The modern metalhead often has prejudice against the best of metal genres - a fact disputed but nonetheless true. "Death March" aims to give beginners an entry to the genre as a whole. Follow this guide and listen to an album a day and soon you will be a camo-shorts wearing poser killer.
Atheist - Unquestionable Presence
Genre: Progressive Death Metal
Label: Active Records
Release Date: 30-08-1991
Atheist could have dropped off the face of the planet after Piece of Time and still be considered an important act for the scene and the development of Death Metal. But it was Unquestionable Presence that immortalized them as the masters of a specific sub-style of Death Metal. In an unfortunate car crash, bassist Roger Patterson - hugely important for the bands specific sound compared to other Death Metal acts of the time - would die before the album was recorded. The bass lines, however, had been written and he is to be credited for the bands decision to dial up the Jazz and Latin influences. This is further emphasized by his replacement, Tony Choy, who would later find mainstream success as the bassist for Latin Pop group Area 305. His playing adds a layer of authenticity to the new influences. This unusual arrangement leads to one of the best bass performances on any metal album. Of course the album does not stop there: It is filled to the brim with wonderful lead guitar, unusual rhythm work, funky drumming, odd time signatures and a seemingly endless amount of energy.
Pungent Stench - Been Caught Buttering
Genre: Death Metal / Death and Roll
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 10-10-1991
Years ago, browsing metal archives, I stumbled upon a review of Been Caught Buttering where the reviewer proclaimed that "only an Austrian could come up with something so perverse!". Referring to a Death Metal album, this is obviously a good thing. And he was right: rarely does Death Metal feel this slimy and exploitative and so honestly dirty. This goes beyond the lyrical themes, which seem to be inspired as much from German exploitation like Jörg Buttgereit's Nekromantik (1987) as from low budget Mondo Magazines and BDSM. The music matches this: Been Caught Buttering is probably the first example of Death 'n Roll that I can think of, but without dipping into the pseudo-Groove metal or Sludge that a lot of other Death 'n Roll acts deal in. Pungent Stench actually rock and they seriously roll and there is a certain swagger to the music that other classic Death Metal bands can't match. This is enhanced by the band being sloppy in just the right way - you could imagine the band play in a skeevy venues basement or a decommissioned swimming pool.
Carcass - Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious
Genre: Death Metal Label: Earache Records
Release Date: 30-10-1991
For how important Carcass is for modern fans of classic Death Metal, they really have not been a true Death Metal band for all that long. Only Necroticism hits the exact spot where Carcass stops being a Grind band and have not yet become a Melodeath act. At the same time, Necroticism would be a legendary album even if it had been made by a band that did nothing of importance before or after. Rarely has Death Metal been this groovy and infectious, felt so disgusting despite being so clean on the surface (Disinfectant on the operating table?). The album couldn't be more filled with memorable riffs and one would wish Carcass would play more of this album live. But, alas, the marketability! Other aspects to highlight are the lyrics, which are an early example of Death Metal with a social conscience (Carcass are animal liberationists and vegans) and the use of sampling, which in the very specific way it is handled actually enhances the album. While I believe that Carcass still very much do what they like to do, there is no doubt in my mind that Necroticism is their masterpiece and it is a shame they never returned to the style. Or maybe it is a blessing, as the memory can now never be sullied.
Entombed - Clandestine
Genre: Swedish Death Metal
Label: Earache Records
Release Date: 12-11-1991
I will try to keep this shorter than usual, as I have already given my thoughts on this album on the Gatorrr's heavily underrated Put my Hand in the Fire series. Nonetheless, I think Clandestine is an absolute classic, one of my favorite albums of all time and the Swedeath album to beat. The album is superior to the debut in any way, excluding the vocal performance, as L.G. Petrov (RIP) isn't featured on this album. But it is not like the more hardcore inspired, more bellowing performance of drummer Nicke Anderson isn't a good fit for the material, which has more of a distinct punk swagger. While foreshadowing later trends like Deathcore or the seemingly never-ending wave of Entombedcore bands, the band dishes out a more chuggy and rhythm oriented framework while also staying committed to their B-Movie atmosphere and their (for the time) unique melodic approach. This is the last classic Death Metal album Entombed would make and maybe they decided to shelf this style particularly because they didn't know how to improve upon it.
Incantation - Onward to Golgatha
Genre: Cavernous Death Metal / Death Doom
Label: Relapse Records
Release Date: 05-05-1992
Similarly to Entombed, Incantation is one of these fantastic bands with a horrible influence. It seems nowadays, Death Metal bands flip a coin and either become an Entombed or an Incantation clone, with the former being more popular with former HxC-kids and the latter being more attractive to the more milquetoast OSDM-poseur. Incantation is fantastic though, and it is a shame that the oversaturation of the style has led to Incantation getting such a bad reputation. The slimy barbarism of Incantation was one of the first times Death Metal could actually capture abstract horrors without having to borrow from the cheesy melodic ideas of a Lucio Fulci score. Incantation set up the most extreme of tempo changes, the use of slightly too much reverb, the murky guitar tones and the textural, unintelligible cookie monster vocals for the first time. I wish I knew how to get pinch harmonics to sound as ugly as John McEntee, as well. Incantation's only weakness, maybe, is that sometimes it is hard to remember specific riffs and sections from the songs. Incantation is much more about the vibe, similar to what Black Metal bands would do later but without sacrificing rhythm and aggression for it. Onward to Golgatha is as abstract as its album cover, and similarly horrifying.
Disharmonic Orchestra - Not To Be Undimensional Conscious
Genre: Progressive / Avantgarde Death Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 26-05-1992
Once upon a time, Nuclear Blast's roster wasn't clogged with only the most marketable arena acts and actually good bands could be found on the label. Listening to Disharmonic Orchestra, one can almost understand that a label would not want to take a gamble like that on a regular basis, however. Disharmonic Orchestra were as ahead of their time as a band could be, but they're also one of the weirdest bands that you will find in this primer. The cover already foreshadows a relation to Jazz Fusion and Progressive rock, but can't really prepare the listener for the fluid drum performance, the funky bass presence and the constant experimentation. Even today, not many bands make their Death Metal seem this loose and improvisatory (Diskord might be one of the best points of comparison) but in 1992, most listeners must have been truly alienated. Particularly the fourth track, "The Return of the Living Beat" seems to be a point of contention because of a short Hip Hop section. I personally think experimentation like this is fun and something the genre has always sorely needed, especially if executed with such a dry sense of humor as it is here and done completely with instruments and without studio trickery.
Demigod - Slumber of Sullen Eyes
Genre: Death / Doom Metal
Label: Drowned Productions
Release Date: 11-1992
I toyed with the idea of centering the header for Death March around the idea that, contrary to popular belief, Death Metal can actually do anything and you would never really need to leave the genre to fit a certain mood of yours. I ultimately scraped this idea and settled on the semi-ironic one we use on the blog right now, but Demigod's Slumber of Sullen Eyes would have served as a nice little piece of evidence. I don't know of many Death Metal albums that manage to be this cheesy without drifting into another genre altogether. Part of that are the synths, although these are slightly over-discussed and their importance is often overstated. Yes, this is one of the first Death Metal albums to prominently feature synths, but they only appear on a scant few tracks and mainly to serve as atmospheric intros or rare interludes. These interludes are generally woven into the songs themselves and I really wouldn't call the synths a dominant element of the sound. The feeling of cheese that permeates Slumber is probably more likely due to the reduced pace - Death Doom would become quite popular in Finland in only a couple of years - and the melodies that the guitars like to layer on top. There is lots of harmonized leadwork full with swaying midtempo rhythms on the album. The band shines the most whenever the band goes into simpler, groovier sections, but the atmospheric contrast is welcome and makes the album play much better. Unlike Incantation, whose atmosphere seems to be set in the M.C. Escher version of an old tomb, Demigod feel concrete and outdated in their horror, like a desecrated church. The horror of Demigod has its own unique charm, which makes the album essential.