularly Florida)
Typical instruments Vocals, electric guitar, bass, drums
Melodic death metal, technical death metal
Fusion genres
Deathcore, blackened death metal, Death-doom, deathgrind, death 'n' roll
Regional scenes
Florida, New York, Sweden, United Kingdom, Brazil, Netherlands, Japan, Poland
Other topics
Extreme metal, death growl, blast beat, list of death metal bands


Building from the musical structure of thrash metal and early black metal, death metal emerged during the mid-1980s.[3] Metal bands such as Slayer,[4] Kreator,[5] Celtic Frost,[6] and Venom were very important influences to the crafting of the genre.[3] Possessed[7] and Death,[8][9] along with bands such as Obituary, Carcass, Deicide, Sepultura, Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel are often considered pioneers of the genre.[10] In the late 1980s and early 1990s, death metal gained more media attention as popular genre niche record labels like Combat, Earache and Roadrunner began to sign death metal bands at a rapid rate.[11] Since then, death metal has diversified, spawning a variety of subgenres.


Emergence and early history[edit]

English heavy metal band Venom, from Newcastle, crystallized the elements of what later became known as thrash metal, death metal and black metal, with their 1981 album Welcome to Hell.[12] Their dark, blistering sound, harsh vocals, and macabre, proudly Satanic imagery proved a major inspiration for extreme metal bands.[13] 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 contemporaries Metallica, Megadeth and Exodus.[14] Their breakneck speed and instrumental prowess combined with lyrics about death, violence, war and Satanism won Slayer a rabid cult following.[15] According to Allmusic, Slayer's third album Reign in Blood "inspired the entire death metal genre".[16] It had a big impact on the genre leaders such as Death, Obituary and Morbid Angel.[14]


Possessed, a band that formed in the San Francisco Bay Area during 1983, was attributed by Allmusic as "connecting the dots" between thrash metal and death metal with their 1985 debut album, Seven Churches.[18] While attributed as having a Slayer influence,[19] current and former members of the band had actually cited Venom and Motörhead, as well as early work by Exodus, as the main influences of their sound.[20][21] Although the group had released only 2 studio albums and an EP in their formative years, they have been described by both music journalists and musicians as either being "monumental" in developing the death metal style,[22] or as being the first death metal band.[23][24][25] 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 legendary Seven 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."[26]


During the same period as the dawn of Possessed, a second influential metal band was formed in Florida: Death. Death, originally called Mantas, was formed during 1983 by Chuck Schuldiner, Kam Lee, and Rick Rozz. In 1984 they released their first demo entitled Death 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 on the scene. The fast minor-key riffs and solos were complemented with fast drumming, creating a style that would catch on in tape trading circles.[27][22] Schuldiner has been attributed by Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia as being "widely recognized as the Father of Death Metal".[8] Death's 1987 debut release, Scream Bloody Gore, has been described by's Chad Bowar as being the "evolution from thrash metal to death metal",[28] and "the first true death metal record" by the San Francisco Chronicle.[29]

Along with Possessed and Death, other pioneers of death metal in the United States include Autopsy, Morbid Angel, Obituary, Deicide, and Post Mortem.[30][31]

Growing popularity[edit]




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Later history[edit]




The setup most frequently used within the death metal genre is two guitarists, a bass player, a vocalist and a drummer often using "hyper double-bass blast beats".[37][38] Although this is the standard setup, bands have been known to occasionally incorporate other instruments such as electronic keyboards.[39]



Vocals and lyrics[edit]

Death metal vocals are referred to as death growls; hoarse roars/snarls. Death growling is mistakenly thought to be a form of screaming using the lowest vocal register known as vocal 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.[40][specify] The three major methods of harsh vocalization used in the genre are often mistaken for each other, encompassing vocal fry screaming, false chord screaming, and "true" death growls.[41][full citation needed] Growling is sometimes also referred to as Cookie Monster vocals, tongue-in-cheek, due to the vocal similarity to the voice of the popular Sesame Street character of the same name.[42] Although often criticized, death growls serve the aesthetic purpose of matching death metal's aggressive lyrical content.[43] High-pitched screaming is occasionally utilized in death metal, being heard in songs by Death, Exhumed, Dying Fetus, Cannibal Corpse, and Deicide.

The lyrical themes of death metal may invoke slasher film-stylized violence,[44] but may also extend to topics like Satanism, religion, occultism, Lovecraftian horror, nature, mysticism, philosophy, science fiction, and politics.[45][46] Although violence may be explored in various other genres as well, death metal may elaborate on the details of extreme acts, including mutilation, dissection, torture, rape, cannibalism, and necrophilia. Sociologist Keith Kahn-Harris commented this apparent glamorization of violence may be attributed to a "fascination" with the human body that all people share to some degree, a fascination which mixes desire and disgust.[47] Heavy metal author Gavin Baddeley also stated there does seem to be a connection between "how acquainted one is with their own mortality" and "how much they crave images of death and violence" via the media.[48] Additionally, contributing artists to the genre often defend death metal as little more than an extreme form of art and entertainment, similar to horror films in the motion picture industry.[3] This explanation has brought such musicians under fire from activists internationally, who claim that this is often lost on a large number of adolescents, who are left with the glamorization of such violence without social context or awareness of why such imagery is stimulating.[3]


Origin of the term[edit]

The most popular theory of the subgenre's christening is Possessed's 1984 demo, Death Metal; the song from the eponymous demo would also be featured on the band's 1985 debut album, Seven Churches.[50] Possessed vocalist/bassist Jeff Becerra said he coined the term in early 1983 for a high school English class assignment.[51] Another possible origin is a fanzine called Death Metal, started by Thomas Fischer and Martin Ain of Hellhammer and Celtic Frost. The name was later given to the 1984 compilation Death Metal released by Noise Records.[50][52] The term might also have originated from other recordings, such as the demo released by Death in 1984, called Death by Metal.[53]



Aborted are "key contributors to the death-grind genres," according to Allmusic.[58]

Other fusions and subgenres[edit]

There are other heavy metal music subgenres that have come from fusions between death metal and other non-metal genres, such as the fusion of death metal and jazz. Atheist and Cynic are two examples; the former went so far as to include jazz-style drum solos on albums, while the latter incorporated elements of jazz fusion. Nile have also incorporated Egyptian music and Middle Eastern themes into their work, while Alchemist have incorporated psychedelia along with Aboriginal music. Some groups, such as Nightfall, Septic Flesh, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Eternal Tears of Sorrow, have incorporated keyboards and symphonic elements, creating a fusion of symphonic metal and death metal, sometimes referred to as symphonic death metal. Babymetal fused death metal with Japanese idol pop: their name refers to the newness of the genre.

See also[edit]


  1. ^ "Death Metal". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-07-04. "Death Metal grew out of the thrash metal in the late '80s." 
  3. ^ a b c d Dunn, Sam (Director) (August 5, 2005). Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (motion picture). Canada: Dunn, Sam. 
  4. ^ McIver 2000, p. 14.
  5. ^ McIver 2000, p. 100.
  6. ^ McIver 2000, p. 55.
  7. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Possessed Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved August 13, 2008. 
  8. ^ a b Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Death Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved August 13, 2008. 
  10. ^ Prato, Greg. "Morbid Angel Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved August 13, 2008. 
  12. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Venom: Welcome to Hell". Allmusic. Retrieved February 14, 2014. 
  13. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Venom Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved February 14, 2014. 
  14. ^ a b Into The Lungs of Hell Metal Hammer magazine, Written by: Enrico de Paola, Translated by: Vincenzo Chioccarelli, Published: March 2000 ""
  15. ^ Huey, Steve. "Slayer Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved February 14, 2014. 
  16. ^ Huey, Steve. "Slayer: Reign in Blood". Allmusic. Retrieved January 5, 2007. 
  17. ^ Mudrian 2004.
  18. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Possessed: Seven Churches". Allmusic. Retrieved February 14, 2014. 
  19. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Possessed Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved February 14, 2014. 
  20. ^ POSSESSED interview – Jeff Becerra
  21. ^ POSSESSED interview – Brian Montana
  22. ^ a b Purcell 2003, p. 54.
  24. ^ Ekeroth 2008, p. 12.
  25. ^ Mudrian 2004, p. 70.
  26. ^ Jeff Becerra interview
  27. ^ Death band page
  33. ^ Empty Words, where there are dozens of reviews along this line
  34. ^ 'Death Metal Special: Dealers in Death' Terrorizer #151
  35. ^ Biography, Official Atheist site. Retrieved December 10, 2008
  37. ^ Purcell 2003, p. 9.
  38. ^ Kahn-Harris 2007, p. 32.
  40. ^ Interview with Samuel Deschaine, Death Metal Vocal Instructor 2011
  41. ^ Melissa Cross, The Zen Of Screaming
  42. ^ "Cookie Monster Vocals". Retrieved January 21, 2006. . See further examples of this usage at "The cookie monster vocal explained". rocknerd. Archived from the original on February 18, 2006. Retrieved January 21, 2006. 
  45. ^ Purcell 2003, p. 39-42.
  46. ^ Wikihow: How to Appreciate Death Metal
  47. ^ Kahn-Harris 2007.
  49. ^ Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) interview
  50. ^ a b Purcell 2003, p. 53.
  51. ^ Ekeroth 2008, p. 11.
  54. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Decapitated Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved February 7, 2010. 
  56. ^ "Doom Metal Special:Doom/Death". Terrorizer (142). 
  57. ^ Purcell 2003, p. 23.
  58. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Aborted Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved June 10, 2009. 
  60. ^ Purcell 2003, p. 24.
  69. ^ a b Steve, Huey. "Gorefest Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved February 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." 
  70. ^ Henderson, Alex. "Devian: Ninewinged Serpent". Allmusic. Retrieved May 3, 2009. 
  73. ^ Prato, Greg. "Behemoth Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved January 29, 2012. 
  75. ^ "Sacramentum Profile". Retrieved January 29, 2012. 


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