Death Metal

It's not like I've never heard these albums before. It's just a matter of the rarity of certain items becoming a higher immediate priority than other items, and albums by Obituary, Autopsy, Bolt Thrower, etc., are a lot easier to come by than, say, Castle, or Decomposed, or Atrocity.

I see your point.
 
Most of the bands that are talked about a lot on this board (in any genre) have cult status, so it's advisable to look into each in order to see what you're missing.
 
Chances are, if you're into death metal you've heard of Pestilence and Asphyx. They have a cult following by normal music standards but they're pretty well known when it comes to death metal in general.
 
Chances are, if you're into death metal you've heard of Pestilence and Asphyx. They have a cult following by normal music standards but they're pretty well known when it comes to death metal in general.

Exactly. Both bands were early death metal bands on major labels and pestilence was probably one of the bigger death metal acts so really how could you not have heard of them being into death metal.