Brutal/Slam Death Metal
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ShredHeadJHJ
oh noes itz a opinionn
Zephyrus
Tyrants and Slaves
Next up in the rotation comes the Colombians, Goretrade. I gave Perception of Hate a focused listen, and was again impressed despite the high standards set by WORMED last night. Now these guys didn't impact me as greatly as WORMED did, but it was an enjoyable listen regardless.
The Pro's:
-Best riffs so far of the BDM bands I've been subjected to. They were impressively dynamic, using the better portion of the fret board to create more colorful riffs than the slam bands I've grown accustomed to.
-More interesting and engaging, kept me toe-tapping the whole way through. These guys are outstanding musicians.
-The production is clean yet encompassing, with a nice crunch. I felt more within the music rather than listening at (to) it.
Con's:
-Drums were under-represented in the mix. And even if they were, they didn't match the musicianship of the guitarists. There were some great beats, but nothing outstanding, just appropriate.
-Vocals were competent but just as under-represented as the drums.
-Despite all their merits, they just fail to surpass WORMED in most categories, especially in the percussion and vocal department.
Overall, this listen was a positive experience. I would assess these guys as somewhat a cross between WORMED and Vader.
Although satisfied, I still require a palette cleanser, so I'm giving Quintessence a spin to restore the flow of positive chi.
The Pro's:
-Best riffs so far of the BDM bands I've been subjected to. They were impressively dynamic, using the better portion of the fret board to create more colorful riffs than the slam bands I've grown accustomed to.
-More interesting and engaging, kept me toe-tapping the whole way through. These guys are outstanding musicians.
-The production is clean yet encompassing, with a nice crunch. I felt more within the music rather than listening at (to) it.
Con's:
-Drums were under-represented in the mix. And even if they were, they didn't match the musicianship of the guitarists. There were some great beats, but nothing outstanding, just appropriate.
-Vocals were competent but just as under-represented as the drums.
-Despite all their merits, they just fail to surpass WORMED in most categories, especially in the percussion and vocal department.
Overall, this listen was a positive experience. I would assess these guys as somewhat a cross between WORMED and Vader.
Although satisfied, I still require a palette cleanser, so I'm giving Quintessence a spin to restore the flow of positive chi.
V.V.V.V.V.
Houses Ov Mercury
Just cuz Nick types Wormed in caps doesn't mean that's how it's supposed to be spelled. 
Though it probably more extreme...and brutal. So, I dunno...yer call...
Good to hear you're at least getting into it, man. Welcome to the club.
Though it probably more extreme...and brutal. So, I dunno...yer call...Good to hear you're at least getting into it, man. Welcome to the club.
Zephyrus
Tyrants and Slaves
I'm liking most of what I've been given to listen to, but the memorability factor still remains at a significant deficit. That and, of course, atmosphere and passion.
V.V.V.V.V.
Houses Ov Mercury
The passion in both bands is obvious in how primitive and slogging they are. It's mainly apparent that brutal bands have a lot of passion when they play with conviction, they believe in every slam pounding your face in, and they know how to write music well. Almost like every other genre. I eventually learned to find the passion in every kind of metal, and I feel like everyone will with time (as long as they want to).
By the way, I know almost every part on Planisphaerium back to front.
By the way, I know almost every part on Planisphaerium back to front.
ShredHeadJHJ
oh noes itz a opinionn
Don't work through that stuff too fast Zeph, you'll never absorb any of it. As simple as the music is that Devourment write I still haven't been able to completely absorb what they do yet. That usually takes a little while longer than a week. I'd say stuff really starts to sink in with me after I've been listeniung to something quite a bit for a month. Some stuff I can listen to 3 times a day & it will never really sink in & become memorable though.
EDIT: I have a question for you guys. Do you actually understand what the guy from Decapitated is saying on Molesting the Decapitated??? If you truly understand what he says then I think you have some sort of superhuman power. I can't understand any of it (not that it really matters). I actually dug up the lyrics to "Festering Vomitous Mass" & tried to read along with him & I still couldn't understand what the hell he was saying. Props to you guys who truly understand every word
By the way, I have nothing against music I can't understand, but that stuff is really out there comprehendability wise.
EDIT: I have a question for you guys. Do you actually understand what the guy from Decapitated is saying on Molesting the Decapitated??? If you truly understand what he says then I think you have some sort of superhuman power. I can't understand any of it (not that it really matters). I actually dug up the lyrics to "Festering Vomitous Mass" & tried to read along with him & I still couldn't understand what the hell he was saying. Props to you guys who truly understand every word
By the way, I have nothing against music I can't understand, but that stuff is really out there comprehendability wise.
Catastrophic
Pokemon Master
This is the thread for discussing all things Slam Death, whether you love it like me, or hate it like most people here.
My favorite bands of the genre are Devourment, Dying Fetus, Vomit Remnants, Infected Malignity, Godless Truth, Smashed Face, Digested Flesh and Inhuman Dissiliency. I love all the grooves, breakdowns, and blastbeats, and of course the guttural vocals.
Dying Fetus isn't Slam. Slam are bands like Waking The Cadaver and infernal Revulsion.
ohiogrinder
New Metal Member
- Mar 15, 2006
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First of all, nice work responding the first post which is over a year old. Secondly I have learned a lot since then and Waking the Cadaver, while pretty catchy, really aren't that great. Dying Fetus certainly has plenty of slam parts and is an inspiration to many bands (listen to Vomit Remnants). Infernal Revulsion are fabulous.
Shredhead: I can't understand any of the words besides the "KAW PRO FAY JUH" in Postmortal Coprophagia and frankly it doesn't matter to me one bit. The vocals are just another instrument in death metal as far as I am concerned, and I want them sounding as deep and sick as possible.
About memorability: Good slams are pretty memorable and the ones on Molesting the Decapitated certainly are memorable. However you aren't going to get catchy melodies and choruses, so don't expect to have songs really stick out in your head all that often. Just listen to the music as it goes by and remember how it felt.
An example of this is Disgorge - Cranial Impalement. I'd be hard pressed to repeat a song or even a riff on there after I hear it. However I just remember absolutely loving it every time, and every time I listen to I remember why. Sure I remember the general sound of it, but not individual things. I guess it's just a different listening method than other genres.
I am loving the Molesting the Decapitated track that DEVOURMENT have playing on their myspace. I am loving the start of the song with the slams, but the snares sound so thin.
imo the title track is the weakest (not saying much) on that album. They all have their upsides though. The snare is a little different but the super fast snare rolls they do rule.
I was honestly going to pick up that album today when I saw it...
...then I saw Splatterthrash by Ghoul.
No debate there for what to buy.
...then I saw Splatterthrash by Ghoul.
No debate there for what to buy.
ShredHeadJHJ
oh noes itz a opinionn
OK whew! I heard all this talk of lyrics & I thought maybe some of you guys understand them. I think somebody said they don't like Devourment because of the lyrics, however since when do the lyrics matter if you can't understand them.
I too look at vocals as another instrument. I can really get into a person's voice & I rarely ever give a shit what they are saying. I listen to music that I can understand sometimes & I still dont't follow what the hell they are saying. I'll read a book if I want to find meaning behind words, but I do respect when someone can write intelligible lyrics to go with their music.
Devourment are kinda memorable & catchy compared to a lot of stuff. I never tried to imply that they were necessarily not memorable & I'm sorry if it came off that way. Like you said CC, you're not getting melody lines & choruses with them, so there you go.
I too look at vocals as another instrument. I can really get into a person's voice & I rarely ever give a shit what they are saying. I listen to music that I can understand sometimes & I still dont't follow what the hell they are saying. I'll read a book if I want to find meaning behind words, but I do respect when someone can write intelligible lyrics to go with their music.
Devourment are kinda memorable & catchy compared to a lot of stuff. I never tried to imply that they were necessarily not memorable & I'm sorry if it came off that way. Like you said CC, you're not getting melody lines & choruses with them, so there you go.
Lyrics only really matter to me if they are about something appropriate. Beyond that I don't care too much. I do enjoy reading good lyrics though, but I see it mainly as a bonus, not something I look for.
I was mainly referring to Zeph about the memorability thing, but it is a complaint that is often leveled at slam death. I think it's stupid to expect music structured in this way to be super memorable.
ShredHeadJHJ
oh noes itz a opinionn
V.V.V.V.V.
Houses Ov Mercury
With Slam or Grind I can only really understand the lyrics after I read them once or twice. After I've made the sounds myself I can get some basic understanding of the words, though of course it's still quite difficult.
Helps with my vocal practice as well, which is always a plus.
Helps with my vocal practice as well, which is always a plus.
Zephyrus
Tyrants and Slaves
And of course whenever someone discredits a band/genre's memorability, those bands' supporters say "well sorry it's not all catchy melodies and choruses". Did you think I was expecting all this when listening to these bands? Memorability extends beyond shallow facades of melody, it extends to distinctiveness between riffs and songs. Now be aware I'm only giving my first impression, so you can track my progress through my adjustment to this brand of music. What's frustrating is that I'm diving into this genre while already accustomed to most of genres of metal. This makes in different from just diving in having little experience in extreme metal, the difference being that I've grown an ear for extreme metal and I should expect myself to readily distinguish a good song from a bad song. That's the enigma of brutal/slam death metal: it requires even the most seasoned metalheads to go back to the beginning, when they were first testing the turbid waters of metal. These waters take just as much time adjusting to as was the ocean of metal we all tried to dive into at the beginning of our existence as metalheads. And here we see why the genre is written off so quickly, because people never take enough time to adjust to this new sound.
Well I think I just addressed my own issue with a response you would have similarly given. In summary, I'm willing to commit to a paced conversion to this kind of metal, because I know the more time you take to get used to it, the more rewarding it becomes.
I remember how long it took me to get into Black Metal, having to slowly deconstruct my religious/moral barriers in order to feel comfortable listening to even the most anti-religious bands. For brutal death, the common theme is also a road-block to me, as I'm not at all a fan of the death/murder/gore aesthetic, evidenced by my preference for Wormed (in small caps, thanks V5).
Well I think I just addressed my own issue with a response you would have similarly given. In summary, I'm willing to commit to a paced conversion to this kind of metal, because I know the more time you take to get used to it, the more rewarding it becomes.
I remember how long it took me to get into Black Metal, having to slowly deconstruct my religious/moral barriers in order to feel comfortable listening to even the most anti-religious bands. For brutal death, the common theme is also a road-block to me, as I'm not at all a fan of the death/murder/gore aesthetic, evidenced by my preference for Wormed (in small caps, thanks V5).
EDIT: I have a question for you guys. Do you actually understand what the guy from Decapitated is saying on Molesting the Decapitated??? If you truly understand what he says then I think you have some sort of superhuman power. I can't understand any of it (not that it really matters). I actually dug up the lyrics to "Festering Vomitous Mass" & tried to read along with him & I still couldn't understand what the hell he was saying. Props to you guys who truly understand every word
Nah I certainly can't. Up to a point in most extreme metal it was pretty easy to sync up the lyrics in the liner notes with what I was actually hearing (grind being an exception. I still can't really make my way through a lot of old Napalm Death tunes). Somewhere along the line when brutal death was really developing (mid-/late-90s presumably), the vocalists apparently started taking cues from the grind bands and gurgled their way through the words so relentlessly that it's just completely asinine to try following along. Brodequin is a classic example of that, for instance.
Not that it really bothered me much, but it did take a little bit of getting used to. I do remember Molesting being one of the first examples of that I heard when it came out, and it was a little different considering I'd been more accustomed to, say, Death and Vader, whose lyrics were much more easily deciphered.
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