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- Autopsy – Mental Funeral (1991) Masters of the grotesque, purveyors of filth, lords of gore and THC-ravaged servants of hellish disgust, Autopsy sounded like no-one else when they slithered from the grubby Californian shadows into the death metal spotlight at the tail-end of the 80s.
- Bolt Thrower – War Master (1991) After ambushing everyone with 1989’s classic Realm Of Chaos, Bolt Thrower proved their deathly credentials by repeating the trick.
- Decapitated – Nihility (2002) Decapitated’s latterday career has been marked by tragedy (the 2007 tourbus crash which killed drummer Vitek and left singer Covan paralysed) and controversy (rape charges were brought against all four members in 2017, before being droopped).
- Dissection – Storm Of The Light’s Bane (1995) While Sweden’s Dissection were very much black metal in terms of ideology and atmosphere, they also featured noticeable elements of the melodic death metal movement exploding in their home country, as well as classic ‘80s heavy metal.
- Nile - Annihilation of The Wicked
- Rivers of Nihil - The Silent Life
- Testament - Demonic Refusal
- Pestilence - Out of The Body
- Brutal Truth - Birth of Ignorance
- The Black Dahlia Murder - What A Horrible Night to Have A Curse
- Dismember - Override of The Overture
- Deicide - Dead by Dawn
- Suffocation - Pierced from Within
- Gojira - The Art of Dying
To open up this week's list comes Nile with the title track of their fourth album, 2005's "Annihilation of the Wicked." Just a classic straight-up technical death metal masterpiece. Not for the faint of heart.
It's always a pleasant surprise to have Rivers of Nihil on the list. But from all of their works, the UG community chose "The Silent Life," a piece from their album "Where Owls Know My Name" that goes heavy on prog elements and saxophones. Easily one of the most innovative bands in the genre.
On their "Demonic" album, Testament decided to go as heavy as they ever were, delving deep into death metal while retaining his classic thrash metal elements. "Demonic Refusal" feels like you're constantly being pounded by a sledgehammer and yet you, somehow, enjoy it.
Whichever misconceptions some may have about death metal, Pestilence is the band to prove them wrong. Even with some of their earliest material, like "Out of the Body," they've been showing some serious progressive tendencies. The song still remains one of the genre classics.
Balancing between grindcore and classic death metal, Brutal Truth was the band of original Anthrax bassist Dan Lilker. For the 16th spot of this list comes their "Birth of Ignorance."
The Black Dahlia Murder are responsible for further pushing the limits of the genre into new territories. Unfortunately, earlier this year, we lost Trevor Strnad, one of the most important musicians of modern death metal. In his honor, we bring "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse."
One of the genre's earliest bands, the music that Dismember made is still unmatched. Their 1991 debut album "Like an Ever Flowing Stream" still sounds incredibly brutal, even by today's standards. And for this list, we have its opening track "Override of the Overture."
Deicide is another one of the classic death metal bands. What's more, they're from Florida, making them even more brutal. Sure, they're one of the most controversial bands and frontman Glen Benton doesn't actually seem like the most pleasant guy to be around. But that's exactly what makes Deicide so appealing.
Up next, it's Suffocation with the title track off of their 1995 album "Pierced from Within." The song shows both extreme ends of death metal, ranging from insanely fast blast beats down to super-slow breakdowns. And all that with some super-scooped guitar tones.
Although we can define them as death metal, Gojira are just something else. They've practically founded their own genre within the genre, bringing unconventional elements and yet, somehow, making it all incredibly appealing, sometimes even catchy. "The Art of Dying" is probably one of the heaviest pieces ever recorded. And it's not even their heavi...
- Death - Symbolic. Expectedly so, many Death albums were nominated for this list. Basically, we could put entire discography by the famous Chuck Schuldiner-led band.
- Opeth - Blackwater Park. Hey, Mikael, we know that you probably won't ever release another Opeth album with growls. But just know that many death metal fans really miss this in your music.
- Carcass - Heartwork. The same city that gave us The Beatles also brought death metal champions Carcass. And it seems that only the good stuff originates from Britain, as they're considered to be the pioneers of the grindcore movement.
- Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness. Was there ever a more suiting name and more suiting artwork than those for Morbid Angel's debut album? "Altars of Madness" is just what you'd expect from a bunch of late-1980s angry Florida dudes.
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- Death - Symbolic (1995) There are more extreme death metal albums, musically and lyrically. But none is as visionary as Death’s sixth and penultimate album Symbolic.
- Morbid Angel – Altars Of Madness (1989) Rightly hailed as a landmark for the emerging death metal Morbid Angel’s 1989 debut, Altars Of Madness, set the bar so high for the entire genre that people are still trying to match its brutal splendour more than 30 years later.
- Carcass – Heartwork (1993) The gore-fixated gods of grind streamlined their sound on their penultimate 90s record. The result was the finest British extreme metal album of the decade.
- Death – Human (1991) Hot on the heels of its predecessor, Human undoubtedly saw an exponential leap forward in innovation. With Chuck Schuldiner surrounded by the most virtuosic collection of members in the band’s history, it was no wonder this multifaceted masterpiece became Death’s best selling, and highest acclaimed album.
- Entombed – Clandestine (1991) If their debut album put Swedish death metal firmly on the map, Entombed’s second was all about showing who was boss. Clandestine sounded immaculate: furious and visceral but majestic and precise, with more hooks than an angler’s tackle-bag and some of the most lethal riffs ever written in the name of the Dark One.
- Dismember – Like An Ever Flowing Stream (1991) A cast-iron classic from the seminal Stockholm scene of the early 90s, Like An Ever Flowing Stream sits alongside Entombed’s Left Hand Path as an absolute pinnacle of Swedish death metal.
- Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales (1984) The first fruits of Tom G. Warrior’s post-Hellhammer endeavour, Celtic Frost’s Morbid Tales pre-dates more standard notions death metal by a couple of years, but the musical and spiritual connections between songs like Dethroned Emperor and just about every death metal band ever is impossible to deny.
- Napalm Death – Utopia Banished (1992) As explosive as ever but sounding considerably bigger and dirtier than they had on 1990’s Scott Burns-produced Harmony Corruption, Napalm Death sounded reborn on Utopia Banished, which is widely regarded as a benchmark release for both the band and extreme music in general.
Dec 1, 2009 · MORBID ANGEL—Altars of Madness (Earache/Relativity, 1989) When it comes to musicianship, few death metal bands can compete with Florida-based veterans Morbid Angel, past or present. Altars of Madness, Morbid’s 1989 debut album, featured some of the scariest and most musically complex music in the death metal’s history.
Dec 3, 2018 · Nightmares Made Flesh (2004) 88. Nuclear Death. Bride of Insect (1990) 87. Nocturnus. The Key (1990) 86. Pan.Thy.Monium.
