I'm not totally sure what makes AOL think it has any idea about death metal. But here we go, the Top 10 Death Metal Bands from AOL Radio. Now this list isn't horribly egregious. All of the bands listed are arguably some form of death metal or other, but the way they're ranked doesn't make much sense. To add problems though, the list features the band's best album, and this is where things go wrong.
10. Suffocation, Best Album: Pierced From Within
I love Suffocation, there is no doubt in my mind that they belong on this type of list. However, they should be significantly higher, probably in the Top 5. I haven't heard this particular album, but most Suffocation albums are similar so I suppose I can't fault their choice here.
9. Six Feet Under, Best Album: Death Rituals
What the fuck? Any list that has Six Feet Under above Suffocation cannot be serious. Six Feet Under is Chris Barnes's band after leaving Cannibal Corpse. They produce fairly boring, standard groove-laden death metal. They're not a bad band, per se, but they are certainly not a great one. Their album choice is dubious as well since all of their albums since Haunted sound exactly the same. Haunted would have been the best choice as the band still sounded a little like Cannibal Corpse.
8. Nile, Best Album: Ithyphallic
I like Nile, not nearly as much as I like their frequent tourmates Behemoth, but Nile is fine. I don't know about Top 10-worthy, but they're a decent band. Their obsession with Egyptian mythology and using traditional instruments in their brutal style of death metal is fairly interesting. However, Ithyphallic was boring. This list apparently chose the most popular or well-known albums as the band's best. This should have gone to Annihilation of the Wicked or In Their Darkened Shrines.
7. Kataklysm, Best Album: Shadows and Dust
Oh c'mon. This band has no business in a Top 10 death metal list, they're just another run of the mill standard death metal band. Seriously, was any thought put in this list? They're an okay band, but like Six Feet Under, they're nothing special at all. The album is fine, I suppose. I enjoy it on occasion and haven't heard a better one from the band, but still.
6. Bloodbath, Best Album: Nightmares Made Flesh
I have a hard time accepting this band here. Sure, they're a good band, but they were created as an homage to early 90's Swedish death and other old school death metal. As such, they are not the most creative band in the world. An enjoyable, fun listen, yes, but groundbreaking, fuck no. As for the album, I prefer their other full lengths with Mikael Akerfeldt on vocals.
5. Amon Amarth, Best Album: Twilight of the Thunder God
Kind of a questionable choice as Amon Amarth fits in better with melodic death metal than just death metal, but okay. I am a big Amon Amarth fan, that said, the album was definitely botched here. This is another case like Nile where they just chose the most well-known album instead of the best. Amon Amarth has been exposed to the mainstream on this album, but this is arguably the band's worst album. Any of their prior releases would have been better here. For sake of argument, I will choose The Crusher.
4. Morbid Angel, Best Album: Gateways to Annihilation
Great band, too low on the list. For me, Morbid Angel is #2. Bad album choice though, holy shit. I don't know how the fuck AOL completely messed this up. Altars of Madness, Blessed are the Sick, and Covenant are all classics of the genre. Gateways is not even close. For fuck's sake, the album doesn't even have David Vincent on it, the voice of Morbid Angel.
3. Vader, Best Album: The Art of War
I like Vader a lot, but they don't belong here. The band has always been closer to death/thrash than death metal. Vader has had a very long, solid career and never put out a truly bad album, but the site's choice here is laughable. The Art of War is a 15 minute long EP with only five actual songs on it. Granted, "What Color is Your Blood" is the best song Vader ever did, but they have eight full length albums, it couldn't be that hard to pick one of those. De Profundis or Impressions in Blood are the better answers.
2. Cannibal Corpse, Best Album: Bloodthirst
Again, I like this band, and they should be on this list, but not this high. They should be in the Top 5 though. Cannibal Corpse helped bring exposure to the genre and should be rated highly. But then, what the fuck is with the album choices? My god. This is nowhere near the best CC album. Eaten Back to Life, Butchered at Birth, Tomb of the Mutilated, The Bleeding, Vile, and Kill are all better choices. This is one of the worst actually. What the hell.
1. Death, Best Album: Symbolic
I agree with this band, its placement, and the album. Although Scream Bloody Gore and Leprosy also deserve mention.
So that was a bit of an ordeal. Let's see some bands that probably could have made it over some of these choices: Dismember, Grave, Deicide, Obituary, Immolation, Vomitory, Krisiun, Hypocrisy, Cryptopsy, Entombed, Carcass, and Behemoth.
My list would be:
10. Carcass
9. Obituary
8. Deicide
7. Amon Amarth
6. Cryptopsy (solely for their stuff with Lord Worm on vocals)
5. Cannibal Corpse
4. Suffocation
3. Immolation
2. Morbid Angel
1. Death
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