How do you like Death Metal?

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Caecius

Caecius

Doomed Traveler
Sep 30, 2007
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I respect all genres of music, but I am having a rough time figuring out how people listen to Death Metal. I didn't make this to bash people that like it, considering probably 99.9 % of people on the site like it from all the posts I read, and all the recommendations. I just want some kind of explanation on why people like Death Metal? Is it because you want something really brutal, you don't want people singing along, something to mosh to, or something else? Just any input on why you like the genre would be helpful.

Just to give you a little background about me, I'm 19 and have only been listening to metal seriously for about 6 months. Before that 6 months, for about two years, I really liked Nu-Metal, Alt Metal, Grunge (Korn, Godsmack, Disturbed, STP, Alice In Chains etc). But then I discovered Metallica's first 3 CDs and absolutely loved them. After that I printed out a list of Thrash Metal Bands and have been going down the list since then. I like mostly clean vocals, but I have noticed that I have been getting heavier and heavier. Is this the road to Death Metal?

But back to the question, How did you start listening to Death Metal and why do you like it?
 
I suppose I like it due to its brutality. When I first heard it I was slightly scared of it and was somewhat appalled by it, but for some reason I felt compelled to listen again and again, and you learn to love it.
 
I think it's an acquired taste.

If you like thrash, then I suggest exploring that genre. There are a lot of older Death-thrash bands around you might eventually get into.
 
Korn, Godsmack, and Disturbed are Nu-Metal, not Grunge.

Grunge = Mudhoney, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, etc.

it is a dead scene.

and I like Death Metal, or at least the Death Metal that I enjoy, for its atmosphere, as one poster already stated before me. The melodies, the intensity, and the purity of the artform also appeal to me.
 
Perdition's Light said:
Korn, Godsmack, and Disturbed are Nu-Metal, not Grunge.

Grunge = Mudhoney, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, etc.

it is a dead scene.

and I like Death Metal, or at least the Death Metal that I enjoy, for its atmosphere, as one poster already stated before me. The melodies, the intensity, and the purity of the artform also appeal to me.
Click to expand...

I was just listing bands I liked, I didn't mean to make it seem like I was listing them as grunge.
 
Well the first thing I liked about it was how intense and "brutal" it is -- it set it on such a different plane than every other thing I had ever heard. But now adays when I listen to "extreme" metal it doesn't even seem extreme at all to me anymore. Now I like it because it is such impressive and enjoyable music. As somebody who breathed rock for years, extreme metal is so complex and unconventional. It's a dark and specific style that is just so much fun and interesting musically.

As for how to get into death metal... well this will probably sound like a dick suggestion but it's all I can think of. One of the things that helped get me into more brutal forms of metal after my Metallica days was chewing Salvia Divinorum. A real simple drug with a 30 minute trip that for me turns a Dimmu Borgir song into a journey on foot from Asia to America... or something. That was far from the only thing that got me into extreme metal, but when I started doing that it was right when extreme metal went from something that I was mildly interested in into something I loved.
 
SouthernTrendkill said:
after my Metallica days was chewing Salvia Divinorum. A real simple drug with a 30 minute trip that for me turns a Dimmu Borgir song into a journey on foot from Asia to America... or something. That was far from the only thing that got me into extreme metal, but when I started doing that it was right when extreme metal went from something that I was mildly interested in into something I loved.
Click to expand...

LOL WUT?

z
 
deth metul iz so brooooootal ja?

I got into it through melodeath (ugh...) for the record, Gothenburg stuff like In Flames and Arch Enemy
 
howudoin1861 said:
Just to give you a little background about me, I'm 19 and have only been listening to metal seriously for about 6 months. Before that 6 months, for about two years, I really liked Nu-Metal, Alt Metal, Grunge (Korn, Godsmack, Disturbed, STP, Alice In Chains etc).
Click to expand...

Personally, I think this answers your question. I used to be similar- got into metal after listening to harder-end rock, followed by the then popular nu-metal trend (although I still listen to my Korn, Deftones, Spineshank and a few others, I'm also glad there are a few CD's that I don't know where they are any more).
Indeed, for several years, I deliberately avoided listening to death metal, in a way I suspect you also do. This is primarily as what little experience I had with the genre was thanks to one friend who played me Cannibal Corpse and Deicide a few times, which at the time I simply thought was, on the whole, badly constructed noise.
But, around the same time, I started listening to more extreme stuff- Pantera, Slayer and, personally, Fear Factory provided a gateway into heavier music. For want of a better explanation, I became desensitized to the heaviness of the sound. This was followed, in a manner I'm sure more than a few people on this forum will find familiar, with odd bits of death (and other extreme sub-genres) started creeping into my collection- Decapitated in particular being an early one to open my eyes (and ears) to the genre, as well as Napalm Death further testing my limits. Additionally, my first listening of melodic death (At The Gates' Slaughter Of The Soul- yes, I know it's not that true to their earlier stuff, but I'm telling a story here) also taught me that death metal need not be at the more extreme end of metal.
However, it's really been in the last 2 years that I've really started listening to a variety of bands within the genre, and the key reason is this- nu-metal, metalcore, and all the other entry level stuff that gets many into metal is fine, but can get a bit dull after a while (!), and there are relatively few acts that are both accessible to the masses and vaguely extreme. So, for real skill and musicianship, particularly for quantity and variety, you have to delve into death and other such extreme sub-genres. Also, although they're not my favourite vocal style, I have become accustomed to the presence of deep, grunted vocals in my music (one of my earlier key complaints about death metal), so that I can appreciate the other instruments better, which always helps (I've always been most drawn to vocals as a single instrument to listen too, hence them being so important to me).
In short, in my experience, once you're used to the extremity of the sound, you can start to appreciate the actual music and the skill behind it (as a side note, I still don't like Cannibal Corpse or Deicide).
Well, that's my story anyway.

My advice to you (if you want to give it a go) would be to start with some less extreme death metal (and other sub-genres), e.g. Dark Tranquillity, Carcass and Opeth, and for a particularly melodic sound, In Flames. Then push the boundaries- I particularly recommend Vader for doing this, as they are pretty extreme without being inaccessible, and also downright kick ass. Same goes for Decapitated, (if the death grunt/ cookie monster vocals bother you in particular, go for the Organic Hallucinosis album). I'm sure there are plenty of other fine recommendations in the thread of the same name.
Or, you might just out right hate death metal for all eternity- won't know unless you have an open mind about it though. Hope this (rather epic) post helps your curiosity.
 
its all about the technicality for me. ive since gotten into more atmospheric styles of metal, but when i first started listening to DM, it was all about non stop technicality.
~gR~
 
howudoin1861 said:
I like mostly clean vocals, but I have noticed that I have been getting heavier and heavier. Is this the road to Death Metal?

But back to the question, How did you start listening to Death Metal and why do you like it?
Click to expand...

I went down a similar path at first hating screaming and growls, but still liking heavier music, eventually I started listening to heavier stuff that mixed the two, and I just used to it enough that I didn't mind if a band did nothing but screams or growls.

I listen to it because I like heavy music, and death metal is some of the heaviest. It just sounds better to me than a lot of other metal genres do.
 
Thanks for the post Billenzimmer. My biggest problem with death metal is the vocals, but the rest I like. I like variety, and like to try new things, so I will definitely give death metal more then a few listens. I use to just listen to death metal on a metal station till the vocals came in and just skipped the song.
 
When I first heard it I fell in love; it's the atmosphere, the tonality & color of every instrument, the flow. It's just beautiful to me.
 
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