Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s rediscovery of death metal subgenres

I was quite fascinated with Sonny's quest to rediscover death metal from that genre's first decade. I was actually thinking of doing the same with the death metal subgenres I used to enjoy, an idea that I thought of coincidentally before Sonny started his voyage, because there are a few albums I like recently that are close to death metal and it might be a sign for me to end my year-long hiatus from death metal. So what do I plan to do? I'm gonna time-travel my way to the early to mid-90s where death metal was splitting into different subgenres and discover what I've missed when I was listening to those subgenres, journaling my progress in this thread. It would be interesting tackling the releases I somehow missed out on or didn't dare to go and finding out what appeals to me. It might take a long time, but I'm up for that challenge while maintaining other plans. Any of you Horde members may suggest releases if you'd like, though I'm focusing on the more essential releases for a more authentic experience. And while I'm at it, I might dive deep into the history of other metal genres as well.

The first death metal subgenre I'll explore is... melodic death metal! This has been the least problematic part of death metal for me, and it started in the year when some of my favorite metal genres were on the rise, 1993. Albums from bands like At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity, Edge of Sanity, and Sentenced were major pioneering releases of melodeath. Sadly, I've already written reviews for those albums that were all deleted when I moved away from death metal, and I don't intend to check on the bands I already knew. However, one band I've missed is Carcass, whose 1993 album Heartwork is known to reign supreme as a foundational landmark for melodeath but I've never really gotten around to listening to that band, mainly because of their earlier gore/deathgrind material that was, and still is, a big no-no for me. So I'm gonna check out that album Heartwork for this early offering of melodeath and see what I think of it. I might also try a few other albums from different bands at that time that aren't melodeath but have made an influential impact to the subgenre. Onward!

Indeed probably the one album melodic death metal wouldn't have existed without, though not reaching the style of melodeath I'm used to while still enjoyable. My thoughts:

Heartwork is probably the album where Carcass was the most dedicated. They began demoing this album as early as during their tour for the less melodic Necroticism, even playing their new songs on tour. Much of the recording time was wasted finding the right guitar tone and the right ideas from their producer Colin Richardson. Things were going down to Hell for the people working on the album. With all that trouble going on, Carcass was still determined to get things right in order to reach higher lengths. In the end, they've made an offering that the world would recognize as a game-changing classic to this day! I would never disagree with this album's melodic death metal legend status, but to be honest, it's not the most melodic melodeath album I've heard. The Maiden-like melodic harmonies that really make the genre, but that's a small step Carcass was missing here. The melodic harmonies in this album are mostly in just passages and solos, the latter not sounding as perfect as in Gothenburg bands. Mike Amott performed them slightly better in Arch Enemy that would've crystallized Bill Steer's standard riffing and groove here. Still there's often a great amount of harmonies that would give later death metal bands the idea to add more melody than brutality, and it's quite an impressive achievement of a lifetime for this band. Where there any other bands before Carcass and the Gothenburg crew that started adding melody to an extreme genre with extreme lyrics? I think not! However, At the Gates who would make an album two years later that would inspire melodic metalcore bands to rise. In the meantime, enjoy the original melodeath work!

4.5/5

I'm interested to know where did you heard of the Death connection Andi? It doesn't sound right to me. It's far more likely that Death inspired Carcass to go in a more melodic direction than the other way around. The Carcass boys absolutely worshipped Death in their early years & Chuck's trajectory was already well & truly moving in a more melodic & progressive direction on 1991's "Human" & 1993's "Individual Thought Patterns", both of which were released before "Heartwork". "Symbolic" was pretty much a further expansion on "Individual Thought Patterns" too. I know Chuck really liked Carcass but I'm pretty sure that his inspiration to go in a more melodic direction came from his passion for heavy/power/progressive metal bands like Sortilege, Helstar, Warlord, Agent Steel, etc. The melodeath sound was well-defined & very popular before "Symbolic" & "The Sound of Perseverance" came out so I've never felt the urge to link those records to the subgenre.

For the record, I've never felt comfortable with any of Death's albums being referred to as "technical death metal". "Progressive death metal" is a far more accurate description as they're not consciously technical in my opinion. Expansive & adventurous? Sure!

You are right about Death inspiring Carcass, Daniel, but upon listening to both Heartwork and Symbolic, I hear a bit of a connective exchange in the melodic aspect between those two albums while the latter shows Death expanding the progressiveness of their previous two albums and the melody of those heavy/power metal bands. Melodeath did not start with Symbolic of course, but there are bands influenced from there. Meanwhile in the Track of the Day thread, this track is another example of a stylistic exchange between bands' influences: https://metal.academy/forum/10/thread/188?page=6#topic_10653

I'm not denying that there will be some similarities Andi as Carcass were big fans of Death & Chuck's later material still held some level of resemblance to his early 90's work. I've just never heard anything about "Heartwork" being the influence for Chuck to go in the direction he already seemed to be going. I'm happy to be proven wrong there though if you've got some evidence to the contrary. Other than the vocals, I actually don't think "The Sound of Perseverance" is a death metal record at all to tell you the truth. Chuck was clearly trying to transform Death into a more traditional progressive metal band at that point & the Control Denied record proves it beyond any doubt.

Well, Daniel, I gave The Sound of Perseverance a listen and review, and what you said is about Death's switching to a more traditional progressive sound is quite accurate. I sense a judgement submission coming on! Anyway, both Death albums I've reviewed show the band's progressive death metal/deathly progressive metal side they had in their last years of activity while influential in expanding the prominence of melodeath and tech-death for newer rising legions to appear. I think after I listen to one more album from a different band that isn't melodeath but planted a seed for other bands in the same country to popularize the genre, it would be time to start the tech-death history leg of my journey....

Indeed probably the one album melodic death metal wouldn't have existed without, though not reaching the style of melodeath I'm used to while still enjoyable. My thoughts:

Heartwork is probably the album where Carcass was the most dedicated. They began demoing this album as early as during their tour for the less melodic Necroticism, even playing their new songs on tour. Much of the recording time was wasted finding the right guitar tone and the right ideas from their producer Colin Richardson. Things were going down to Hell for the people working on the album. With all that trouble going on, Carcass was still determined to get things right in order to reach higher lengths. In the end, they've made an offering that the world would recognize as a game-changing classic to this day! I would never disagree with this album's melodic death metal legend status, but to be honest, it's not the most melodic melodeath album I've heard. The Maiden-like melodic harmonies that really make the genre, but that's a small step Carcass was missing here. The melodic harmonies in this album are mostly in just passages and solos, the latter not sounding as perfect as in Gothenburg bands. Mike Amott performed them slightly better in Arch Enemy that would've crystallized Bill Steer's standard riffing and groove here. Still there's often a great amount of harmonies that would give later death metal bands the idea to add more melody than brutality, and it's quite an impressive achievement of a lifetime for this band. Where there any other bands before Carcass and the Gothenburg crew that started adding melody to an extreme genre with extreme lyrics? I think not! However, At the Gates who would make an album two years later that would inspire melodic metalcore bands to rise. In the meantime, enjoy the original melodeath work!

4.5/5

Here's my review of "Heartwork" from eons ago:

A really well-defined sound. I must admit that I was initially hesitant when I bought this back in 1993 as I was a huge fan of their previous material & this was clearly heading in another direction altogether. Ultimately I couldn't deny that the catchy song-writing & cleaner production had a brand new appeal all of their own though. I still definitely prefer the previous two albums but find "Heartwork" to be a really enjoyable & professional experience. Jeff's vocals are superb throughout. As are the guitar solos. I think it's probably a little restrained to get a higher mark out of me & it does tend to flatten out a little bit in the back end in my opinion. I saw them play live on the "Heartwork" tour & this material worked brilliantly in a live environment. 4/5

I agree with you that it's not in line with the modern understanding of the melodic death metal subgenre which is built more around accessible Iron Maiden style lead guitar harmonies. Perhaps that's why I regard it as highly as I do despite struggling with a lot of melodeath. Interestingly Andi, "Heartwork" wasn't instantly accepted by the death/grind community. It took a little time to come to terms with. It did however open up a new fan base for Carcass outside of the extreme metal scene through the newly found accessibility & song-writing sensibilities. Interestingly, my band Neuropath were a bee's dick away from scoring the support slot for Carcass' Sydney leg of the "Heartwork" tour. Despite the fact that "Heartwork" was a big success for the band though, I still saw them in a half empty pub in the middle of the day on that tour which puts extreme metal success into perspective. It's also worth noting that there were other European bands experimenting with a more melodic death metal sound a little earlier than "Heartwork" (see At The Gates, Dark Tranquillity, Sentenced, Eucharist, Unanimated, Horrified, Loudblast, etc.) so I do think the subgenre would have existed without Carcass. It may just have taken a little more time to gain traction.

Well, Daniel, I gave The Sound of Perseverance a listen and review, and what you said is about Death's switching to a more traditional progressive sound is quite accurate. I sense a judgement submission coming on! Anyway, both Death albums I've reviewed show the band's progressive death metal/deathly progressive metal side they had in their last years of activity while influential in expanding the prominence of melodeath and tech-death for newer rising legions to appear. I think after I listen to one more album from a different band that isn't melodeath but planted a seed for other bands in the same country to popularize the genre, it would be time to start the tech-death history leg of my journey....

Andi, I noticed in your "The Sound Of Perseverance" review that you commented on how a large percentage of Death's audience hated the album due to the increased progressive component. I think it's worth clarifying that Chuck had been going that way for a good four albums by that point so we all knew what to expect & those that had a problem with it had already gotten off-board the train by 1998. The musical direction of "The Sound Of Perseverance" was generally well received in my experience (even if it wasn't exactly death metal any more) but there was certainly a portion of Death's fanbase that had trouble with the change in vocal style (myself included) & that was the major stumbling block for most detractors along with the very ordinary cover version of "Painkiller" you mentioned. I think "Heartwork" was the more divisive record of the two for old school fans though as it represented a more sudden & drastic change in style. There are still a truckload of death metal fans that claim that Carcass split up after "Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious".

I agree that the vocal style in The Sound of Perseverance was a major stumble, sounding more whiny than growling in a few of the more melodic songs especially that Judas Priest cover. Heartwork was very divisive among the Carcass fanbase. While the earlier fans were stunned by the sudden switch to a more melodic sound and try to deny its existence, the album made history with the spawning of melodic death metal. At the same time, another subgenre arrived with a different band...

Definitely not melodeath, but would plant a seed for other bands in Sweden to popularize it, while pioneering a different subgenre, death 'n' roll. Here are my thoughts:

After making two timeless additions to traditional Swedish death metal, Entombed was ready to try a new approach while keeping their roots. Their 3rd album marked the beginning of a new inspiring era, an era that would later be unappealing when two more albums take the band farther away from their death metal roots. Wolverine Blues, together with Carcass' Heartwork, marked a big historical turn for their label Earache in 1993, attracting new fans with a somewhat more melodic sound. While Carcass invented the melodic death metal genre with barely any prior experimentation, Entombed added pieces of hard rock, hardcore, and Pantera-like groove metal for something more groovy with slight hints of melody, death 'n' roll. Desultory also experimented with that subgenre, but Entombed succeeded in making that potential new hybrid. With a title like Wolverine Blues, was there any relation with the wise invincible Wolverine from Marvel Comics? Yes there was! Even though the band were against anything to do with Wolverine, Earache went behind their backs to make a deal with Marvel for mainstream promotion. That's part of how this album became a successful leap for this band, label, and much of extreme metal. I can understand other aspects of their success. Lars Göran Petrov (RIP), who was absent for their second album Clandestine, returned and stayed with the band until their first breakup. The tone maintains their earlier dark atmosphere while slamming through rock-infused compositions. The 7 tracks from the beginning are prime early examples of the subgenre with searing groove, amazing riffing, and punk-thrashy rhythms, whereas the final 3 and bonus track were a low drop in quality. A slightly flawed ending to the album, but the rest is a better offering of death metal. It was time for the small influences the band hinted earlier to fully see the light of day and the core of their writing, one part of death metal refreshing into different subgenres in 1993. Entombed continue their innovation that would build up a higher following. Unfortunately, they would later fall into the deathless rock 'n' roll manhole....

4/5

Coming soon in my quest: a deeper look into the origins of technical death metal...

"Wolverine Blues" is the very definition of divisive. "Clandestine" (5/5) was an absolutely huge record for me personally. In fact, I still regard it as the most perfect example of the Swedish death metal sound to this day so I was seriously looking forward to the follow-up. When I first heard "Wolverine Blues" I didn't really know what to make of it at first. A few repeat listens saw it opening up significantly though & showed it be something very consistent,  altogether new & surprisingly catchy. These days I not only still regard it as the best death 'n' roll record I've ever heard but I actually prefer it to Entombed's legendary debut album "Left Hand Path" (3.5/5) which I've always found to be a touch overrated. Would I have preferred "Clandestine Part 2"? Shit yeah I would but this is not a bad record by any stretch of the imagination. It's just not something that I find myself reaching for all that often which is simply a matter of taste more than anything else.

3.5/5

1990 was another special early year for death metal when 3 bands expanded the boundaries of death metal to include more technical experimentation, sometimes reaching a progressive level, thus creating the subgenre technical death metal! Here's one of those bands:

Here are my thoughts:

I'm never really a super-fan of old-school death metal, given the Satanism and violent gore that occurs in the lyrics. Nocturnus added a bit of those lyrical themes mixed with a sci-fi concept, and even more surprising to the death metal community is the addition of keyboard atmosphere unusual at that time. They've also added more technicality to the sound as a bridge between Morbid Angel and what Death would have next. Nocturnus made a progressive twist in the genre as those keyboards add a nice touch to the violent assault from the guitar, bass, and drums. The Key is an amazing KEY to the tech-death sound these legends would help create. If it's out of print, it's probably because of that sci-fi-meets-anti-Christian concept that would not go over well with the public nowadays, and that's why it's a few points short of perfection for me. Still it's an easy album to look up for listening, and the music is worth it!

4.5/5

"The Key" was played to death in our household during the early 90's & was somewhat of a classic for Ben & I. It's been a while since I've listened to it but I suspect that I may not rate it as highly as I once did. Browning's vocal skills were never the best & the technicality in the riffs was sometimes more like a practice exercise than any form of artistic expression. Despite the obvious inclusion of keyboards as an equal contributor for arguably the first time in a death metal band, Mike Davis' lead guitar work was the most prominent element of Nocturnus' sound in my opinion. Perhaps it's just the old shredder in me because the dude has ridiculous chops & showcases them in a really fresh & exciting way. He was a big influence on me & by the end of Neuropath's playing career I'd started to look at ways to incorporate something similar. Anyway... "The Key" is a high quality death metal album alright. I've noticed that they're playing gigs again these days so maybe there's some more recorded material in the works too.

The second album I've reviewed from the tech-death starter trio is the debut from Atrocity, with a different lyrical concept from that of the Nocturnal album. My thoughts:

Atrocity is known as one of the most chameleon-esque German metal bands, going through different genres such as folky gothic metal, industrial, and even a bit of hardcore groove. They originally started with a tech-death sound, with their debut Hallucinations being one of the most unique albums of the genre, mature with astonishing talent! Like I said before, 1990 was an early year of experimentation in death metal. Atheist hinted at the progressive direction they would take while standing by their pure thrashy death metal sound in Piece of Time, released earlier that year. Then a year later, Death added slightly more melodic and progressive elements to their sound in Human. And of course, we have the jazzy prog-death of Cynic's 1993 album Focus. Atrocity's Hallucinations deserves attention for their underrated part in the early tech-death league. However, they're not combining genres the way those other bands would, but rather they make interesting ideas out of standard tech-death. It's just metal riffing all around in different songs, while sounding interesting and fun for those who can handle the fire. Hallucinations is essential for all death metal listeners. I barely have any complaints, and the album is great enough for 4.5 stars. The heavier metalheads should love this!

4.5/5

Piece of Time and Human are up next in my list, for more of that tech-death experimentation!

Yeah, I really enjoyed those first two Atrocity albums back in the day. I picked them up through tape trading but you're right that they kinda slipped under most people's radars. They actually influenced the direction I was taking with my own music with Neuropath in the mid-90's to an extent as I can vividly remember trying to come up with similar riff structures after binging one those two albums. Unfortunately I completely gave up on Atrocity after hearing bits of their terrible third album "Blut" & haven't dared try anything they've done after that.

Piece of Time and Human are up next in my list, for more of that tech-death experimentation!

I'll be interested to see whether you actually think "Human" should qualify for Technical/Progressive Death Metal status Andi.

I gave the first two Atheist albums a listen, and they're both two of the best I've heard so far in this journey, with Unquestionable Presence reaching a perfect 5 stars! They're both terrific early examples of tech-death alongside the blazing thrash of Piece of Time and the jazzy progressiveness of Unquestionable Presence. Maybe someday I'll keep listening to that band full-time and check out the one Atheist album I haven't reviewed yet, Jupiter, but the early 90s tech-death chapter of this rediscovery saga is still on. I shall continue it with Death's Human and find out how progressive that album is for me...

I would say "Piece Of Time" is more like Technical Death/Thrash as I actually think there's more thrash than there is death. It was still a work is progress too in my opinion as Atheist didn't wouldn't really arrive at their destination until "Unquestionable Presence". I've always really enjoyed "Piece Of Time" however I've never thought of it as a genuine classic. 4/5

"Unquestionable Presence" is much more progressive & ambitious & should be essential listening for all fans of extreme progressive metal. The production job is the clear weakness but the song-writing & execution is good enough to overcome that flaw pretty easily. 4.5/5

Besides Atheist making progressive tech-death history in 1991, Death would also go that complex experimental route starting the same year with Human. My thoughts:

Death is a band that is well-respected in the death metal community. I don't intend to explore their earlier standard death metal albums, but I know that Human is essential for me to check out as part of my tech-death expedition. The talented Chuck Schuldiner knew his songwriting ability very well. Pretty much nothing is unnecessary in this bold early example of progressive technical death metal! In the travelling circus of Death, Schuldiner was the ringmaster. For this lineup, backing him up is lead guitarist Paul Masvidal, drummer Sean Reinert (those two later focusing on Cynic), and Sadus bassist Steve Di Giorgio. All in all, a heavenly lineup to unleash hellbent fury of killer tech-death, performing extreme sections of mind-blowing rhythms and unbeatable riffing/soloing, with the occasional catchy while still brutal chorus hook. It's amazing how Death is not only one of the pioneering forces of death metal but also its subgenre tech-death. And it's not just regular tech-death either, it has a great amount of progressive tendencies. They can change their style while sounding original. Any death metal fan should pick up Human. You know the band to thank later!

4.5/5

Coming soon: Two more albums to complete the tech-death chapter, one being another example of the genre and the other not really part of that genre but would inspire it.

"Human" is very much a transition album in my opinion. It marks the point at which conventional death metal & progressive death metal meet & is the perfect artistic statement within the confines of extreme metal. As a result I regard it as one of the elite examples of extreme metal but I've never felt that it fit under the technical death metal banner. 5/5

It's interesting that the terms "technical death metal" & "progressive death metal" have been used pretty interchangeably over the last few days because in my mind they're different things that aren't mutually exclusive. A progressive record doesn't have to be technical & a technical record doesn't have to be progressive. Unfortunately the way we've structured the MA database doesn't make this clear. For example, "Symbolic", "Unquestionable Presence" & "Focus" aren't consciously technical & don't warrant the tag in my opinion. The technique is a by-product of the creative ambition on display & is used as a tool but it's not the end goal. This is in line with the progressive rock model. For bands like Nile, Nocturnus, Spawn Of Possession, Cryptopsy & Suffocation though there's been a conscious decision to make their riff structures complex but those artists don't feel as overtly progressive i.e. cerebral, experimental & spacey. It's simply about challenging themselves from a technique point of view more than it is an atmospheric & creative one. The same can be said for the technical thrash metal subgenre which is used just as poorly. The early Coroner records are a prime example of "technical thrash metal" as they rarely feel progressive but are trying very hard to push the boundaries of thrash technique. Coroner's 90's albums are a different kettle of fish though because they're more subtle about the technical wizardry & remove the boundaries of thrash metal to enable them to reach a truly progressive outcome. Vektor is another band that's actually far more progressive than they are technical so it’s never seemed right that the sole use of the technical thrash metal tag kept them away from The Infinite. Long-term I'd like to see us moving towards a model whereby the "technical" death & thrash releases are kept separate from the genuinely "progressive" ones & are maintained solely in The Horde & The Pit with the "progressive" ones having a dual membership of The Infinite. In order to do that we need to develop a clear strategy for how we handle the different types of releases.

The remaining essential album to review from tech-death's first two years heavily relies on alternating between songs and interludes while having great flow. My thoughts:

Two thrashy death metal albums into their career, Dutch band Pestilence decided to test out conjuring a more melodic-ish technical spell in their sound with their 3rd album Testimony of the Ancients. The aggravated atonality of hatred in the genre is expanded by some experimentation. Besides the more technical guitars and bass, the drums are close to Slayer's style, fast while far from blast beats, and there are extreme vocals, slightly surpassing Obituary and Death. The album has an interesting structure of full songs that are each followed by a short instrumental, something Cynic would similarly do 3 decades later in Ascension Codes. Both track categories have a horror element, probably more of that than most of the other early 90s tech-death albums I've reviewed. Obscure riffs play amongst atmospheric power chords and dramatic synths, with some experimental groove to remind some of Morbid Angel. The eerie interludes have the most of the horror feeling, whether it's Psycho-ish strings, screams over dissonant keyboards, or church bell ambiance. So it's easy to find the balance between ritual-sounding and ravaging, alternating between full songs and interludes. Any fan of the genre can identify any of these tracks in a blink of an eye....

4/5

"Testimony Of The Ancients" was a hhuuggee record for Ben & I. It's a genuine death metal classic & is Pestilence's best work for mine. Can't say I've ever regarded it as technical death metal though. I think it falls into a similar space to "Human" i.e. it offers a more sophisticated version of the classic death metal model with hints of the progressive direction that was to be fully realized on their record.

One last subgenre stop in my death metal rediscovery is death-doom, and I'm exploring the first 3 releases of the subgenre. I didn't include Paradise Lost because I've already written reviews for their albums that were all deleted when I moved away from most of The Fallen, and I don't intend to check on the bands I already knew. Those other 3 death-doom releases from 1989 and 1990 seem closer to death metal in two of the bands, and that's good for when I'm up for exploring the deathly side of the subgenre. The first one of those 3 bands is...

Coincidentally, I was planning this album ahead before Sonny gave it a review, so I guess now it's my turn to share my thoughts of the first death-doom release ever:

The underground is barely known to the mainstream public, and one band from those illusive caverns would invent atmospheric death-doom. In Sempiternal Deathreign's only album The Spooky Gloom, you can hear slow doomy epics ranging up to 10 minutes and shorter death metal attacks. It's more varied than just a standard mix... There's raw production in the guitar crunch with the equalizing bass fitting right in and sounding audible. So, nothing too special about that bass then... The excellent drumming varies from grind beats to slow doomy power, the latter leveling up the monolithic riffing. There's wild growling vocals all around, and fortunately, the lyrics can be read online in case you don't understand them just from listening. All in all, a great dark instrumentation setup. The longer epics are prime examples of the earliest death-doom, but a couple of the shorter ones, specifically tracks 4 and 5, are fast and furious but do not have the same potential as the other category. Still a very unique album when it came out, practically giving birth to death-doom while different from what you'd expect in the subgenre. This is what your ears crave in the deathly side of death-doom....

4/5

Another early death-doom album! Just like the Sempiternal Deathreign album, it has mostly the best examples of death-doom but not without a couple duds. My thoughts:

For the sole album from Delirium, Zzooouhh (wow, that wacky title sounds like some kind of snore), we have the smashing guitar, growls, and groove of death metal that then collapses into the slow monstrous doom metal, a captivating mix also done by Winter the same year. It's strange how this style barely caught on as much as other genres like thrash metal. With that said, Delirium's Zzooouhh sounds so fresh and inspiring, with the harsh guitar, riff variation, and tempo changes pleasing heavier metalheads who want more. It's obvious how much the fast-doom ratio has been influenced from other bands like Celtic Frost and Death. The later tracks (from track #5 onward) are prime examples of early death-doom, but a couple ones (track 4 and before), range from slow and doomy to fast and furious, but do not have the same potential as the other category. Still this is essential death-doom for fans of the subgenre and Celtic Frost. Pretty neat if you just start at track 5 and not think too much of the strange album title....

4/5

After one more important early death-doom album that only resides in The Fallen, tomorrow I'm going to continue my rediscovery journey in a much different genre that I know more of and wish to know the most (NOT doom). You can probably guess, but now...that's all in my rediscovery of death metal thread, folks!