Listening Notes: This is Death Metal

Death metal stands as the pinnacle of extreme genres and a perennial favorite for metalheads, boasting as many subgenres as black metal. I began my own journey into it about 10 years ago through the melodic/progressive side—bands like Arch Enemy, Scar Symmetry, Children of Bodom, all the way to Fleshgod Apocalypse and Mechina. However, I eventually shifted toward the edge that borders doom metal. Meanwhile, the power metal influences within some death metal can make the melodies and symphonies feel somewhat daunting—which is why I don't listen to Wintersun—even though I've grown accustomed to passing through those sounds without much effect; the same goes for most major metal subgenres.

So, here are six "terrifying" death metal releases, though perhaps they aren't so scary to my ears.

Blastocystia - The Harmonic Melody of Slut Bursting Hammer Strikes (2023)

70%

Germany's Blastocystia opens the show with a brutality reminiscent of .357 Homicide, only with denser and more solid instrumentation. Nothing particularly caught my attention here aside from the thrashy riff on the intro of "A Guy Named Mike Cupper."

Highlights: A Guy Named Mike Cupper, Dendrocnide Moroides

Ecliptic - Undulating Echoes of Stirring Subconscious (2019)

70%

Ecliptic delivers an experimental offering full of swirling chaos that moves so fast I didn't quite feel like I was keeping up with it. "الصحوة من إله الميت" sounds the most linear, yet it doesn't shy away from abstract sounds and instrumental screams—take, for instance, the ring cymbal pings at 02:55 and 03:22.

Highlight: الصحوة من إله الميت

Killhammer - Время скверны (2019)

70%

It's clear to me now that Killhammer's approach on this album feels like a vessel that is empty from the middle down, even though I once felt completely satisfied by it. Well, it’s almost like power metal in that regard; they truly are like siblings. "Крода," which plays at a mid-tempo, actually has potential, but it’s still not slow enough to be classified as death/doom.

Interestingly, I noticed a difference in output depending on the player. Melodies are more audible on AIMP compared to Oto Music, though it doesn't exactly make the album soar.

Highlights: Пир во время чумы, Тень Вавилона

Sallow Moth - Deathspore (2018)

75%

Sallow Moth finally provides the most prominent atmosphere following Ecliptic, Killhammer, and the Arcane Treachery (2020) EP. This is likely because the guitars occasionally lean into melodic and atmospheric territories, specifically on "Emerald Dust in the Crevices and Orifices of Man, The Manamorphose."

Highlight: Emerald Dust in the Crevices and Orifices of Man, The Manamorphose

Vulnificus - Innomination (2021)

65%

What? Brutal death metal? Those chaotic buzzsaw sounds amidst extreme drumming? I suppose that’s what this Vulnificus demo is. It’s gritty and noisy to the point of feeling like a cramped box, with no elements breaking free from the space. I can listen through it with a completely blank expression.

Highlight: -

ПОГАНЬ - ВСЕ ТО К ЧЕМУ СТРЕМИЛИСЬ ВЫ (2023)

60%

Another one for the "lost archives." I assumed ВСЕ ТО К ЧЕМУ СТРЕМИЛИСЬ ВЫ was a release by the ПОГАНЬ listed on Metal Archives, but it's nowhere to be found.

Musically, it falls under death/groove metal, but the addition of hip-hop snippets and audio samples gives it a grindcore-ish or even silly vibe of alternative metal, much like the sarcastic cover art. However, I dismissed almost 100% of it; despite the decent production, it's just not my taste.

Highlight: -