5 Important Bands, 1 Genre: Slam Death

I have not done one of these posts for quite some time, so here we go. For those who don't remember one of these before, I am looking at five bands that were important in forming my opinion of the genre. This one is a little bit more specialized.

SUFFOCATION
Suffocation is not a slam death metal band. Let us just get that out of the way first. However, they were a major influence on the formation of the subgenre. Slam death metal bands took some of the breakdown-laden ridiculously heavy sound that was Suffocation's bread and butter and took it to the extreme. They simplified things a bit and focused on the breakdown. Suffocation was vitally important in the formation of slam death and that is why they are listed in this post.

INTERNAL BLEEDING
Internal Bleeding is often cited as the first real slam death metal band. My first album by this band was this compilation pulling together most of the band's demos that I received in a Century Media grab bag. My first impression was not terribly positive, but I did grow to really enjoy it. This is still one of the first CDs I grab when I want to listen to some slam. The rawness and energy of it grabs your attention.

SANATORIUM
Another album that I received in a lot of CDs, this one a lot of death metal CDs off of ebay. Sanatorium was the first band I listened to with the kind of frog-like gurgling vocals that have become a staple of the genre. This, in addition to the violent lyrics and deep throbbing slams, caught my attention from the beginning. It was kind of a joke album that I would put on to blow the minds of passengers in my car, I just grew to love it.

DYING FETUS
Dying Fetus is a group that I loved from the first time that I heard them. I realize that my first album from the group, their 2007 release, is not one of their strongest upon looking into their back catalog, but it definitely grabbed my attention. It was extremely powerful and chaotic, but with a political side to the lyrics. Dying Fetus catches a lot of crap for the singer's admitted love for rap music, but the band continues to put out good music.

ATROCIOUS ABNORMALITY
Atrocious Abnormality is the first band that I successfully added to the Encyclopedia Metallum database. They exist on the border between slam death and brutal death metal with some surprisingly technical riffs in places. I also picked up their album after I submitted them to the database and was very impressed from the first time I heard them.

After those five bands, I started paying attention to Sgt. D's posts on slam on Metal Inquisition which lead me to finding more and more slam death.

Strange Album Covers Pt. 4: Horror Finally the End

Finally the last entry in this series. So, let's get it done already:

EMPEROR: ANTHEMS TO THE WELKIN AT DUSK

The great Emperor appears here on their last great album. The band broke up a few years and one more full length later. This cover features a war between angels, that is if you can actually see anything here thanks to the incredibly dark shades of green and black. An amazing album that was the final culmination of the work the band had been leading towards since they formed.

BLOODBATH: THE FATHOMLESS MASTERY

Bloodbath is a supergroup from some of Sweden's finest death metal bands and has featured a revolving door of members from groups like Opeth, Katatonia, Edge of Sanity, Hypocrisy, and more. This is their latest album that has a cover featuring either zombies or ghosts, tough to say, although the artwork is incredibly macabre.

MERCILESS DEATH: REALM OF TERROR

Merciless Death is one of the many bands from the new trend towards of classic thrash metal. Merciless Death is closer in sound to Dark Angel's heyday than bands like Metallica or Megadeth though. This album cover features a malevolent spirit attacking a priest in a church.

COFFINS: BURIED DEATH

Yes, zombies! Zombies are fucking awesome and everyone, even doom/death bands from Japan like Coffins, know it. I chose this one, even though the cover to their previous album is even more grotesque and awful.

ATROCIOUS ABNORMALITY: ECHOES OF THE ROTTING

See above, more zombies! Woo hoo! Atrocious Abnormality is a brutal death metal band from North Carolina that I previously reviewed on this blog.

Atrocious Abnormality: Echoes of the Rotting

I admit that I discovered this band on Myspace. That's not to say that I usually actively seek out music using that site, but it is a pretty useful tool sometimes. The band is a brutal death metal band out of North Carolina. Normally, brutal death is not my favorite genre but upon hearing the samples on the band's page, I decided to give their album a try. I am very glad that I did, as this is not the standard brutal death metal album.

There are a lot of things that I really enjoy about this album that I do not normally hear in other brutal death metal bands. First of all, the production is fairly clean. Typically bands of this type have a muddy sound and it is difficult to hear everything that is happening in the music. This album is not at all like that. One can actually hear all of the instruments clearly. The levels of the instruments are fairly well-balanced as well, so one instrument is not too high in the mix.

Having a clear production means that one can hear what the other instruments are doing, which leads me to my next point. This band utilizes some surprisingly technical riffs. That is not to say that they are as technical as bands like Necrophagist, but they find a nice balance between technical death and the aggression and brutality of brutal death metal. Think a mix between Decrepit Birth and Suffocation.

There are several other good things about this album. The drumming is very intense, often utilizing blast beats during the breakdowns (yes the songs do have breakdowns), which keeps them fairly interesting. The guitar leads are very impressive and there are occasional solos which add to the enjoyment of the songs. The vocals are normally fairly standard low guttural growls, but on occasion the band uses layered vocals, as Deicide is known for, which consist of the aforementioned growls and some impressive banshee-like shrieking. Finally, Atrocious Abnormality spice things up a little with samples from the movie Slither and Married...With Children, which add a little humor.

Unfortunately, there are some points to the album that are not as good. As I mentioned, the band does use breakdowns on almost every song. It also drags a little bit just past the halfway point. The album is short, which is good, because if it was not so short, it would be a lot more difficult to listen to it all the way through. There is a cover of a Misfits song, which I feel is a little out of place. They did not do too bad of a job on it, but the vocals really detract from it. I would have rather seen the band cover a death metal song. Finally, the lyrics are standard brutal death fare (death, gore, misogyny). It's not surprising, but it's just a little too predictable.

Overall, this is a strong debut album. Each of the band members have been in similar bands in the past and present, hopefully this will be more than just a one-album project. I think this band has a lot of promise and they work together very well. I look forward to seeing them grow.