Death 'n' roll

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Death 'n' roll (portmanteau of death metal and rock 'n' roll) is the subgenre of death metal music that incorporates hard rock-inspired elements to the overall sound. The achieved effect is that of death metal's trademark combination of growled vocals and highly distorted detuned guitar riffing with elements reminiscent of 1970s hard rock and heavy metal. [1] [2] Notable examples include Entombed, Gorefest, Carcass, Kaptain Sun, Six Feet Under, Pungent Stench and the Fernando Colunga Ultimate Experience.

Contents

History

While the "death 'n' roll" tag was first associated with Entombed, [3] Daniel Ekeroth associates the style with a previous group called Furbowl. [4] After Entombed's release, Wolverine Blues , the band became associated with what the music press dubbed as "death 'n' roll", [5] a label which has followed Entombed's career ever since. [6] [7] [8] [9]

Another noteworthy death 'n' roll release is Soul Survivor , Gorefest's 1996 effort. This album showed more than a passing nod to classic rock. [10] Proof of that influence was the club tour organized by the band that same year, where Gorefest played songs by AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. [11] Gorefest broke up after their last 1990s album, Chapter 13 , which continued the trend started in Soul Survivor [10] (Gorefest reformed seven years later). [12] Two of its members currently play in Live & Dangerous, a Thin Lizzy tribute band from the Netherlands. [13]

Confronted with the "death 'n' roll" label in interviews, the death metal acts it usually is attached to react with skepticism. Entombed's LG Petrov made the following statement, regarding this issue: "We see it as Entombed music, if people see that as death 'n' roll so be it. We just laugh, death 'n' roll, why not? When we write songs, we aren't thinking it has to be a particular style." [7] When questioned about their mixture of death metal and rock and roll, Gorefest's Frank Harthoorn replied: "Strange, everyone has always mentioned this death n' roll thing. To me it's just metal, plain and simple. I don't believe our influences are different from other bands." [14]

Further reading

Related Research Articles

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Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. Grindcore is considered a more noise-filled style of hardcore punk while using hardcore's trademark characteristics such as heavily distorted, down-tuned guitars, grinding overdriven bass, high-speed tempo, blast beats, and vocals which consist of growls, shouts and high-pitched shrieks. Early groups like Napalm Death are credited with laying the groundwork for the style. It is most prevalent today in North America and Europe, with popular contributors such as Brutal Truth and Nasum. Lyrical themes range from a primary focus on social and political concerns, to gory subject matter and black humor.

Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard rock music was produced by the Kinks, the Who, the Rolling Stones, Cream, Vanilla Fudge, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In the late 1960s, bands such as Blue Cheer, the Jeff Beck Group, Iron Butterfly, Led Zeppelin, Golden Earring, Steppenwolf, Deep Purple and Grand Funk Railroad also produced hard rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entombed (band)</span> Swedish death metal band

Entombed is a Swedish death metal band formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed from its American counterpart by its distinct "buzzsaw" guitar tone. However, by the early 1990s their sound had broadened to include garage rock and other influences. This new style would eventually be described as death 'n' roll. Entombed's main influences include bands such as Slayer, Celtic Frost, Repulsion, and Autopsy. Along with Dismember, Grave and Unleashed, Entombed has been referred to as one of the "big four" of Swedish death metal.

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<i>Clandestine</i> (album) 1991 studio album by Entombed

Clandestine is the second studio album by Swedish death metal band Entombed, released on 12 November 1991 in Europe and on 11 February 1992 in North America. Along with Entombed's preceding album, Clandestine helped establish a distinctively Swedish sound in the death metal genre.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">At the Gates</span> Swedish melodic death metal band

At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the Gates released four albums, ending with and including Slaughter of the Soul (1995), which has been seen as a landmark in the mid-1990s Swedish death metal scene. After reuniting for a one-off tour in 2008, the band reformed once again in 2011, and they have since released three more albums: At War with Reality (2014), To Drink from the Night Itself (2018) and The Nightmare of Being (2021).

Melodic death metal is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal. The genre features the heaviness of death metal but with highly melodic or harmonized guitar riffs and solos, and often features high-pitched shrieked vocals alongside the low-pitched growls commonly featured in traditional death metal. Pioneered by the English heavy metal band Carcass with their 1993 album Heartwork, melodic death metal developed further in Sweden in the mid-1990s. The Swedish death metal scene did much to popularise the style, soon centering in the "Gothenburg metal" scene. At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul, Dark Tranquillity's The Gallery, and In Flames' The Jester Race, all released in the mid-1990s, were highly influential albums in melodic death metal, with At the Gates and In Flames being the two most common influences on North American 2000s heavy metal bands. Many American heavy metal bands emulated At the Gates' sound, resulting in the usage of the phrase "At the Gates worship".

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicke Andersson</span> Swedish musician

Anders Niklas Andersson, also known as Nicke Andersson, is a Swedish musician best known as the singer and guitarist for the rock band The Hellacopters and drummer for the death metal band Entombed. Besides his work with the Hellacopters and Entombed, Andersson currently plays and writes songs for the soul band The Solution, the death metal band Death Breath, the hard rock band Lucifer, and rock band Imperial State Electric.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Warby</span> Dutch metal drummer

Edward R. Warby is a Dutch musician, best known as the drummer for death metal band Gorefest and progressive rock/metal project Ayreon.

<i>DCLXVI: To Ride Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth</i> 1997 studio album by Entombed

DCLXVI: To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth is the fourth album by the Swedish metal band Entombed, released in 1997.

<i>Wolverine Blues</i> 1993 studio album by Entombed

Wolverine Blues is the third studio album by Swedish death metal band Entombed, released on 4 October 1993 by Earache Records. The album displays a completely different sound from previous releases, combining elements of hard rock, heavy metal, and hardcore punk while still retaining much of their traditional, death metal roots, in a style that would later be known as death 'n' roll. The band also adopted a mid-tempo groove metal style for this release, similar to that of American band Pantera.

<i>Monkey Puss (Live in London)</i> 1999 live album by Entombed

Monkey Puss (Live in London) is a live album by Swedish band Entombed recorded during the 1992 Gods of Grind tour in London. It was released in 1999 on Earache Records.

<i>Uprising</i> (Entombed album) 2000 studio album by Entombed

Uprising is the sixth full-length album by Swedish metal band Entombed. It was released in 2000. Album was recorded at Das Boot Studios and produced by Nico Elgstrand and Entombed. Musically, this album tones down the commercial alternative metal-stylings of Same Difference and returns to a heavier, more straight-forward death 'n' roll sound reminiscent of Wolverine Blues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lars-Göran Petrov</span> Swedish heavy metal vocalist (1972–2021)

Lars-Göran Petrov, often abbreviated as L-G or LG Petrov, was a Swedish vocalist, best known for his work with death metal band Entombed.

<i>A Warm Glimpse</i> 2003 studio album by Farmakon

A Warm Glimpse is the first studio album released by Finnish progressive death metal band Farmakon. The album was originally released in 2003, under Earache Records. The opening track, "Loosely of Ameobas" was included on Earache's "Metal: A Headbanger's Companion II" compilation.

References

  1. 1 2 Huey, Steve. "Gorefest Biography". allmusic.com. Retrieved 15 February 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.
  2. Cosmo Lee. "Stylus magazine review". stylusmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2008. "Death 'n' roll" arose with Entombed's 1993 album Wolverine Blues ... Wolverine Blues was like '70s hard rock tuned down and run through massive distortion and death growls.
  3. Tobin, Dan (1999). Wolverine Blues (CD booklet). Entombed. Nottingham, United Kingdom: Earache Records. p. 8.
  4. Ekeroth, 2008, p. 264.
  5. Tobin, Dan (1996). Entombed (CD booklet). Entombed. New York, NY: Earache Records. p. 4.
  6. Birchmeier, Jason. "( Entombed > Biography )". allmusic.com. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
  7. 1 2 "Entombed Interview". metalchaos.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 April 2008. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
  8. Bowar, Chad. "Entombed Interview: A Conversation With Vocalist L.G. Petrov". Heavy Metal. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2008.
  9. "ENTOMBED: Unique, Detailed Biography". MusicMight. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  10. 1 2 Huey, Steve. "( Gorefest > Biography )". allmusic.com. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
  11. Paul the Postman (September 2007). "Interview with GOREFEST :: Maelstrom :: Issue No 58". Maelstrom Zine. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  12. "GOREFEST: Unique, Detailed Biography". MusicMight. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  13. "GOREFEST Members' THIN LIZZY Tribute Band; Photos Available". roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net. 14 May 2007. Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  14. Mira, Fabio Desiderato de (March 2006). "Gorefest" (in Portuguese). Secrets of the Moon zine. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2008. Estranho, todo mundo sempre tem mencionado essa coisa de Death N' Roll. Para mim, isso é apenas Metal, claro e simples. Eu não acredito que nossas influências sejam diferentes de outras bandas.