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.
Incubator - McGillroy the Housefly Genre: Death/Doom Metal / Death and Roll
Label: West Virginia Records
Release Date: 1992
"This is my primer and I get to decide what's on it!" screamed Scuttlegoat whenever someone pointed out that Incubator is way too obscure for a list like this. They are right, technically. Incubator is not well known but besides the location (Germany just wasn't a hotbed for Death Metal at the time) and the fact that they were ever so slightly late, I don't get why Incubator aren't well known. The band blends a lot of what was brewing musically in the 90s - Sludge, Grunge and even the funkyness of early Nu Metal to a degree - into a unique Death Metal Stew. The performances are tight and top notch and still retain their own unique flavor. Especially the vocals are immensely dirty without ever having to commit to a heavily distorted growl and show a degree of versatility just not known from other bands at the time. The funky attitude and heavy Wah Wah usage is welcome, as well. It seems clear to me that the band is somewhat inspired by Voivod, as their lyrical content is similarly conceptual and obtuse. McGillroy the Housefly is a concept album about a man who transforms into a Kafkaesque insectoid hybrid and gets trapped in a different dimension - I think. It's not very clear but the hazy nature of the lyrical content is just another reason for why Incubator are so charming.
Demilich - Nespithe
Genre: Avantgarde Death Metal
Label: Necropolis Records
Release Date: 08-02-1993
I have written about Demilich on Instagram before, which is why I will try to keep this instance of it short - if I can. It is easy to nerd out about a band like Demilich, as they were so ahead of their time but also so seriously out of it. Angular rhythms that seem to change time signature without any telegraphing but still somehow feel groovy and absolutely logical seem to overcome the inherent friction of "mathy" music. There is a springy, bouncy nature to the production of the album. For an album so extreme and weird, Nespithe is at the same time not particularly aggressive. If you enjoy leaning back and grooving along to 70s Funk, Demilich have a similar feel. Finally having seen the band live, I can say that the band is aware of how weird their music is and that a lot of it showcases Antti Boman's weird sense of humor. Pushing for the extremes of abstraction in Death Metal - catchy titles include "The Putrefying Road in the Nineteenth Extremity (...Somewhere Inside the Bowels of Endlessness...)" and "The Planet That Once Used to Absorb Flesh in Order to Achieve Divinity and Immortality (Suffocated to the Flesh That It Desired...)" - the album could almost be perceived as an intricate joke. Zappa-esque Death Metal almost, only that listening to the album isn't a chore, but a delight.
Morta Skuld - As Humanity Fades
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Deaf Records
Release Date: 02-1994
Morta Skuld are one of those underrated acts that, had they started a little earlier and in a different location, would be considered one of the greats. The direct comparison is often Obituary, with their relatively groove oriented and mid paced sound. Where Obituary stops at the most base interpretation of this sound - note their omission from this primer - Skuld imbue this sound with a sense of groove, an above average bass performance and a sense of melancholy that would become even more pronounced on their late career albums. Opener "Unknown Emotions" already showcases an emotional range that not many old Death Metal bands can share, with its Hardcore inspired opening, Doomy chords and melodic tremolo. The band frankly rushes through a breadth of different types of riffs and vibes so fluidly and quickly that it hides how disparate the material actually is. Again, the comparison to Obituary makes sense: a lesser band would have chosen to stop at any one of these riffs, opting out of presenting too much contrast and instead writing something that is easy to grasp for surface level genre fans. In contrast, Morta Skuld are best appreciated by genre enthusiasts; for the subtle things they do better than so many other acts are not obvious at first glance.
Bolt Thrower - ...For Victory!
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Earache Records
Release Date: 24-11-1994
There aren't many bands to mention from the British Death Metal scene that aren't absolutely obvious. Most of them found their start in Grindcore and then slowly transitioned into a more Metal oriented sound. This is true for Bolt Thrower as well. Most of the British bands that did make the transition - Carcass and Napalm Death are other notable examples - did turn out to become hyper popular and considered essential even beyond Death Metal circles. Bolt Thrower might just outright be my favorite Death Metal band and for many Death Metal fans, this seems to be true. For whatever reason, the band never made splashes in the metal mainstream in the same ways as the other aforementioned bands. Maybe it was the DIY attitude of the band - the band famously rejected festival performances and insisted on producing their own merchandise - or maybe it was because the band never made any attempts to become any more marketable than they were. Bolt Thrower were an unstoppable rolling tank. Few bands could ever compare to the midpaced grooves the band would dish out and most imitators nowadays just straight up fall flat. But even beyond the groove, Bolt Thrower feels triumphant, glorious even, in an effortless way that other bands just can't emulate. A band like Amon Amarth wants you to pump your fist into the air and chant along to a simple melody, but it doesn't feel like there is a cost to winning a battle. The subtly melancholy to the harmonised leads of ...For Victory!, mixed with the stoic unflinching groove communicates it clearly: Glory beckons only for those who went through hell for it. "We once believed in life. Now time to die...For victory!"
Death - Symbolic
Genre: Progressive Death Metal
Label: Roadrunner Records Release Date: 21-03-1995
Can this still be considered Death Metal? Regarding the quality of the album, this is not a particularly important question but Symbolic already showcases many things that Chuck Schuldiner would later choose to exclusively focus on during Control Denied. The vocals become less distorted and bestial, more pained. The guitar work in general is much more melodic and, for lack of a better word, prettier. Symbolic isn't a particularly dark album, either. Rather, it is pretty bouncy in nature while showcasing a sense of melancholy about the state of the world. In a way, it seems more inspired by Atheist as even the previous progressive-leaning albums by Death. "Crystal Mountain" in particular reminds me of moments off of Atheist's oddball effort Elements, only that it points towards real world issues instead of the more abstract concepts Atheist chose to cover. Symbolic was most peoples foray into Prog-Death, of course, and it is a fantastic album in its own right that still inspires many acts even today.
Suffocation - Pierced From Within
Genre: Brutal/Technical Death Metal
Label: Roadrunner Records
Release Date: 23-05-1995
There are some bands whose style and mannerisms have informed whole subgenres. Take Entombed and their army of modern clones. But how many movements have spawned out of a single section from a single song by a single band? Slam is such a case as the main idea for a Slam riff - rhythmic, chromatic chugging on the lower frets of the lowest string - can all be traced back to a single riff from "Liege of Inveracity", featured on their debut album Effigy of the Forgotten. One would also be remiss to not mention Frank Mullen, whose low cookie-monster growls with lots of body would become the norm for what we consider Death Metal vocals to be. Suffocation are plainly one of Death Metal's great innovators.
Pierced From Within is generally considered the bands best album, and I would say with good reason. Effigy is an insanely tight debut, but the low production value means that a lot of the riffs can't really be deciphered beyond a crunchy rumble. Followup Breeding the Spawn is a good album in its own right, but I always felt the writing wasn't quite as good as on Effigy. Pierced does not only fix the minor issues of the first two, but instead improves on it. The production is incredibly clear and yet punchy and intense. At the same time, the band goes harder than they ever have. Technical Death Metal was slowly becoming a thing (Cryptopsy's Blasphemy made Flesh had released the year prior) and it seems like Suffocation were taking some cues back from the bands they themselves inspired. At the time, Death Metal probably had never been this intense while also being supremely smooth.
Morbid Angel - Domination
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Earache Records
Release Date: 09-05-1995
I knew about the lamentations. When is he going to include Morbid Angel? Is he going to include them today? And so on. The thing is, I seem to be an outlier for Morbid Angel, as I am not particularly invested in most of their most popular albums. Altars of Madness is a fine album, but has been outclassed many times in that particular style of Death Metal. The one Morbid Angel album I think has a unique flair is Domination, which most people would believe is a lesser cut. There is something to the album that makes me think it foreshadowed trends like the slightly skronky Groove Metal of a band like Gojira as well as the syncopated Djent obsessions of Meshuggah. Domination is oddly paced, with most songs being in the lower midpace with slight syncopation and occasional bends or pinch harmonics. The Runescape style interludes are ill-fitting on paper, but lend the album a certain charme in my opinion. Particularly "Dreaming" doesn't really justify its inclusion until you consider it a precursor to the obsessions of modern Dungeon Synth and the Black Metal scene of the 2010s. It all comes down to this: I like Domination because it is weird and Morbid Angel rarely gets particularly weird. As a band that sometimes can have the aura of a surface level pick, Domination is their insider's gem.
Adramelech - Psychostasia
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Repulse Records
Release Date: 22-06-1996
Adramelech is quite possibly the most obscure of the classic Finndeath bands that I would still consider essential. Being an obscure act in an obscure scene would probably already be enough for most people to not be particularly interested in what the band has to offer, but, as is customary with Finndeath, certain aspects of the bands sound are an acquired taste. While not as outwardly weird as Demilich and not as gloomy as Demigod, the band has a very weird vocal performance. Opting for a hoarse whisper more than a growl and recording this whisper very close to the microphone (probably to even get close to the necessary volume for recording), Adramelech's vocal performance can seem even anemic at times and is at the same time unfortunately upfront in the mix. Once one has gotten over the vocals, Adramelech have much to offer, though. A nice sense of melody permeates through their riffs and there is often interplay between the rhythm guitar performances and the solo or lead guitars, which often pluck little motifs from the rhythm guitars to use in solos. While not as focused as either act, Adramelech have some of the bouncyness of Demilich and some of the gloomy atmosphere of Demigod - in the latter case even sharing members with the band. The weirdness is more subtle with Adramelech in the instrumental department and I can understand being turned off by the vocal performance but ultimately, I think Adramelech are worth it - Psychostasia is a grower.
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