The Dissonant Death Metal Thread
I've this weekend I decided to collate my Top Ten Dissonant Death Metal Releases of All Time list & I found it to be pretty challenging because I don't seem to have rated a shit-tonne of the releases I've enjoyed over the years from this category. Therefore this list will be somewhat of a work in progress as I gradually fill those gaps but this isn't a bad starting point:
01. Gorguts - "Colored Sands" (2013)
02. Ulcerate - "Everything Is Fire" (2009)
03. Ad Nauseam - "Imperative Imperceptible Impulse" (2021)
04. Gorguts - "From Wisdom To Hate" (2001)
05. Ulcerate - "The Destroyers Of All" (2011)
06. Ulcerate - "Vermis" (2013)
07. Gorguts - "Obscura" (1998)
08. Portal - "Seepia" (2003)
09. Flourishing - "The Sum Of All Fossils" (2011)
10. Ulcerate - "Of Fracture & Failure" (2007)
I don't know much about dissonant death metal, but there has been much discussion on the RYM official metal board over the past few days about it as it has just been passed as a sub-genre over there. Apparently it is also called "Skronk Death" - what the fuck does that mean? Does anyone know? Must be the dumbest metal genre name yet.
I noticed that & applaud the move. I've been wanting the dissonant brand of death metal to be differentiated from Technical Death Metal for many years as they're clearly two different things in my mind. I've never heard of the term "Skronk Death" to be honest but it sounds particularly shit. We'll definitely consider including a Dissonant Death Metal subgenre at Metal Academy in the future though.
I've just adjusted my Top Ten Dissonant Death Metal Releases of All Time list following this week's spectacular revisit of Ulcerate's "Stare Into Death & Be Still" album:
01. Ulcerate - "Stare Into Death & Be Still" (2020)
02. Gorguts - "Colored Sands" (2013)
03. Ulcerate - "Everything Is Fire" (2009)
04. Ad Nauseam - "Imperative Imperceptible Impulse" (2021)
05. Gorguts - "From Wisdom To Hate" (2001)
06. Ulcerate - "The Destroyers Of All" (2011)
07. Ulcerate - "Vermis" (2013)
08. Gorguts - "Obscura" (1998)
09. Portal - "Seepia" (2003)
10. Flourishing - "The Sum Of All Fossils" (2011)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/181
Ulcerate - "Stare Into Death & Be Still" (2020)
New Zealand death metal trio Ulcerate have been somewhat of a mainstay at the top of my musical ladder since first discovering them through their classic sophomore album “Everything Is Fire” back in 2009. It may have taken me some time to fully come to grips with the dissonant arm of the death metal scene at the time as it still sounded fairly foreign to my old-school ears but once I’d become accustomed to the more textural sonic palate with which these artists draw from I quickly became engulfed in a journey of discovery that found me ultimately placing the niche subgenre up on one of my higher musical pedestals. Ulcerate haven’t released anything that wasn’t of a sublime quality since those initial impressions either which certainly hasn’t hurt. The more traditional brutal tech death of their 2004 “The Coming of Genocide” E.P. may not have been anything terribly flash & their 2007 debut album “Of Fracture & Failure” might well have been more of an interesting transitional release than a record to be particularly revered but ever since that time the band have been in devastating form & have destroyed a great many fragile minds in the process.
Dissonant death metal bands like Ulcerate will inevitably always be at a higher risk of sounding “samey” than bands from other genres. When you make extreme music that doesn’t conform to traditional theoretical structures or melodic sensibilities then it can often be hard to give the song-writing the unique elements required to differentiate themselves from one another. I have to admit that I’ve kinda been waiting for Ulcerate to fall over in that regard but they just never seem to even stumble. With their 2020 sixth full-length “Stare Into Death & Be Still” we find Ulcerate sticking to their tried-&-tested dissonant model but infusing it with enough melody to make it appear to be a complete contradiction of terms. The use of open strings & dissonant chords is undeniably still the root of the band’s evil however they’ve managed to make it sound almost beautiful at the same time which is really pretty remarkable. There’s plenty of variation in tempo with a number of exploratory & introspective post-sludge sections adding layers to the glorious atmosphere. In fact, the slower & more stripped back post-metal sections are inevitably my favourite parts of the album & are responsible for giving each inclusion in the tracklisting its own identity.
The production job on “Stare Into Death & Be Still” is nothing short of splendid with the layers of dissonant guitars sounding full & lush & the drums offering plenty of clarity, power & brightness. If I had to be critical, I’d suggest that the bass guitar could have been louder in the mix but I don’t think it detracts from the overall product. The composition & execution are simply stunning with the three musicians being given the freedom to take expansive & quite intricate excursions through some of the band’s most ambitious yet strangely accessible material.
The vocals of Paul Kelland are aggressive & powerful, perhaps more so than I remember them being which is a nice contrast to some of the more stripped back material. Sole guitarist Michael Hoggard must have some major challenges on his hands when it comes to live performance as I’m honestly not sure how he could pull off the many layers of dense guitar work that are presented here. I really love the interplay between the different guitar tracks actually & find them to possess an artistic flair that’s pretty rare in extreme metal. While it may be Hoggard who ensures that Ulcerate always maintain some level of accessibility while never losing an ounce of integrity, it’s drummer Jamie Saint Merat that steals the show in no uncertain terms as he’s quite simply unparalleled in skill & creativity. Sure, he can blast 99% of the opposition away with relative ease but it’s the more subdued moments which offer him the most room to move & his cymbal work during these more atmospheric sections is nothing short of astounding. What a drummer this guy is! I’m not sure we’ve seen better in metal music to tell you the truth.
“Stare Into Death & Be Still” is yet another wonderful example of modern death from one of the absolute elite exponents of the craft. It's undoubtedly Ulcerate’s most melodic album to date but its also their most creatively advanced too. I count myself as being a big fan of the dissonant death metal sound these days but I’m not sure I’ve hear a better example of it than this one right here & that includes Ulcerate's most highly celebrated releases like "Everything Is Fire".
For fans of Gorguts, Portal & Baring Teeth.
4.5/5
Along with the addition of the new Symphonic Death Metal subgenre, Ben & I have also been discussing the potential for adding a Dissonant Death Metal subgenre. Dissonant Death Metal is currently employed at a competitor's website as a subgenre of Technical Death Metal & we both believe that it's a legitimate sound that can easily be differentiated from other strands of death metal however I'd suggest that it's up for debate as to whether Dissonant Death Metal should really be a child of Technical Death Metal. Sure, there are times when releases are both technical & dissonant & it requires a level of technical proficiency to push the boundaries of acceptable melodic & harmonic deployment but I don't believe they're mutually exclusive. Artificial Brain's self-titled album & Flourishing's "The Sum of All Fossils" are two releases where I feel that the tech death tag isn't justified & both can sit fairly comfortably under the dissonant death metal tag without being regarded as being overly technical. The dissonant brand of death metal can also be quite divisive & you're certainly not guaranteed to enjoy Gorguts or Ulcerate just because you love Nile or Necrophagist & vice versa because those bands/styles often sound nothing alike. For those reasons, we're considering separating the two & I'd just like to put it out there to see what your feelings are before moving forwards.
Although I am far from an expert, I think that there is sufficient distance between the two that a separation is justified. I am one of those who isn't so fond of dissonant death metal, but enjoys bands like Nile, so I can see a benefit for myself at least.
Note that we can't currently have a subgenre of a subgenre here at Metal Academy (I feel like that's a good thing), so if we want Dissonant Death Metal on the site, it can't be a subgenre of Technical Death Metal, which is already a subgenre of Death Metal. There are other instances of this on RYM (Gorenoise is a subgenre of Goregrind), but I've just been adding the releases here with the parent subgenre. It just hasn't felt right to me adding every album listed as Dissonant Death Metal on RYM as Technical Death Metal. As Daniel suggests, there are albums that are clearly dissonant, but not overly technical.
As always though, if anyone disagrees with our suggested approach, or can think of another way of doing things, let's discuss.
Note that we can't currently have a subgenre of a subgenre here at Metal Academy (I feel like that's a good thing), so if we want Dissonant Death Metal on the site, it can't be a subgenre of Technical Death Metal, which is already a subgenre of Death Metal. There are other instances of this on RYM (Gorenoise is a subgenre of Goregrind), but I've just been adding the releases here with the parent subgenre. It just hasn't felt right to me adding every album listed as Dissonant Death Metal on RYM as Technical Death Metal. As Daniel suggests, there are albums that are clearly dissonant, but not overly technical.
As always though, if anyone disagrees with our suggested approach, or can think of another way of doing things, let's discuss.
But an album could still be tagged as both technical and dissonant death metal could it not, Ben? If this is the case then any overtly technical dissonant releases could be dual-tagged. I still think this is a good move.
There needs to be that separation I agree.
But an album could still be tagged as both technical and dissonant death metal could it not, Ben?
Yeah definitely Sonny.
This change has now been completed. There are obviously a lot of releases that have both technical death metal & dissonant death metal subgenres attached. I'd encourage everyone to assist in correcting that by voting on the subgenre tagging on the associated release page after listening to these releases.