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Brutal death metal

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Brutal death metal
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsEarly 1990s, New York, United States
Typical instrumentsElectric guitar, bass guitar, drums, vocals
Subgenres
Slam death metal
Other topics
Beatdown hardcore, deathcore

Brutal death metal is a subgenre of death metal that privileges heaviness, speed and complex rhythms over other aspects, such as melody and timbres. The genre was pioneered in the early 1990s by Suffocation and other groups from New York including Mortician, Skinless and Malignancy. Its subgenre slam death metal quickly developed, played by Internal Bleeding, Devourment and Cephalotripsy, putting a greater emphasis on the genre's mid-tempo, groove sections and breakdowns. During the mid–1990s, a prominent wave of groups emphasising the genre's more technical aspects developed with Cryptopsy, Nile, Origin and Dying Fetus. During the mid–2000s, there was a revived interest in brutal death metal and slam, a period which produced Katalepsy and Ingested, and saw groups lean into cleaner production styles.

Characteristics

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Suffocation popularised brutal death metal on Effigy of the Forgotten (1991)

Brutal death metal is characterised by its use of death growls deeper than convention death metal vocals (usually referred to as "gutturals" to distinguish from regular growls), tempos that are either groove driven or incredibly high tempo, downtuned guitars and pinch harmonics. It often includes lyrics discussing gore, influenced by those in goregrind.[1] Metal Hammer editor Dom Lawson also cited the influence of New York hardcore as a key part of the sound.[2] Academic Michelle Phillipov defined it as "privileg[ing] heaviness, speed, and rhythmic complexity over conventional signifiers of melody and tunefulness."[3]

History

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Precursors

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"Brutal" as an adjective to describe death metal existed since the genre's origins. Czech band Krabathor released the Brutal Death demo tape in 1988,[4] while Swedish band Carnage formed the same year and self-described as brutal death metal.[5]

Loudwire credited Altars of Madness (1989) as the album that "redefined what it meant to be heavy while influencing an upcoming class of brutal death metal."[6] Academic Michelle Phillipov credited Cannibal Corpse's albums Eaten Back to Life (1990) and Butchered at Birth (1991) as "important precursors" of the brutal death metal genre, due to their complex rhythms, speed, staccato vocals patterns, palm muted guitar riffs and lack of melody.[3] The albums also helped to popularise the cartoonish gore imagery and lyrics which would come to be present in the genre.[7] At the time of their release, these albums were purely considered brutal death metal.[8]

Origins

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According to Loudwire, brutal death metal is widely considered to have been pioneered by Long Island, New York band, Suffocation, formed in 1988, and popularised on their debut album Effigy of the Forgotten (1991).[9] Influenced by Florida death metal and New York hardcore,[10] they created a sound which put an emphasis on slow, rhythmic, palm muted guitar riffs written in order to encourage moshing, which would later be termed "slam riffs", as well as downtuned guitars, breakdowns and time and tempo changes. Their style came to define the sound of New York death metal.[11] Vocalist Frank Mullen originating a style of death growl that was deeper than those of prior death metal bands.[12]

Many of the other early brutal death metal groups were too formed in New York, including Immolation,[13] Incantation,[14] Mortician,[15][16] Skinless.[17][18] and Malignancy.[13] One sect of this scene, which included Internal Bleeding and Pyrexia, put a greater focus on the hardcore-inspired grooves and breakdowns, helping to pioneer the subgenre slam death metal.[19][20] Decibel writer Dutch Pearce also credited Deeds of Flesh from Los Osos, California as a pioneer of brutal death metal.[21]

Developments

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Dying Fetus, one of the most prominent acts to merge brutal death metal with technical instrumentation

In the mid–1990s, many bands began to push the genre into a more technically proficient direction, with Cryptopsy, Nile, Origin and Dying Fetus being forefront bands.[7][22][23] Revolver editor Eli Enis, described Dying Fetus, "at the forefront of brutal death metal for the last three decades", by also putting an emphasis on the groovey riffing style of 1990s hardcore punk.[24]

In the late 1990s, a brutal death metal scene formed in the Netherlands which included Severe Torture, Pyaemia, Disavowed and Prostitute Disfigurement.[25]

By the 2010s, a prominent brutal death metal scene had formed in Russia. One of the frontrunners of this scene is Moscow's Katalepsy, whose debut album Autopsychosis (2013), was described by Distorted Sound writer Fraser Wilson as "a modern behemoth of slam", while their subsequent albums moved into a more technical brutal death metal sound.[26]

Slam death metal

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Slam death metal (also referred to simply as slam) is a subgenre of brutal death metal which focuses on the slam riffs. The genre originated from the 1990s New York death metal scene, incorporating elements of New York hardcore and hip hop music.[27][28] In contrast to other death metal styles, it is not generally focused on guitar solos and blast beats; instead, it employs mid-tempo rhythms, breakdowns and palm-muted riffing, as well as hip hop-inspired vocal and drum beat rhythms.[28] When blast beats are used, it is often traditional blasts and gravity blasts used only as accents. Syncopation between guitar and drums is also a focal point.[29]

The breakdown riff of Suffocation's "Liege of Inveracity" (1991) has been credited by Rolling Stone as the first slam riff in death metal.[30] The first wave of bands in the genre were New York bands like Internal Bleeding, Pyrexia and Afterbirth,[19][20][31] with notable groups from outside of this state from this time including Devourment[32] and Cephalotripsy.[33]

The name "slam" in reference to death metal was coined by the members of Internal Bleeding.[34] In a 2024 interview, Internal Bleeding guitarist Chris Pervelis explained that because the band's emphasis on groove was to encourage moshing, they originally called their music "mosh" metal, "barbaric mosh" or "death mosh". However, drummer Bill Tolley associated the word "mosh" with the jovial tone of Anthrax. To avoid this association Tolley pushed for the word "slam" due to its early hardcore origins.[35]

Russia's Katalepsy were a prominent slam death metal band in their early years

The popularity of deathcore and its shared interest in breakdowns led to a revived interest in slam beginning in the mid–2000s, seen through the popularity of groups including Infected Malignity and Abominable Putridity and the reformation of Devourment. This wave saw an increase in production quality in the genre, a contrast from the raw production of earlier bands.[7] This wave was largely based online, particularly on social media sites, with the Facebook group Slam Worldwide playing a major role in promotion.[36] This led to many groups forming outside of the genre's native United States, such as Extermination Dismemberment from Belarus, Coprocephalic from Taiwan, Acranius from Germany[37] and a number of groups from the Philippines: Human Mastication, Nekroholocaust, Cranial Torture, Pus Vomit, Projectile Vomit and Impulsive Emesis.[36] Furthermore, northern England, particularly Manchester and Liverpool, developed a scene during this wave, with groups including Ingested and Exhumation, as well as UK Slam Festival.[36][38] To the extent that Distorted Sound magazine called Manchester "Slamchester".[38] In a 2009 article by MetalSucks stated "slam is THE big thing in death metal right now, divisive as it is".[39]

Slam was integral to the development of the genres beatdown hardcore[40] and deathcore.[41] Furthermore, elements of its sound, particular its distinctive riffing style, has been incorporated into merged with various genres including hardcore, black metal and general death metal.[42]

References

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  1. ^ Sfetcu, Nicolae (7 May 2014). The Music Sound. Brutal death metal, developed by combining certain aspects of the song structures of goregrind with death metal. Brutal death metal is associated with bands like Disgorge, Devourment, Vomit Remnants, Wormed. One main characteristic of brutal death is the vocal style, often called "Cookie Monster" vocals, or "bullfrog" vocals, or most commonly known "guttural" vocals. The Lyrics are mostly gore related, sung in a slow and choppy manner, and usually following the guitar riffs. Secondly, the guitar riffs are usually chunky grooves or hyper fast, down-tuned, with pinch harmonics, with high gain outputs. Drumming is usually all over the place, from slow churning chunk, to blasting speed. Suffocation is probably one of the main influences for this style.
  2. ^ Lawson, Dom (10 December 2019). "Death metal: The bluffer's guide". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b Phillipov, Michelle (21 May 2014). Death Metal and Music Criticism: Analysis at the Limits. Lexington Books. p. 150. ISBN 978-0739197608. The albums Eaten Back to Life and Butchered at Birth are both important precursors of the death metal subgenre known as "brutal death metal," a style which privileges heaviness, speed, and rhythmic complexity over conventional signifiers of melody and tunefulness. As a result, Cannibal Corpse offers few musical gestures towards traditional heavy metal, instead combining prominent drumming with deep, often staccato-style growled vocals and high speed, palm-muted power chords and single-note riffs.
  4. ^ Mudrian, Albert (2004). Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore. Feral House. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-932595-04-8. In Czechoslovakia, however, actual recording studios wouldn't even accept the rapidly developing death metal sounds of Krabathor. The band managed to record a trio of demo tapes—Breath of Death, Total Destruction and Brutal Death—on a friend's homemade mixing board in a small rehearsal room, but only after Christopher was forced by the government to enlist in the Czech army for 10 months and 22 days in 1989
  5. ^ Mudrian, Albert (2004). Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore. Feral House. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-932595-04-8. I think we do have death metal elements," [Michael Amott] continues. "We used to call Carnage brutal death metal, but I've kinda moved away a little bit from categorizing stuff. We didn't even do that with Carcass. We didn't call that death metal then. And when I joined, they just wanted to call it metal. But I guess that's typical of every musician—you don't wanna categorize your music. You don't wanna put it in that box. That said, there will always be death metal in Arch Enemy, because that music is in my blood.
  6. ^ "No. 4: Morbid Angel, 'Altars of Madness' – Best Debut Metal Albums". Loudwire. June 6, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c "BEST OF – BRUTAL DEATH METAL". 15 May 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  8. ^ Purcell, Natalie J. (17 September 2015). Death Metal Music The Passion and Politics of a Subculture. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. pp. 64, 66. In 1990 Florida saw the debut of the extremely influential Cannibal Corpse. With little contention, Cannibal Corpse's first album, Eaten Back to Life, was deemed pure, brutal death metal. The album (which was the first Death Metal album released by America's Metal Blade Records) included disgusting gore lyrics sung in the remarkably low and unintelligible voice of Chris Barnes... The early 1990s also saw the release of Cannibal Corpse's second album, Butchered at Birth (1991). With the album's harsh, barely-tuned guitars, most fans saw it as pure, brutal death metal
  9. ^ Hartmann, Graham (6 June 2013). "No. 14: Suffocation, 'Effigy of the Forgotten' – Best Debut Metal Albums". Loudwire. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  10. ^ Criado, Justin. "Death-Metal Legend Suffocation Is Still Slamming". Westword. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  11. ^ Phillipov, Michelle (21 May 2014). Death Metal and Music Criticism: Analysis at the Limits. Lexington Books. p. 150. ISBN 978-0739197608. As important as the Florida sound has been in the global Death Metal scene, its significance is matched by the New York style of Death Metal. Matthew Harvey writes that "the New York style of Death Metal is based around down-tuned, muscular, palm-muted 'slam' riffs that are ideal for moshing." Suffocation is generally credited with defining the New York style. Suffocation's Human Waste EP and Effigy of the Forgotten album incorporated many of the elements of the Floridian style but added an emphasis on rhythm and frequent time and tempo changes. "Suffocation created churning, crushing breakdowns which would become the mark of the New York style of Death Metal," writes Medeiros. This sound became increasingly popular in the mid–1990s. Slow "slam" riffs helped bands like Internal Bleeding and Pyrexia, inspired by Suffocation, to become successful in the mid 1990s.
  12. ^ Hartmann, Graham (9 September 2016). "10 Greatest Guttural + Harsh Vocalists in Metal". Loudwire. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  13. ^ a b FALZON, DENISE. "Immolation". Exclaim!. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  14. ^ Mudrian, Albert (2004). Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore. Feral House. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-932595-04-8. As Revenant were restructuring their lineup in August of 1989, guitarist John McEntee departed the group to start his own brutal death metal band, Incantation.
  15. ^ Christe, Ian (March 1997). "Mortician Hacked Up For Barbecue". CMJ New Music Monthly: 48. Mortician is two guys from Yonkers, NY, whose absolute love for metal pushes them to extremes. The band's starting point is plowing into traditional brutal death sounds, but its intensity and idiosyncrasies blossom into a nihilistic progression anchored in metal. It's a no-bullshit example of sonic distortion with a frequency response unlike any other.
  16. ^ "MORTICIAN TO PERFORM EXCLUSIVE FLORIDA SHOW IN JANUARY". Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  17. ^ "Reunited Skinless: 'We're Back To Destroy'". Blabbermouth.net. August 13, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  18. ^ "Trample The Weak, Hurdle the Dead Skinless". Blabbermouth.net. June 26, 2006. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  19. ^ a b Purcell, Natalie J. (September 17, 2015). Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture. McFarland & Company. p. 9. ISBN 9780786484065. Many New York style bands like Suffocation, Dying Fetus and Internal Bleeding are slam-orientated and bass-based; this sort of music promotes dancing with rapid shifts from low and slow to fast and blast.
  20. ^ a b Purcell, Natalie J. (September 17, 2015). Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture. McFarland & Company. p. 19. ISBN 9780786484065. Slow 'slam' riffs helped bands like Internal Bleeding and Pyrexia, inspired by Suffocation, to become successful in the mid 1990s. Today, New York style bands like Skinless and Dying Fetus dominate the scene with 'crowd-pleasing mosh riffs'
  21. ^ Pearce, Dutch (9 December 2020). "Album Premiere: Deeds of Flesh – "Nucleus"". Decibel. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  22. ^ Gehlke, David E. (13 August 2024). "KARL SANDERS Talks NILE's Longevity And Breaking Through In Early 2000s: 'We Were Doing What Made Us Happy'". Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  23. ^ "ORIGIN to Release Exclusive New Single, "Disease Called Man," via the Decibel Flexi Series". Decibel. 28 February 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  24. ^ Enis, Eli. "FAN POLL: 5 MOST BRUTAL BANDS OF ALL TIME". Revolver. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  25. ^ Netherton, Jason (5 April 2015). Extremity Retained: Notes From the Death Metal Underground. Handshake Inc. p. 204. Looking back at the '90s, even as big as Pestilence and Gorefest were then, it seemed like there was still not a Dutch band that made it that far and attained some form of longevity. But even in the mid-'90s, when things were a bit cooled off with death metal internationally, we still had really good shows in Holland. I remember going to shows like Suffocation and Deicide at the old Effenaar Club in Eindhoven, and the place would be packed out the doors. But even as the older bands were breaking up, the one band that was doing things and moving up in Holland at the time was God Dethroned. By the late '90s, there was a new generation of more brutal bands coming out, including Severe Torture, Pyaemia, Prostitute Disfigurement and Disavowed, which I think was a response to the brutal death metal movement that was
  26. ^ Wilson, Fraser (20 September 2020). "Katalepsy: The Future of Our Dying Race". Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  27. ^ "All About Death Metal: 5 Notable Death Metal Bands". Masterclass. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  28. ^ a b Wise, Lauren (April 14, 2015). "Discover Your Next Favorite Phoenix Metal Band at AZ Brutal Fest". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  29. ^ D, Sergeant (4 April 2011). "DEATHCORE VS SLAM METAL: HOW 2 TELL THEM APART". MetalSucks. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  30. ^ Shteamer, Hank (November 19, 2018). "Farewell, Frank Mullen: Suffocation's Death-Metal Maestro Goes Out on Top". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  31. ^ Sacher, Andrew. "Our 33 Favorite Metal Albums of 2023". Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  32. ^ Zorgdrager, Bradley (August 29, 2019). "How Brutal Death Metal Is Confronting Its Misogyny Problem". Kerrang!. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  33. ^ Butler, Will. "Cannabis Corpse - Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise LP". Don't be Swindle (1). Most standard death metal, and particularly its more brutal offshoots, is just too damn serious. Not too many people can enthusiastically back slam metal shit like Devourment or Cephalotripsy.
  34. ^ Enis, Eli. "10 MOST BRUTAL DEATH-METAL ALBUMS EVER: DYING FETUS' PICKS". Revolver. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  35. ^ Chris Pervelis (2024-10-15). Internal Bleeding Chris Pervelis: Long Island Death Metal and Inventing Slam (podcast). Garza Podcast. Event occurs at 10m. Retrieved 2024-10-17. I was talking about marketing the band, what we should do, and we were using the word "mosh". We used it a lot, we'd say "barbaric mosh", "death mosh", this that all that. Because that's our music, we stripped away most of the blast beats, we stripped away a lot of the speed and we said every song has to be groovy all the time, non-stop even the fast parts, your head has to [bob]... we're talking about "mosh" and Billy got mad, and he was like "You know what, I can't stand Anthrax and they use the word mosh and it's like a joke and we can't, we're a fucking 'slam' band. That's what we do." And I was like "That's fucking right, that's a hardcore term, I used that term in the '80s when I was going to Black Flag shows, nobody said "mosh", everybody said fucking "slam".
  36. ^ a b c Hassan, Nedim (16 September 2022). Metal on Merseyside: Music Scenes, Community and Locality. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 137, 180. Joe Mortimer [is] an independent promoter who has had experience of promoting metal gigs in Merseyside since 2005 and runs UK Slam Fest (2015–present), a national festival specializing in slam death metal... For instance, Chris Furlong, the vocalist for death metal band Exhumation, explained this process of sharing in the following way: It's like, we share it, obviously, each individual band member on our own profiles [shares]. Our many friends we've got will then see it but then there's all the groups that have been set up. You've got a Slam Worldwide [slam death metal international group] that's been set up, so we'll send it to [...] them, so then they'll share it for us, and then somebody else will share it for us, and then if you played with a bigger band, you'd tag them in it, and then all their fans will see it.
  37. ^ MUSTEIN0, DAVE (4 August 2014). "Slam Showcase: Extermination Dismemberment, Coprocephalic, Acranius, Leprous Divinity". MetalSucks. Retrieved 21 October 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  38. ^ a b Wilson, Fraser (17 October 2020). "Ingested: The Kings of Slamchester". Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  39. ^ O'HAGAR, SAMMY (2 September 2009). "A SLAM IS A SLAM IS A SLAM: NEW ENGLAND DEATHFEST, DAY 2". MetalSucks. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  40. ^ Heilman, Max (2 September 2021). "Rappers and Riffs: 5 Rap Metal Bands That Don't Suck". Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  41. ^ Smith-Engelhardt, Joe. "10 albums that inspired deathcore before it was a movement". Alternative Press. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  42. ^ "SLAMSDANK SLAMS: A Slam By Any Other Name Is Still A Slam (Within Destruction, Horned, Hateful Transgression, Open Wound, Begging For Incest, Infected Swarm)". October 27, 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
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