Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, featuring double kick and blast beat techniques; minor keys or atonality; abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes; and chromatic chord progressions. The lyrical themes of death metal may include slasher film-style violence, political conflict, religion, nature, philosophy, and science fiction.
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group since December 1986, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent of the band's career since 1992's Utopia Banished, although, from 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they added Jesse Pintado as the replacement of one-time guitarist Bill Steer; following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece rather than replace him.
Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious is the third album by British extreme metal band Carcass. It was released on October 30, 1991 through Earache Records. This album is the first to feature guitarist Michael Amott and marked the first time Carcass had recorded as a four-piece. Many of the tracks describe economical ways to dispose of dead bodies. Necroticism continues the move towards a predominant death metal sound which was started in Symphonies of Sickness, featuring songs with longer sections and complex structures, more akin to the then-burgeoning technical death metal subgenre.
Diatribes is the sixth studio album by English grindcore band Napalm Death, originally released in 1996 on Earache Records. It was released as double 10" vinyl, regular CD, special digipak CD with space for the Greed Killing EP and MC. In 2010, Earache issued a re-release of Diatribes in a box set that also included the Greed Killing EP and the live album Bootlegged in Japan.
Carcass are an English extreme metal band from Liverpool, which was formed in 1986. The band have gone through several line-up changes, leaving guitarist Bill Steer and bassist and vocalist Jeff Walker as the only constant members. They broke up in 1996, but reformed in 2007 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons. To date, the band have released six studio albums, two compilation albums, four EPs, two demo albums, one video album, and six music videos.
Skepticism is a funeral doom metal band from Finland. Formed in 1991, they are regarded as one of the pioneers of the genre.
Ewigkeit is the musical project of English artist James Fogarty aka Mr. Fog from Brighton. Having released five studio albums, on 28 March 2007, Fogarty announced the end of the project on Blabbermouth, the Death To Music website and also on Myspace but revived it in 2012.
Covenant is the third official full-length album by Florida-based death metal band Morbid Angel. It was released on June 22, 1993 through Earache Records in Europe and Giant Records in North America. Covenant was the band's breakthrough album due to their contract with Giant Records and its widespread exposure on MTV's Headbangers Ball, as well as the music video for 'God of Emptiness' appearing on Beavis and Butt-head. It is frequently described as one of the greatest death metal albums of all time, and a landmark album in the genre, influencing countless future metal bands, including Incantation and Dead Congregation. According to Nielsen Soundscan, Covenant was the best selling death metal album as of 2003, with sales of over 150,000 in the United States alone. In 2017, Rolling Stone named it the 75th best metal album of all time.
Municipal Waste is a crossover thrash band from Richmond, Virginia, formed in 2001. To date, the band has released six studio albums, three EPs and four splits. They have gone through several line-up changes, leaving vocalist Tony Foresta and guitarist Ryan Waste as the only constant members. In addition to Foresta and Waste, their current lineup includes Nick "Nikropolis" Poulos on guitar, Philip "Landphil" Hall on bass and Dave Witte on drums.
Lawnmower Deth are an English thrash metal band, who parodied the genre and recorded three and a half albums. Initially active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they reformed in 2008.
Streetcleaner is the debut studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released on 13 November 1989 through Earache Records and was reissued with a second disc of previously unreleased material on 21 June 2010. The album is widely acclaimed by critics and is often cited as a landmark release in industrial metal; though not the genre's first release, Streetcleaner helped define what industrial metal would become.
Pure is the second studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released on 13 April 1992 through Earache Records. Though originally labeled only as industrial metal, the album has since been recognised as one of the earliest post-metal releases. Musically, Pure is rhythmically mechanical and features harsh guitars, with protracted songs and an abundance of deliberate repetition. Like much of Godflesh's music, it is regarded as particularly heavy and aggressive, and these elements helped it gain critical acclaim.
Fear, Emptiness, Despair is the fifth studio album by British grindcore band Napalm Death, released on 31 May 1994. Napalm Death's inclusion on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack brought significant exposure to the band and this album, alongside the fact that the band's label Earache had formed a partnership with Columbia Records which allowed the album to disseminate to a wider audience. RAW magazine listed Fear, Emptiness, Despair as one of the essential album of the 1990s.
Anata is a technical death metal band from Varberg, Sweden that formed in 1993.
Ephel Duath was an Italian avant garde metal/hardcore punk band, formed in 1998 in Padua, Italy. They have had a constantly changing line-up, with guitarist and songwriter Davide Tiso being the only original member. To date, they have released one demo, five studio albums and two remix albums. Their most recent studio album, Hemmed By Light, Shaped By Darkness, was released in 2013.
Thresholds is the second full-length studio album from Florida death metal band Nocturnus. It was released in 1992 by Earache Records.
The Art of Partying is the third studio album from the crossover thrash band Municipal Waste, released on June 12, 2007, through Earache Records. A limited edition version was also released at the same time, containing two bonus tracks and including a free woven patch.
Enter the Grave is the debut album by the English thrash metal band Evile. Released on 27 August 2007 in Europe and on 25 September in North America and Japan, the album received generally favorable reviews and entered the UK Rock Chart at number 33. It was produced by Flemming Rasmussen and recorded at Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark. Rasmussen had produced three Metallica albums, which raised the profile of the album's release. The track "Thrasher" was included on the 2008 Earache Thrash Pack, a downloadable selection of songs for the music video console game Rock Band.
Farmakon was a Finnish progressive death metal band formed in 2001. The band was made up of guitarist/vocalist Toni Salminen, vocalist Marko Eskola, and bassist Pekka Kauppila. They released two studio albums. The band used both clean and growling vocals, and incorporated jazz and funk elements into their music.
Love and Death is an American Christian metal band formed by Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. The group was officially announced in February 2012 as a re-branding of Welch's solo music project.
