Greatest Death Metal Release (no bullshit 'top ten' lists!)

i'll go with vital remains - dechristianize. it may not have the youthful energy of deicide's first two albums, but the songs are very well-crafted for a death metal album and the guys just perform great.
 
My choice would have to be Carcass - Heartwork.
Amazing songs, amazing riffs, amazing solos... and a pioneering work.

From the more brutal side of death I'd say Morbid Angel - Formulas Fatal to the Flesh. I just love that album despite the few filler tracks. The songs, riffs and solos are amazing here as well. I'm also keen on the Cthulhu mythology and theme albums, so the consistent lyrical theme also suits me just fine.

Of course all the Opeth albums would be on par here, but I have to exclude them for being pretty obvious choices... or something like that :p
 
So far, there have been three legit responses to this thread. If you don't know what death metal is or don't listen to it, why participate?
 
So far, there have been three legit responses to this thread. If you don't know what death metal is or don't listen to it, why participate?

Forgive me for being a clueless newbie here, but you seem to be quite an authority around here on this type of stuff. Mind enlightening me as to which responses were "legit", since apparently only you and 3 others in this thread meet the qualifications necessary to say what qualifies as death metal?
 
So far, the legit responses include:

The Red in the Sky is Ours

Like an Everflowing Stream

Deicide

The rest are either not death metal at all (Gojira?!! Does the fucker that posted that one even know what ears are?) or are mediocre recent albums from painfully generic bands (wake me up when Nile has an actual thought, please).
 
Well, I haven't heard quite a few of the bands listed in this thread, so I won't debate those, but since the thread poster himself said "Also, yes, progressive stuff like Opeth counts, as does melodeath, techdeath... any kind of death metal", I think that any response that listed Opeth is probably legit, at least. Even though they released lots of stuff that isn't metal at all, they are a progressive death metal band overall, no?

And what the fuck are Bloodbath and Death, if not death metal?

And yeah, how the fuck is Morbid Angel not death metal also?
 
So... Morbid Angel isn't death metal?

Sure they are, but Formulas Fatal to the Flesh is widely recognized as one of their weakest albums. A good case could be made for Altars of Madness or (especially) Blessed are the Sick (and Covenant at least wouldn't be an embarassing suggestion), but Formulas... aspires to be mediocre one day, though it hasn't yet reached that lofty plateau.
 
Well, I haven't heard quite a few of the bands listed in this thread, so I won't debate those, but since the thread poster himself said "Also, yes, progressive stuff like Opeth counts, as does melodeath, techdeath... any kind of death metal"

He can say whatever he wants: it doesn't make it so. You can give it a catchy name, but Opeth is not and never was death metal of any sort.

And what the fuck are Bloodbath

Death metal. Mediocre, generic, unoriginal death metal. The point here is that no actual death metal fans with any historical perspective at all even listen to this band, much less grant it legendary status.

and Death, if not death metal?

The albums listed in this thread aren't even remotely close to being death metal records. Leprosy? Sure. Symbolic? It's about as close to 'death metal' as Avril Lavigne is to hardcore.
 
Sure they are, but Formulas Fatal to the Flesh is widely recognized as one of their weakest albums. A good case could be made for Altars of Madness or (especially) Blessed are the Sick (and Covenant at least wouldn't be an embarassing suggestion), but Formulas... aspires to be mediocre one day, though it hasn't yet reached that lofty plateau.

The thread starter specifically asked for DM albums that we love the most, not the ones that are "widely recognized" as classics. I just happen to like Formulas more than the albums you listed, even though they are extremely good as well. And fighting over opinions is a bit silly anyways.
 
heh.. give up the damn elitism. sure.. gothenburg can't be classified as Death Metal, but Death and Bloodbath are legit answers. I do agree that Bloodbath is more of a novelty act (a very good one though!) than a legendary band.
 
The thread starter specifically asked for DM albums that we love the most, not the ones that are "widely recognized" as classics. I just happen to like Formulas more than the albums you listed, even though they are extremely good as well. And fighting over opinions is a bit silly anyways.

He asked for the GREATEST albums. Not "albums you bought last week and have played several times."

Greatness, by definition, means something more than "Well, I really like it."
 
He asked for the GREATEST albums. Not "albums you bought last week and have played several times."

Greatness, by definition, means something more than "Well, I really like it."

I've had Formulas since it was released in 1998, and it's my favourite death metal album (Obviously from your point of view Carcass doesn't count). I think that qualifies it as a valid entry by me.