Slam Death Metal

I'm not sure what there is that's appealing about this genre. It's dumbed-down, simplistic death metal for white trash idiots. It's gory, misogynistic, extremely brutal, and pummelling. So, why the hell can't I stop listening to it?

I have no idea, but I have been listening quite a bit over the last few weeks. The folks over at Metal Inquisition love this stuff, so I took some of their myriad posts to heart in determining what to order from Comatose Music. Ultimately, I ended up with four new slam death albums in addition to the four (debateable, possibly only two) that I had already. Let's take a little look at some of these bands.

INTERNAL BLEEDING

Quite possibly the originator of the genre. Internal Bleeding came out of the early 1990's New York death metal scene and were very influenced by groups like Suffocation and Pyrexia. They took those bands' typical breakdown-heavy, groove-laden brand of death metal and pushed it further, adding more breakdowns and becoming more brutal. Internal Bleeding is a little more listenable than some of the others to new listeners just because they are still closer to brutal death than the typical slam of today.

DYING FETUS

This is one of those that is debateable. Dying Fetus may have started out as a slam band before there really was such a thing. Now they have moved more in the direction of technical brutal death metal and grindcore. I have their latest album which really is not a slam death album at all.

DEVOURMENT

Internal Bleeding may have started it, but Devourment definitely perfected it. The extreme guttural vocals, frequent breakdowns, pounding drums, extreme lyrics; all were made more pronounced by Devourment. Butcher the Weak is probably the most essential album of the entire genre.

ABOMINABLE PUTRIDITY

Slam death metal has spread all over the world and is particularly popular in some bizarre places. A.P. is from Russia, not exactly a bastion of metal. Its spread is possibly due to it being easily played and still extreme. A.P. is definitely not my favorite from the genre, they play slower than the others and the vocal style has devolved to a constant growl that does not appear to be making any differentiation in words. At least the album is short.

KATALEPSY

Another Russian group, but Katalepsy is a lot more enjoyable than their countrymen in Abominable Putridity. Katalepsy is faster and more technical than A.P. The vocal style is also more distinctive. Katalepsy does use the gurgling style of vocals occasionally that has become well-known to the genre. On my album, they do a cover of the Megadeth standard "Symphony of Destruction" which does not sound AT ALL like the original. Somehow they make it work though.

VOMIT REMNANTS

Vomit Remnants is from Japan and is one of the up-and-coming bands of the genre. They have yet to even issue a full-length album at this time. This is another example of the genre spreading into odd places. Vomit Remnants add some occasional industrial influences in which is kind of bizarre.

So there you go, a small primer on some bands in the slam death metal scene. It is truly an odd genre of music with absolutely no mainstream potential. Maybe that's why it's appealing.