Want input on list of essential Basic listening: Death Metal

[ravagingthemassacred]

I'm trying to develop a list for Basic death metal essentials. Please don't include anything melodic death, doom/death or symphonic unless it had a big impact on the death metal genre as a whole. So what bands or albums are missing? Should anything be excluded?

Possessed:
Seven Churches

Death:
Scream Bloody Gore
Leprosy
Spiritual Healing
Human

Dying Fetus:
Killing On Adrenaline

Dismember:
Like an Everflowing Stream

Necrophagist:
Onset of Putrefaction

Asphyx:
Death...the Brutal Way

Cynic:
Focus

Benediction:
Subconscious Terror

Nile:
Annihilation of the wicked

At The Gates:
The Red In The Sky Is Ours

Gorguts:
Considered Dead
Obscura

Devourment:
Molesting the Decapitated

Autopsy:
Severed survival
Mental Funeral

Disembowelment:
Transcendence into the peripheral

Vader:
Litany

Atheist:
Unquestionable Presence

Hypocrisy:
Penetralia
Virus

Bolt Thrower:
Realm of Chaos

Unleashed:
Where No Life Dwells

Incantation:
Onward to Golgotha

Morbid Angel:
Altars of madness
Blessed Are the Sick

Immolation:
Here In After

Entombed:
Left Hand Path
Clandestine

Suffocation:
Effigy of the Forgotten

Cannibal Corpse:
Tomb of the Mutilated

Demilich:
Nespithe

Darkthrone:
Soulside Journey

Deicide:
Deicide
Legion

Lykathea Aflame:
Elvenefris

Cryptopsy:
None So Vile

Carcass:
Symphonies of Sickness

Massacre:
From Beyond

Obituary:
Slowly we rot
Cause of Death

Ripping Corpse:
Dreaming with the dead

 

[Lateralus14]

For starters you're missing Final Holocaust and Morbid Visions and have a LOT of 2nd/3rd tier filler in there, I could comment more later.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

For starters you're missing Final Holocaust and Morbid Visions and have a LOT of 2nd/3rd tier filler in there, I could comment more later.

Really? Besides Disembowelment, and maybe Devourment and Unleashed, i'd say that list is pretty acurrate for what he is looking for. And as awesome as both of the albums you menitoned are, i dont think neither Final Holocaust or Morbid Visions(which is thrash/death)are essential death metal.

I'll throw some recs your way later.

 

[Lateralus14]

I'd definitely take out Devourment, Necrophagist, Nile, Vader, Hypocrisy, Entombed, Cannibal Corpse, Lykathea Aflame, and some individual albums. And definitely add Necrophobic, Demigod, maybe The Chasm, Septic Flesh, etc., idk...that's just at first glance.

 

[Lateralus14]

Oh shit, and Dying Fetus lol, they belong nowhere near an essentials list.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

I'd definitely take out Devourment, Necrophagist, Nile, Vader, Hypocrisy, Entombed, Cannibal Corpse, Lykathea Aflame, and some individual albums. And definitely add Necrophobic, Demigod, maybe The Chasm, Septic Flesh, etc., idk...that's just at first glance.

Wooowow ... i'm pretty fucking blown so i didn't see Hypocrisy and Dying Fetus on there, and even fucking deicide ... nothing essential there.

But everything else is pretty solid. The Chasm and Septic Flesh are both fucking awesome, but i wouldnt really say anything from them is essential, especially for someone who is just starting out with death metal.

Nile and Left Hand Path definiteley belong up there, no questions asked ... although i would say Dismember and Necrophobic are both much better bands than Entombed and have much better albums than LHP.

edit: Oh and the only Benediction album that should be anywhere near an essential list is Transcend the Rubicon ...

For Asphyx take that album out and put in one of their first two, i prefer The Rack, but you can't go wrong there ... and also i wouldn't consider Soulside Journey essential either.

and right off the bat i can tell you that your list needs to have Pestilence, preferably Consuming Impulse, which is one of the greatest death metal albums of all time.

 

[Lateralus14]

I was being generous on a lot of stuff. I wouldn't call things like The Chasm or Septic Flesh essential either but then again I would list about half the number of albums to begin with. I would probably only list 15-20 bands.

And yeah, forgot Pestilence.

 

[wandering_taco]

I know Cannibal Corpse isn't the most popular on this board, but you can't deny the influence they've had. I would say TotM is essential in developing basic listening for death metal. I mean, Hammer Smashed Face? I Cum Blood? Classics.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

I saw Benediction and thought it was a joke. That band does not belong on any lists aside from the "Boring, generic, lame, death metal used as a sleeping aid"

Demigod - Slumber Of Sullen Eyes
Rippikoulu - Musta Seremonia
Dead Congregation - Graves of the Archangels

Otherwise, that list was pretty solid.

 

[Lateralus14]

I love a lot of death metal but for someone just getting into the genre I would probably give them a shorter list like

Amorphis - The Karelian Isthmus
Asphyx - The Rack
At The Gates - The Red In The Sky Is Ours
Atheist - Unquestionable Presence
Autopsy - Mental Funeral
Death - Scream Bloody Gore
Deicide - Deicide
Deicide - Legion
Demigod - Slumber Of Sullen Eyes
Demilich - Nespithe
Dismember - Like An Everflowing Stream
Immolation - Dawn Of Possession
Incantation - Onward To Golgotha
Massacra - Final Holocaust
Merciless - The Awakening
Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness
Morbid Angel - Blessed Are The Sick
Necrophobic - The Nocturnal Silence
Pestilence - Consuming Impulse
Possessed - Seven Churches
Sepultura - Morbid Visions
Suffocation - Effigy Of The Forgotten
Therion - Beyond Sanctorum

These aren't necessarily my favorites, as I'd rather listen to some various obscure gems than things like Suffocation or Dismember generally, but I would consider these the most essential albums to understanding the broad scope of death metal.

 

[Allfader]

I consider Morbid Angel's Covenant essential too, even more than Blessed.

About Incantation, I would definitely add Mortal Throne of Nazarene, which is as good as OtG.

I also consider Portal as essential and one of the most original death metal acts nowadays. My fav album is Seepia, but Swarth it's already a classic too.

Death's Spiritual Healing essential? wtf. I would even take off the list Leprosy as well.

From Cannibal Corpse, I would add The Bleeding as well, but if I were to choose just 1 album per band, let it be Tomb.

About flawless death metal albums less exposed than the biggest names, I would heavily consider Disincarnate's Dreams of the Carrion Kind and Arghoslent's Galloping and Incorrigible.

Maybe it's too soon, but I think future bands/albums classics will be Impetuous Ritual, Dead Congregation, Disma, Sanguis Imperem, Dominus Xul and hopefully stuff like Voids of Vomit, Maim, Godless (chl), Tribulation, Miasmal, Venenum, etc.

 

[Krow]

I can't understand why people think Devourment isn't essential death metal. The band spawned an entire subgenre in death metal and hundreds of copy cats. How is that not important?

 

[ravagingthemassacred]

Skipping out on Sepultura, Kreator, Massacra and the like for the thrashiness. Taking out Ripping Corpse for the same reason. Excluding Hypocrisy, Benediction, and Dying Fetus seem fair for a basics list. I'm considering taking out Disembowelment as well.

I want to keep 2 Death albums; after SBG, which should be the second?

Does anyone think Bloodbath, Malevolent Creation, or Nocturnus should be included? Should Dawn of Possession replace Here In After?

Why do you think The Chasm, Therion, and Necrophobic belong on the list?


Added:
Pestilence - Consuming Impulse
Immolation - Dawn of Possession
Demigod - Slumber of Sullen Eyes
Dead Congregation - Graves of the Archangels
Asphyx - The Rack (replacing Death..The Brutal Way)
Amorphis - Tales From the Thousand Lakes

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

I want to keep 2 Death albums; after SBG, which should be the second?

You cant go wrong with any of their first four and Symbolic. I'd personally pick Leprosy for early Death and Symbolic for later Death. Just go with the two you like the most.

Does anyone think Bloodbath, Malevolent Creation, or Nocturnus should be included? Should Dawn of Possession replace Here In After?

I wouldnt throw any of those three bands on the list, especially Bloodbath. Also wouldn't replace HiA with DoP, but you can't go wrong either way.

... and i would have left Ripping Corpse on there. More death metal than thrash.

 

[morguelord]

I can't understand why people think Devourment isn't essential death metal. The band spawned an entire subgenre in death metal and hundreds of copy cats. How is that not important?

Muthafuckin' this. Personally For Death, I'd go with Human and Leprosy. As for Cannibal Corpse, either Bloodthirst or TotM, or both to likewise encompass both early and modern forms. Always despised The Bleeding.

Also seconding the notion to keep Ripping Corpse. ESSENTIAL to death metal. And this list requires Consuming Impulse.

 

[Lateralus14]

I can't understand why people think Devourment isn't essential death metal. The band spawned an entire subgenre in death metal and hundreds of copy cats. How is that not important?

I would hardly call slam a legitimate subgenre in the first place. Brutal death metal, sure. Hence why Suffocation is absolutely mandatory on my list regardless of how much I listen to them.

 

[Nightmare_Heaven]

You're missing a couple of albums from those bands. E.G Gorguts, you wanna hear The Erosion of Sanity. Far, Far superior to the debut imo. Also From Wisdom to Hate, maybe a bit less spazzy than Obscura but no less intense. As for Suffocation ignore the fools and their production complaints and get stuck into Breeding the Spawn, the strength of the music itself will reward you hugely.

A few other comments:

Cryptopsy - You're dead on with NSV. That is one hell of a record, but don't neglect the first album and demo. Just as essential in my eyes.

Immolation - Get the first one. Unique and evil sounding oldskool DM. From the later ones, Failures for Gods and Close to a World Below are also very very good. Their more recent albums are IMO very boring and uninspired compared to the first 4.

diSEMBOWELMENT - just kudos for even knowing what this is. Total classic, puts most other "doom" records in the ground on heaviness alone, never mind the amazing wierd ethereal bits. If you like that, I strongly recommend the first 2 albums by Finnish deathdoom band Unholy (From The Shadows and Second Ring of Power).

Nile - Black Seeds and Shrines are my 2 favourites by these guys. AOTW is a good one but their albums since have been progressively less and less interesting to me.

Death - You needs Individual Thought Patterns...wether or not it is really "death metal" is debateable but in terms of well written, powerful and intricate music its up there near the top for me. If you like Focus you'll dig it.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Okay honestly when you're talking "essentials" you gotta make the list like 5-10 TOPS. When you're talking 30-40 albums it's no longer essentials and more like "all the really good ones".

 

[EffigyForgotten]

Oh shit, and Dying Fetus lol, they belong nowhere near an essentials list.

They started slam death metal and are responsible for the creation of deathcore.

 

[Lateralus14]

Not sure how Massacra and early Sepultura are too thrashy if Possessed and early Death are not.