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, true crime and science fiction.
Death was an American death metal band formed in Altamonte Springs, Florida, in 1983 by guitarist Chuck Schuldiner, drummer/vocalist Kam Lee and guitarist Rick Rozz. Formed out of what would become the Florida death metal scene, Death is considered to be among the most influential bands in heavy metal music and a pioneering force in death metal. The band's 1987 debut album, Scream Bloody Gore, has been widely regarded as one of the first death metal records, alongside the first records from Possessed and Necrophagia.
Suffocation is an American death metal band formed in 1988 in Centereach, New York, currently consisting of lead guitarist Terrance Hobbs, bassist Derek Boyer, rhythm guitarist Charlie Errigo, drummer Eric Morotti, and vocalist Ricky Myers. The band rose to prominence with their 1991 debut album Effigy of the Forgotten, which became a blueprint for death metal in the 1990s. Since then, Suffocation has recorded eight albums. These feature growled vocals with downtuned guitars, fast and complex guitar riffs and drumming, open chord notes and occasional breakdowns.
Paradise Lost are an English gothic metal band. Formed in Halifax, West Yorkshire, in 1988, they are considered to be among the pioneers of the death-doom genre, and regarded as the main influence for the later gothic metal movement. As of 2005, Paradise Lost have sold over two million albums worldwide.
Pro-Pain is an American heavy metal band based in New York City, formed in 1991 by vocalist and bassist Gary Meskil and drummer Dan Richardson, both former members of Crumbsuckers.
Leprosy is the second studio album by Florida death metal band Death, released on November 16, 1988, by Combat Records.
The New Order is the second studio album by American thrash metal band Testament, released on May 10, 1988.
Monstrosity is a Florida death metal band formed in 1990 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The band's original lineup included George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, who found greater success in 1995 as frontman of Cannibal Corpse.
Alice in Hell is the debut studio album by Canadian thrash metal band Annihilator, released on April 17, 1989 through Roadrunner Records. This was the only Annihilator album for ten years to feature Randy Rampage on vocals, until he returned for their seventh studio album Criteria for a Black Widow (1999).
Effigy of the Forgotten is the debut full-length album by New York–based death metal band Suffocation, released in 1991. The album features several tracks that are re-recorded versions of tracks that appeared on the band's Reincremation demo and Human Waste EP. The cover artwork was created by Dan Seagrave.
Malevolent Creation is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1986 and later based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The band's original members were guitarists Phil Fasciana and Jim Nickles and vocalist Bret Hoffmann, who were joined by bassist Jason Blachowicz and drummer Dennis Kubas the following year. Fasciana is the only founding member who stayed with the band consistently.
Handle with Care is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Nuclear Assault, released on October 3, 1989. This is the band's most successful and best-selling album to date, peaking at number 126 on the Billboard 200, making it their highest position so far. "Critical Mass" was released as a single to promote the album.
Haunted is the debut album by American death metal band Six Feet Under. It was released via Metal Blade Records in 1995, just before Chris Barnes' departure from Cannibal Corpse.
Psalm 9 is the debut studio album by American doom metal band Trouble, released by Metal Blade Records in March 1984. The album was originally released eponymously and later renamed to Psalm 9 after the release of the band's fourth studio album, which was their 1990 self-titled release. Along with Saint Vitus' self-titled debut album from the same year, Psalm 9 is considered by many critics to be one of the first doom metal releases.
Watain is a Swedish black metal band, formed in 1998. The band's name is taken from an early recording by the American black metal group Von. The band have become famous for their theistic Satanist views and for their live shows which involve pyrotechnics, candles, Satanic rituals, animal carcasses, and blood. At a now-notorious live performance in Brooklyn in 2014, they doused audience members in animal blood, allegedly causing some members of the audience to vomit. This was picked up and publicised by TMZ, generating controversy around the incident. To date they have released seven full-length albums, as well as three live albums and a number of demos and EPs. Their most recent album The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain was released on 29 April 2022 through Nuclear Blast. The band's core lineup has remained stable since their formation, consisting of Erik Danielsson, Pelle Forsberg, and Håkan Jonsson, though as of 2015 Jonsson no longer performs live, Emil Svensson of fellow Uppsala death metal band Degial was recruited as live drummer.
Millennium is the second studio album by Florida death metal band Monstrosity, released in 1996 and produced by Scott Burns. Millenium is the band's final album to include George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher on lead vocals, as he went on to join fellow death metal band Cannibal Corpse.
Florida death metal is a regional scene and stylistic subdivision of death metal. Some of the most significantly pioneering and best-selling death metal acts emerged in Florida, especially in the Tampa Bay area. As a result, Tampa is unofficially known by many death metal fans as the "capital of death metal." The scene coalesced in the mid-1980s through early 1990s around the output of bands such as Death, Nasty Savage, Deicide, Monstrosity, Morbid Angel, Atheist, Obituary, and others. The producer Scott Burns and the studio Morrisound Recording were also instrumental in developing and popularizing the Florida scene. Some bands which originated outside of Florida, such as Malevolent Creation and Cannibal Corpse, relocated to the state in order to participate in this burgeoning scene. The Florida bands featured a more technical approach to the evolving death metal sound, a style which spread beyond the confines of the state, and some were instrumental in creating the progressive death metal subgenre. The death metal genre as a whole, including the Florida scene, declined in popularity in the second half of the 1990s, but many bands within the Florida scene persisted and the scene resurged in popularity in subsequent decades. Although the scene attracted more media attention, it continued to be underground due to its extreme nature.
