Death metal is an extreme heavy metal
subgenre. It is typically characterized by the use of heavily-distorted
guitars, harsh vocals that are low-pitched and/or growled, morbid
lyrics, fast-paced rhythms and melodies, and unconventional song
structures.
Building off the speed and complexity of thrash metal, and the raw extremities defined in early black metal, death metal came to true prominence by the mid 1980s. Bands like Slayer, Possessed and pioneer death metal bands such as Death and Morbid Angel are considered prime influences in the genre. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, death metal gained more media attention as popular record labels like Earache Records and Roadrunner Records began to sign death metal bands at a rapid rate. Since then, death metal has diversified, spawning a rich variety of subgenres.
Death metal has been met with considerable hostility from mainstream
culture, mainly because of the violent themes, imagery and stage
personae surrounding many bands. It is typically seen as an underground
form of music, in part because it does not appeal to mainstream tastes
and because its musicians often choose to remain obscure.
There are multiple theories on how the term "death metal" originated.
One theory is that the name originates from an early pioneer of the
genre, Death. A Florida journalist explained to his readers that Death play their own kind of metal: "Death's Metal".
Others contest that Death is not the origin, but that the harsh vocals
and morbid lyrical content generally inspired the genre, regardless. Another possible origin is a fanzine called "Death Metal", started by Thomas Fischer and Martin Ain of the band Hellhammer (later Celtic Frost). The name was later given to the 1984 compilation Death Metal released by Hellhammer's label Noise Records. The term might also have originated from other recordings. Possessed's 1984 demo is called Death Metal, and a song with the same name is featured on their 1985 debut album Seven Churches. A demo released by Death in 1984 is called Death by Metal.
The history of death metal begins in the early 1980's. A style emerged that was between death metal, black metal and thrash metal. European bands like Venom, Bathory, Hellhammer and bands from the Americas like Possessed, Slayer and Sepultura formed the basis of this extreme heavy metal style. From these founding acts styles diversified into death and black metal.
The British band Venom crystallized the elements of what later became known as thrash metal, death metal and black metal with their 1981 album Welcome to Hell.
Their dark, blistering sound, harsh vocals and macabre, proudly satanic
image proved a major inspiration for extreme metal bands. Another highly influential band, Slayer, formed in 1981. Although the band is a thrash metal act, Slayer's music is more violent than thrash metal contemporaries Metallica, Megadeth or Exodus. Slayer is regarded as one of the most sinister thrash metal bands from the early 1980's and are considered the direct responsible for the rise of death metal.Their breakneck speed and instrumental prowess combined with lyrics about death, war and Satanism won Slayer a rabid cult following. Possessed, a band that formed in 1983, was heavily influenced by early Slayer. Although Possessed's brand of metal resembled Slayer's fast and Satanic thrash metal they're often cited as the first death metal band. This is largely because of the grunted vocals which set the stage for death metal's breakaway from thrash metal. The 1984 demo Death Metal and 1985 album Seven Churches are regarded as their most influential material. Not long after the dawn of Possessed, a second monumental death metal band was formed in Florida. The band Mantas, composed of Chuck Schuldiner, Kam Lee, and Rick Rozz released a demo entitled Death by Metal in 1983. In 1984, under their new name Death,
more demos were released. The tapes circulated through the tape trader
world, quickly establishing the band's name. Kam Lee's vocals would
influence the death metal scene tremendously, for their low and
guttural nature would become the staple of the genre. The line-up of Death would change considerably and guitarist Chuck Schuldiner would adopt vocal duties. Death,
however, had already made a major impact. Fast, dark riffs and fierce
solos were complimented with fast drumming, creating a style that would
catch on in tape trading circles.
Along with Possessed and Death
there were other influential bands who introduced an early raw extreme
metal style, guttural vocals and lyrics concerning death and/or
Satanism. In 1984, Bathory released the influential early black metal album Bathory. Hellhammer have released demos as early as 1982. In 1984 they were featured on the split album Death Metal.
As heavy bands like Slayer, Death and Possessed paved the road to death metal in America, heavy European and South American bands were creating a buzz in the metal underground. By the mid 1980s, German thrash metal bands like Kreator, Sodom and Destruction were becoming underground majors.
These band's releases all featured uptempo rhythms, fast guitar solos,
raspy screamed vocals and dark lyrical themes; an influence on later
death metal bands. At the same time a small South American scene would emerge. Bands like Holocausto, Sarcófago and Sepultura would release death metal records around 1986, most notably Sepultura's first LP, Morbid Visions.
In 1986 Slayer released their third album Reign in Blood. This album was an influence on death metal bands like Death, Obituary and Morbid Angel.
An early death metal album, Season of the Dead, was released by Necrophagia in 1987. That same year saw the release of Death's Scream Bloody Gore, which some writers consider the subgenre's first "proper" release. Music writer Ed Rivadavia has stated that Possessed released what is arguably the first death metal album whereas Death's Chuck Schuldiner is recognized as the father of death metal.
By 1989, many bands had been signed by eager record labels wanting to cash in on the subgenre, including Florida's Obituary, Morbid Angel and Deicide. This collective of death metal bands hailing from Florida are often labeled as "Florida death metal". To their credit, these early death metal
bands did push the format forward, something that would ultimately pay
off in a new form of music that was substantially different from their
closest forefather, thrash metal.
The late 1980s also saw the rise of death metal in Scandinavia (particularly in Sweden, i.e. "Gothenburg metal"), with bands such as Nihilist (which disbanded and bifurcated into Entombed and Unleashed), Grotesque (also disbanded, resulting in At the Gates and Liers in Wait), Carnage (later Dismember), Tiamat, and Grave.
The band Death released Human
in 1991, an example of modern death metal. Death's founder Schuldiner
helped push the boundaries of uncompromising speed and technical
virtuosity, mixing in highly technical and intricate rhythm guitar work
with complex arrangements and emotive guitar solos. Other examples of this are Carcass's Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious from 1991, Suffocation's Effigy of the Forgotten from the same year and Entombed's Clandestine from 1992. At this point, all the above characteristics are clearly present: abrupt tempo and count changes, on occasion extremely fast drumming, morbid lyrics and growling vocal delivery.
Death metal's popularity achieved its peak between the 1992-93 era, with some bands such as Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse
enjoying mild commercial successes; however, the genre as a whole never
broke in to the mainstream owing to its extreme nature. Nevertheless,
rather than fading away, death metal diversified in the '90s, spawning
a rich variety of subgenres, including the following. It should be
noted that cited examples are not necessarily exclusive to one
particular style.
by wikipedia
