Death Metal \m/ suggestions: Death, Immolation, Suffocation, Necrophagist, Morbid Angel, Nile, Autopsy, Deicide, Obituary, Kadavar. 02:00 Introduction 09:14 Origins 15:13 Melodic Death Metal 22:03 Death Metal Sub-genres 28:22 Essential Modern Death Metal part 1 36:15 Behemoth, Black or Death? 42:08 Gatecreeper 46:00 Bands under consideration part 1 51:44 Bands under consideration part 2 57:21 Tech Death 1:01:14 Essential Modern Death Metal Part2
Hey all, Brad here with some clarifications: When I said we are part of the metal media gatekeepers and we need to make a call for a band like Gatecreeper, despite being relatively new, I meant we could (should?) take a stand for what we believe in and declare them as a key band. It also pained me then to disqualify Blood Incantation based on similar criteria. Speaking of Blood Incantation, there have been comments from people asking about why we say they only have one album. This was filmed in September and was actually the first episode filmed for Lock Horns Redux, so thanks for sticking by us as we work out some of the kinks. Also for forgiving us when the edit crossed of their logo when Sam was talking about Bloodbath, haha! People have commented about my face when Rivers of Nihil get in, not Gatecreeper, and I just want to clarify that I have mad love for RON, but it was the application of a rule to disqualify bands (Gatecreeper and Blood Incantation) that didn’t apply to RON. That being said, I do believe Blayne’s comment about how RON had THAT album, which Gatecreeper hasn’t yet, did soften the blow. I do think it’s a bit unfair because Gatecreeper’s first album blew up so big, as did their second (IIRC it broke the Relapse site on pre-orders), so I think despite not having the IT album of a given year, I think they are equally valid as RON. Mad love for both, though. Also my bad on saying Decapitated headlined the first year of Summer Slaughter. I was incorrect. They played directly under Necrophagist there! One of the raddest things is the diversity of what “modern death metal” means to people. When I was first asked to do this, I thought it was going to touch a lot more on the new school of old school death metal, including bands from Maggot Stomp (Sanguisugabogg, Frozen Soul, Vomit Forth, Encoffinized, Unurnment, Abraded, Malignant Altar), 20 Buck Spin (Tomb Mold, Witch Vomit, Acephalix, Scorched, Fetid, Cerebral Rot), Redefining Darkness (Wretched Fate, Sentient Horror, Plague) or Relapse (Outer Heaven, Genocide Pact, Gatecreeper). There were plenty of bands in the live premiere that I wished we had cover. Take, for example, Aborted! Obviously I love that band (have you seen the 2010s episode, in which I say they released my favourite album of that decade?), but I think I had my blinders on with what I thought we were doing, so I didn’t think to go with a band who started more in on the grind side, similar to how someone else brought up Cattle Decapitation! I feel bad I forgot Converge from the three life-changing bands on my graphic, and I guess that’s because I included Sum 41, whom were actually on there as my first CD. Converge is my favourite band of all time. I love Converge! I appreciate you all watching and reading. Much love always.
Watching this, I was waiting for you to bring up Aborted. Definitely a tough call for this episode, too many great fucking bands. Honestly forgot about Disma (good album, dislike the dude though, much like those two Incantation albums)
Let me send you some merch fam check you Enterprise Earth new album he’s was the first singer of infant annihilator and was on their first album back in 2012 take notes
The 2 Necrophagist albums (Onset of Putrefecation and Epitaph) definitely opened the floodgates on an era of hyper technical and highly produced death metal.
Epitaph is not really a "highly produced" record though. It was produced by Bob Katz, who is primarily known for working with jazz and classical musicians. It's has a natural and unusually warm sound production with pretty high DR, which is a far cry from a majoriy of modern tech death releases.
@mooky sure cthe'ilist takes a lot of inspiration from Demilich (who I love btw), but if you look at other genres of metal there is a lot of copying and refining.... this is super abundant in stoner and doom metal, that doesnt devalue the band though I havent seen all that much "evolution of" or massive innovation of DM this past decade, it's a lot of fine tweaking
Pretty sure this was filmed before Blood Incantation’s second album was released. Also, just because they are spearheading the underground currently doesn’t make them influential yet. Not saying they can’t be in that position eventually, but as the crew mentioned, they’re simply too new still.
I can't imagine debating on modern death metal and like you said, tech death, deathcore, slam death, modern sound... And not at once talking about Dying Fetus wich is probably one of the bands that influenced some bands you talked about.
I think that one of the most underrated bands in this genre is Hipocrisy, and they absolutely deserve to be mentioned in this discussion. Their tone on albums like Virus and The Arrival is the best representation of how modern death metal should sound. And Peter Tagtgren should be acknowledged for his work as a producer with bands like Amon Amarth, Septicflesh and Belphegor
100 per cent Hypocrisy, though they might have formed a bit too long ago (?). Also, Tagtgren's vocals on Bloodbath's Nightmares Made Flesh is one of the best death metal performances ever.
Very true, but at the same time they’re so singular in their sound that no one else has really been able to sound remotely like them, which kind of fucks up the whole influence factor lol
Here’s my list as someone who grew up through the 2000s. You could not go to a death metal show without a Deathcore band being on the bill. Later those Deathcore bands were even headlining such as Whitechapel at Summer Slaughter 2011. Death metal as a genre splintered off into 3 directions “core” “technical” and “brutal” with Behemoth really being the only popular “blackened” band. For this reason a list that incapsulates all these styles and fusions is needed to accurately depict what was happening in the scene ie, the record label signings, the shows, the shirts everyone was wearing etc. Of course Death Metal had its underground bands such as Dead Congregation but this didn’t hit big until the OSDM revival 2016-Present. Here’s the list of the bands I would say had the most influence on their respective sub death metal genre: 1. Necrophagist (Technical) 2. Whitechapel or Suicide Silence (Core) 3. Devourment (Brutal) 4. Meshuggah (Groove) 5. Children of Bodom (Melodic) 6. Cattle Decapitation (Grind) 7. Fleshgod Apocalypse (Symphonic) 8. Opeth (Progressive) 9. Behemoth (Blackened) *Notable bands playing more of a extension of Death Metal rather than a subgenre 1. Kataklysm 2. Nile 3. Abysmal Dawn 4. Skinless 5. Dying Fetus 6. Aeon *Although Vital Remains and Bloodbath had a huge influence in the 2000s Bloodbath was more a supergroup dedicated to the Old School Swedish sound, and Vital Remains hit its popularity with Glenn Benton on vocals so both bands are coming from the 90s end of the spectrum. Although they had unique sounds it wasn’t really new blood like say Opeth was.
Some of my favorite death metal bands will always be Spawn of Possession, Hour of Penance, Odious mortem, Severed Savior, Deeds of Flesh, Vital Remains, Decrepit Birth, and Necrophagist.
My top modern death metal bands. Active: Dead Congregation, Grave Miasma, Obliteration, Blood Incantation, Teitanblood, Vassafor, Diocletian, Ulcerate, Venenum, Portal. Inactive/Split up: Kasmos, Repugnant, Morbus Chron, Witchrist, Antediluvian
I’m really surprised that the conversation about modern death metal bands didn’t include Job For A Cowboy, The Faceless, Psycroptic, Aborted and Decrepit Birth. All bands that really need to be part of the conversation. Too much emphasis here on old school bands and name dropping as many new/underground bands from the last 3 years as possible. How can Bloodbath, Gatecreeper, Sanguisugabog, Blood Incantation, etc he mentioned multiple times and bands like JFAC never even come up. Was so looking forward to this episode and I’m honestly pretty let down by it.
I have learned that Metal and Music in general is generational. I grew up in the golden age of DM (88-92) and I am still giving new bands A listen but nothing brings me more joy than the OGs.
I started listening to death metal in 92. Trying to listen to newer bands as well like after watching this episode and listened to Dead Congregation and those guys are definitely old school modern death metal. They are freakin riff machines. Blood Incantation is cool too. For along time the newest thing I would listen to was Nile.
Gatecreeper! They stick to the roots essential to the genre, but are giving it a modern sound with crisper production than what was available in the 90s.
@Jesus Christ Denton haven't thoroughly heard much from them, but just like in late 90s metalcore plethora bands started ripping off at the gates blueprint at first instance gatecreeper and baest are ripping off bolt thrower / dismember / grave blueprint of sound (so not too overtly unique, I suppose why reinvent a tried and tested formula). I would rather place full of hell, aborted and cattle decapitation, in the category as to me they have unique shifts and travel-cross various boundaries of death metal / grind nuances to give their own modern interpretation of the sub genre.
I definitely mentioned that a few times. I wish I got to talk about it more. When I first heard about this episode, I thought that was the focal point...the new school of old school death metal! I was pumped. Still happy we got to talk about these bands, but godDAMN did I want to highlight the STOMP more.
Some bands I love - Obliteration, Pyrrhon, Gigan, Dead Congregation, chapel of disease, blood incantation, Horrendous, Aeternam, Teitanblood, cthe'ilist, etc
Depending on the color text of why they see as modern Death Metal bands like Tomb Mold and Gatecreeñer could be out, because they played Old School style Death Metal, so in Modern Death Metal we talk about bands that are new to the scen or bands with new modernized sound like Blood Incantation or Decapitated, Black Dahlia Murder etc.
Hypocrisy, Kataklysm, Dying Fetus and Nile absolutely got snubbed. I agree with Amon Amarth, The Black Dahlia Murder and even Cattle Decapitation with their newer stuff. But to not even include Nile or Hypocrisy or Kataklysm is just weird to me, and as big as Dying Fetus is its hard to see them not even getting a mention.
^^^ This Dying Fetus, Nile, Kataklysm and Hypocrisy! these were some of the bands that came out just after the wave OSDM bands and I think they all kinda picked up the torch in a way
Krisiun, Suffocation and Sinister are all too old, they aren't modern death metal bands considering theyve all been dropping albums since the early 90s..
I loveeee both of those bands, but I was disappointed that GC got disqualified for that, while RON didn't. Blayne's statement about RON having THAT album, which GC arguably don't, did soften the blow a bit because I do think there's some validity to that, but I also think GC might not have THE album because the respect and demand was SO high off the first album. Hell, I'm pretty sure 'Deserted' crashed the Relapse site on pre-orders, so I think they've earned the position!
I just LOVE these discussions, really, really love it. I don’t have enough buddies willing to discuss metal on this level. I live vicariously through whomever is in those comfy chairs. Keep up the great work! Old format being live was great too though honestly,
Same. Im the metalhead guy in my friends group. And I do have a friend who is also mainly a metalhead, but Ive massively influenced his taste and so I feel like we lack some diversity in conversations.
Black crown initiate, disentomb, decrepit birth, farmakon, rivers of nihil, obscura, misery index, cattle decapitation, cephalic carnage etc are probably what i'd put in this category.
COFFINS in my opinion meets all of your parameters while definitely on the slower side are criminally underrated and just there choice of cover songs alone makes them more interesting to me than some of the more popular choices
Death Atlas is the most thunderous, intense, emotional, heavy music I've ever heard. It's my favorite album of all time, and it was a game changer for me.
@@TheCryptCrawler I can't even count how many times I've listened to that album. It hits home on a lot of subjects that are important to me, and Travis's lyrics are incredible. There's no one like them 🤘
@@freq9939 That's a huge goal of mine, need to catch them live. I need to see papi Travis and the gang live. Also, seeing Dave Mcgraw drum live would be amazing, he's insane
"Favourite album of all time"? That's a big call for an album which is only a few months old. Personally I thought it was a bit of a let down. IMO Anthropocene is a lot better.
Ulcerate, Portal, Mithras, Pyrrhon, Gigan, Ad Nauseam, Imperial Triumphant (if you don't count them more as black), Coma Cluster Void, Artificial Brain
Horrendous, Contrarian and Blood Incantation are three wisemen of modem death metal. A true understanding of the old with a new approach. You guys should have a discussion about this.
Yes, This is a very good observation! @bangertv, all these bands like GateCreeper, Tomb Mold, etc are very REGRESSIVE, it is very dangerous to set these as leaders, especially on a genre built on evolving craft competence!
@@mangogoat4691 Yeah, that's what I was thinking. They definitely have a good amount of death metal influence. 100% not a standard death metal band by no means. I do think they have just enough in there throughout their career to warrant at least a mention by one of the guys on the show. They were talking about multiple sub-genres being what defines modern death metal, and I think Gojiras brand of progressive/groove/death is a prime example of the modern evolution of the genre.
I’m not sure they would qualify as “essential” but if you’re talking about The Black Dahlia Murder, I feel like you also have to at least mention Job for a Cowboy. They were in the same position as TBDM in that they were a band that led a lot of people from deathcore to death metal and vice versa, plus they get lumped into deathcore (like Dahlia) because of the time they were coming up. Obviously they’re a bit different since they played a key role in inventing deathcore in the first place with the Doom EP but they immediately turned into a straight forward death metal band (maybe even tech death?) once they released Genesis. They were pretty big for a few years even after the transition made all the deathcore kids lose interest and they had a pretty big impact on the metal scene as a whole so I think they at least deserve a name drop.
It was crazy to me that there wasn't one mention for JFAC in the whole discussion when they had Whitechapel and Black Dahlia who all came up at the same time.
@@mikemindy Totally agree with that comment. Those bands all came up about the same time and JFAC is definitely as influential as TBDM and way more so (IMHO) than Whitechapel.
@@Nothing-bl7bj I don't necessarily disagree with that...BUT - all I am saying (and original commentor was) is that if you are going to mention other bands that might walk the line between genres - like TBDM, White Chapel, Cattle Decap, etc. - how do you not even mention JFAC? Not saying they should be one of the 5 bands considered essential to the genre - just saying these guys mentioned a ton of other bands that all came out about the same time as JFAC and they probably should have at least been included with those bands.
I'm fairly new to the death metal scene and am still learning quite a bit from very knowledgeable folks such as yourselves, but I can definitely say that I agree with the five bands chosen to rep modern death metal, in that they have most definitely created a big impact and each stand out in their own unique way. That being said, this was another great watch from the banger crew and a lunch break at work well spent. Thank you once again for all that you do. Hails and horns from AZ. \m/
I’m a huge fan of Lock Horns and am really pleased with the final band selection (except for one of them) despite the few times during this video when I was perplexed and/or pulling my hair out. Then again, that’s partially what makes Lock Horns great. I’d replace the one bad band selection (Rivers of Nihil for obvious reasons) with Behemoth. BUT- if we are saying Behemoth is black metal (even though they’re totally not) then the 5th band in my opinion needs to be Gojira or Nile. Led led the way for the face melting bands that are brutal, fast, and technical. They’ve also put out all their best stuff after 2000, with only their debut being pre-2000. Gojira (not one of my personal favorites but I respect them) are talented, dedicated artists who consistently put out great albums post-2000 that were well-crafted, dark, beautiful, melodic, and technical. They also reached a very wide audience compared to many of the bands we’ve been mentioning. One tangent I won’t go down but would be a fun one: the bands that aren’t quite old school, not modern, but definitely gave birth to modern death metal (Suffocation, Cryptopsy, Dying Fetus, the melodic Swedish era, Vader, Krisiun, Exhumed, Gorguts). That’s my two(?) cents, anyway. Great vid. I disagree with many of the complainers.
48 minutes in and I can’t believe no one has mentioned Aborted, Nile, or Dying Fetus! To me they started what we would call modern death metal! Great production, ridiculous imagery, and a greater focus on songwriting.
Brutal Death Bands like Suffocation or Incantation doesn't deserve to be call "Modern" coff*main*coff*stream, these bands are in "Death Metal Hall of Fame".
First off Blayne was bringing it in this episode. His debates, his opinions, and knowledge shined so my hat is off to you man; awesome. Modern death metal had me thinking Tomb Mold, Blood Incantation, Horendous, and Rivers of Nihl not nessacerily Black Dahlia Murder, Amon Amarth, or Cattle Decapitation. Those older bands are getting close to the 20yr mark. Hard to call any album from a band that came out almost 20yrs ago essential when the word modern is thrown in. Not to say a discussion about those bands shouldnt be continued, but if this episode was called New Millinium Death Metal or post Y2K Death Metal then Cattle Decap, Black Dahlia, and Decapitation would fit into the theme. Mordern Old School Death Metal should be talked about bands that have 5-7 years of existence and thier music. Just my opinion.
My take on this is that modern death metal is comprised of multiple sub genres like melodic death, technical death, death core, progressive death, death doom, modern versions of old school death... etc. Modern death metal is not one specific style, its a variety of subgenres. That is how it evolved from early old school death metal - it branched out into subgenres. One band worthy of mentioning that wasn't included in the discussion is Suffocation. They were one of the first bands that really took technical playing to an extreme level. As for melodic death metal, I agree that Amon Amarth was one of the pivotal ones, but another one that deserves mention is Dismember. They were also one of the first bands of the next generation of death (90's) metal who took the raw brutal old school sound and incorporated melodic elements into it.
I really believe that VITIOL has brought so much to the table when it comes to death metal. They are just utterly intense and brutal. A great “Modern Death Metal” band.
Great episode guys. Very well done. I haven’t been a huge fan of the newer Lock Horns episodes, love the old live debates, but I thought this episode was very well done.
This new format is great, there's more intelligent discourse; lots of thorough thinking and arguments (but dialectic so it still feels organic) besides just name dropping for an hour! Keep up the great work!
Goatwhore and Misery Index should have a mention in the discussion as well. Two diverse and well rounded bands that have significant sound and considerable following= a mention at least. At least by your criteria anyway... Cheerz from Vancouver. DM forever
Portal, Gigan, Artificial Brain, Archspire, TBDM, Beneath The Massacre, JFAC,Braindrill..that would be my picks for modern death. basically, bands that picked up what Gorguts started on "Obscura"
This is great. Thoughtful and informative. Bravo, and more! Certainly, worth re-subscribing at Patreon. I do hope Bangar puts effort into bands disinterested in re-interpreting the past. Extreme music is vast-the 90’s can’t contain it!
Gorguts should definitely be of some reference. I could agree that their impact is not directly concerning Death Metal, because DSO took the recipe and expanded upon, but the sheer originality is quite clear. I would also agree that they would tap in some spaces that are more clear, or represented, in the Black Metal realm but the originality they brought to the genre is undeniable. That notion, in some sense, of a meditative death metal was, until then, quite absent.
I would say modern stuff Gorguts, because their first album where some really good but generic Death Metal from their time Obscura was the album.m tha hinted their new direction and Colored Sands was the kickstarter of thee new progressive wall of sound style, and Pleiades Dust it's their current peak
I'm surprised they haven't mentioned Obscura (Gorguts) as the cornerstone of perhaps a new subgenre: Dissonant death metal, with bands like Ulcerate, Deathspell Omega, Imperial Triumphant, etc. Could there be a chapter dedicated to this 'new' sound?
It seems they just don't care about this kind of (tech) death. They are fine with jerking of on Rivers of nihil because omg they used saxophone! Holy shit!
DsO aren't really a death metal band. They've had a clear influence on parts of the genre, and definitely take after Gorguts in certain key respects, but they are fundamentally an unusually technical black metal band. Same with Imperial Triumphant. Dissonant black metal and death metal, as they are sometimes called, are totally things that exist and are closely related phenomena, but for the most part they are distinct, with the whole "cavernous death" phenomenon surrounding Portal and their disciples being a point of overlap as well as its own thing in turn.
Gonna throw one band in there that I feel should have gotten at least a mention, if not a spot in the top 5. Nile. Annihilation of the Wicked was an absolute masterpiece and is still a relevant album in modern technical death metal.
@@trve_ingvar by those standards Amon Amarth and Decapitated should be excluded too, they've been around even longer. Their stipulations were basically over the last 20 years. Nile, and especially Annihilation of the Wicked fits that bill perfectly. I don't think the length of being a band has much at all to do with "modern" as long as(in their opinion) it's not too short of a period to make an impact. Nile has exactly what it takes to be included.
@@trve_ingvar so true, Dying Fetus would have been a great addition to that lineup. I think in their case there were just too many bands to discuss and they got caught up in a smaller segment. Kind of a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees.
I don't really get the case for including Amon Amarth just because they're popular. They don't have a modern approach to making DM. They sound very traditional, not much technicality and they've never really pushed any boundaries.
This is my problem essentially as well. They were around with the other melodic bands in the 1990s just made it big after the others had their success. However I do feel they are an important band, especially when talking about gateway bands. But in the context of what this video was about, hell no.
Here's my main problem we're looking at modern death metal bands but putting Amon Amarth, The Black Dahlia Murder, Decapitated under modern is too weird for me. When i think of modern i'm thinking of current new generation of bands. Decapitated started out sounding like Vader and then went more technical and groove later. They were modern like almost 20 years ago lol. Same with Black Dahlia Murder, they were more into the At The Gates style at the time with a more modern approach. I feel the discussion should of been more into the newer bands with todays modern sound. These bands are not modern at all. The new generation should get more of a chance instead of getting pushed aside.
The discussion definitely veered too far into the 2000-2009 territory. I would have preferred this video stuck to the last 10 years as it fits the “modern” tag better. Maybe they’ll redux the redux down the road?
MySpace 2005 the biggest thing to hit metal/ death, justthrough networkig, and sharing, and also the rise of the daws , being able to record at home with quality. The most influential thing in metal
I feel like bands like Suicide Silence, All Shall Perish, Necrophagist, and even Job For A Cowboy all had a huge roll in forming today's Modern Death Metal bands like White Chapel, Shadow of Intent. Bands like Lamb of God, and even Slipknot I feel like really brought Metal into a more popular scene. You have your consistent bands that have evolved over the years (Cannibal Corpse for instance. Black Dahlia) that are still go-to for hardcores. I'm a tattoo artist and when I ask people what music they like and they say "metal", I have to say "Okay, do you mean Slipknot, or "real" metal/death metal, and if they don't know extreme music, they almost always say "Slipknot". I feel like Slipknot doesn't get enough credit for what they've done for Metal music over the years. They've really helped bring a lot of bands into the mainstream. Through tours, or just through their own popularity. People like their music and say to themselves "I like this, I want to find more like it".
I shared my old album. The band was Core of Desolation. Then I put up a song by my old lead where he stole my song. He keeps doing. Rewriting them, and putting them under a different name. Macabre Eternal
Really cool discussion, I really enjoy these kinds of videos! I think, it would've been worth to mention 3 more bands: dying fetus, meshuggah and gojira - especially the last two have clear death metal roots, but spawned a whole new direction of sub genres.
I feel that Tomb Mold really deserves to be in the top 5. That is simply because of how important they are to the modern sound. They are really spearheading the modern death metal movement, and most newer bands want to sound like them and Blood Incantation. This modern death metal movement will also leave its mark on the scene simply because of how different it is. It is old school in a sense yes, but instead of going back to Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse or the Swedish scene, they went to Timeghoul and Incantation. Two bands that we haven’t seen the impact of until now with Tomb Mold and co. This, in my mind, will keep the movement relevant for years to come, and Tomb Mold is really the quintessential name out of all these “cavernous death metal” bands.
Talk about living in the moment, shooting straight, and speaking the truth. Don't ever doubt yourselves guys. Everything about this particular show was spot fuckin on. Metal philosophy is born by Banger.
I would have put either Nile or Dying Fetus in that fifth spot. They were huge and influential since back in that "modern" era and still hold their status today.
Behemoth was my entry gate to black metal, although they're blackened death metal. But after listening to those guys I started listening to black metal. One of the most important and in my opinion highly underrated death metal band is Kataklysm.
Death metal has definitely evolved, from political lyrics and gory content to more statement making concepts, we have had and still have our incredible forefathers of death metal making their mark in the death metal scene but modern bands today have mixed multiple sounds,concepts and have added a lot of their personality in their music, every band now has a very unique way of writing death metal such as gojira, obscura,Arch enemy, decapitated and many more..
It's easy to tell that Sam and I come from a similar age because the first two albums that came to mind on this topic are Winds of Creation from Decapitated and Onset of Putrefaction by Necrophagist. But other modern death metal albums that I think that signal a second wave would be early Faceless, Dying Fetus, Black Dahlia, Amon Amarth.
As far as I'm concerned, there was a turning point between 2000 and 2010 were Death war mixed with metalcore with bands like Maroon, Born from Pain. They were much more -core than death but it started the shift. Black Dahlia when arrived was a huge turning point because they had Swedish sound but with a "brand" that was 100% core, skate board, nerd. Then you have Tech Death which comes from Polish Death scene with bands like Decapitated, Hate, Behemoth, Trauma, Sceptic, etc. Vader was a huge turning point for the Polish Modern sound because between the death of Docent and the start of Daray, the sound had changed so much, even at concerts, you had 90% kids suddenly. Devourement was also a turning point for slam death with 1.3.8. All this to say that if you want to put a tag on a band, Modern Death exists properly since 5 to 10 years, not more. Modern for me is to take all these turning points above and the sound suddenly became a little of Slam, definitely more technical, maybe more melodic for some, and all of this gave a new Death sound.
In my opinion, Obscura is the greatest death metal band of more than the last decade, since they exploded to the face of the world in 2009 with their already all time classic « Cosmogenesis ». Let me explain. (i) First of all, they made the ultimate synthesis of the greatest death metal bands in History and all the sub-genres of death metal. Obscura incorporated to “classical old school US death metal” (like Morbid Angel or Suffocation ; listen to Ocean Gateways for example) the “old school technical and progressive death metal" (like Death, Cynic, Atheist, Atrocity or Gorguts) but also the “old school swedish death metal” (like In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates....) and, of course, the “modern technical European death metal” (Necrophagist is the model, with 2 ex members who joined Obscura in 2008 : Hannes Grossman and Christian Muenzner ; but also Gorod for example). And just for this, just WOW. There are SO MANY influences in their music. They are the representants of all this diverse legacy of death metal. Obscura is, in my opinion, the only band to have such a diversity in the music they made. I can even hear sometimes some old school swedish death/black melodic metal like Dissection, Sacramentum or Unanimated in the riffing. (ii) Then, their leader and main composer, Steffen Kummerer, is Chuck Schuldiner direct descendant. The way he sings, the way he writes songs. OMG. Listen to “Incarnated” or “Akroasis”. To me, it just sounds like if Chuck were still alive and making music with Death, following the path of the modern death metal he created with Human in 1991. (iii) This guys are making some of the best instrumentals songs I’ve ever heard. Just listen to "Orbital elements" or "The origin of primal expression"… blow-minding. (iv) The Obscura members are some of the greatest metal artists. Steffen Kummerer is freaking amazing. On lead guitars, Christian Muenzer is a god, and their new one Rafael Trujillo is even better. On drums, Hannes Grossman is probably the best extrem metal drummer currently, and their new one, Sebastian Lanser, is also a fucking beast. On bass, Jeroen Paul Thesseling and Linus Klausenitzer are just genious. (v) Their legacy in technical death metal is just amazing. 5 albums, 4 masterpieces (from Cosmogenesis in 2009 to Diluvium in 2018). They are the fathers of bands like Beyond Creation, Rivers of Nihil, Horrendous etc. Their message has crossed through generations : technical yes, but always at the service of an exceptional artistic and melodic vision. They also democratized “fretless bass” in extreme metal”, wich is amazing. (vi) I saw Obscura live a few days ago in Metz in France. They are just AWESOME live, one the the greatest death metal band to see live. Their show is amazing. That’s why Obscura is the ultimate modern death metal band.
Obscura is the most essential modern death metal band. The main person behind the innovation is Hannes Grossman. He is just too good. His post Obscura music is even better . With his self title band Hannes Grossman and Alkaloid he just keeps raising the bar.
Darth Jason yes Hannes is just amazing... ! Totally agree, appart of incredible skills in drumming, he’s also an awesome composer as you said, in his own project and with Alkaloid. But even without him, Obscura still make masterpieces. Akroasis and Diluvium are fucking good album. And that’s because Obscura is mainly the project of Steffen Kummerer and this guy has so muchhhh taste to write subtil, catchy and technical song. He composed probably the best Obscura songs : Incarnated, Emergent Evolution, Akroasis.
I saw Gatecreeper live about a year and half ago, actually the last time I had a drink (they had nothing to do with it, lol) fantastic show and I hadn't heard any of the bands, glad they are doing well!
Thanks to subgenrization we can call Behemoth blackened death :) Also Horrendous has put out 3 stellar albums since 2014, might be too young but still one of my favourites. This was a great watch/listen, thanks for the discussion guys :)
Great episode, it really is difficult to say who are THE DEFINING bands in this era of death metal and a lot of folks, including myself are mentioning bands who'd be considered "too new". I have to agree with the five listed, especially (because I'm biased and love them) Cattle Decapitation. TBDM and Amon Amarth sure, both are really fun bands, who doesn't love Nocturnal and With Odin on Our Side. Decapitated is a good pick. Rivers of Nihil may be "too new" in the sense that their breakout album was not long ago but it was really fucking good, they are the next Opeth.
Job for a cowboy deserve to be mentioned, they are in a hiatus right now, but their last album is considered by many one of the best death metal release in the last decade, to me is a album so great as the last Rivers of Nihil, is possible that JFC is coming back soon and, in case they release a album as good as the last one or even the other albums, they will become once more a relevant band and maybe a big name in the scene.
I know diddly squat when it comes to modern death metal (hell, death metal in general), but I can't believe Drawn And Quartered were not mentioned. They're unbelievably consistent and write unbelievably good songs and truly deserve a spot on the list
Where did this myth that Rivers of Nihil introduced the saxophone into extreme metal come from? Ihsahn did it 9 years earlier on "After", which was a well reviewed and widely received album. There was evil sax all over that album, but Sam just keeps bringing up the appearance of sax on "Owls" like it was some watershed moment (and I like the album!).
prismhead "Cancer of Industry", "Repangaea"... I think they try to keep the bands they reference within the most popular group of bands for familiarity among the most viewers, but yeah, Credit should go where it's due. These two are the earliest I'm thinking of...
"We'll probably wake up next day and feel different" That's so true One day I'm arguing with someone and next day I feel like I'm agreeing with him/her Pretty weird right? Maybe because it's human nature to change/evolve
Irreversible mechanism is one of the best tech death bands in the recent years, really pushing the genre forward. If you haven't heard it before, you need to listen to them.
DM FOR LIFE, BROTHERS
can I mail you guys my band's ep? \m/ ,cheers nonetheless lmao.
@@burneracc5397 Just send it!
@@burneracc5397 do you have it on TH-cam? What’s it called?
@@mason3872 no unfortunately but we'll soon put it out, thanks my brother
Death Metal \m/ suggestions: Death, Immolation, Suffocation, Necrophagist, Morbid Angel, Nile, Autopsy, Deicide, Obituary, Kadavar.
02:00 Introduction
09:14 Origins
15:13 Melodic Death Metal
22:03 Death Metal Sub-genres
28:22 Essential Modern Death Metal part 1
36:15 Behemoth, Black or Death?
42:08 Gatecreeper
46:00 Bands under consideration part 1
51:44 Bands under consideration part 2
57:21 Tech Death
1:01:14 Essential Modern Death Metal Part2
Thank you, straight to the point…
Hey all, Brad here with some clarifications:
When I said we are part of the metal media gatekeepers and we need to make a call for a band like Gatecreeper, despite being relatively new, I meant we could (should?) take a stand for what we believe in and declare them as a key band. It also pained me then to disqualify Blood Incantation based on similar criteria.
Speaking of Blood Incantation, there have been comments from people asking about why we say they only have one album. This was filmed in September and was actually the first episode filmed for Lock Horns Redux, so thanks for sticking by us as we work out some of the kinks. Also for forgiving us when the edit crossed of their logo when Sam was talking about Bloodbath, haha!
People have commented about my face when Rivers of Nihil get in, not Gatecreeper, and I just want to clarify that I have mad love for RON, but it was the application of a rule to disqualify bands (Gatecreeper and Blood Incantation) that didn’t apply to RON. That being said, I do believe Blayne’s comment about how RON had THAT album, which Gatecreeper hasn’t yet, did soften the blow. I do think it’s a bit unfair because Gatecreeper’s first album blew up so big, as did their second (IIRC it broke the Relapse site on pre-orders), so I think despite not having the IT album of a given year, I think they are equally valid as RON. Mad love for both, though.
Also my bad on saying Decapitated headlined the first year of Summer Slaughter. I was incorrect. They played directly under Necrophagist there!
One of the raddest things is the diversity of what “modern death metal” means to people. When I was first asked to do this, I thought it was going to touch a lot more on the new school of old school death metal, including bands from Maggot Stomp (Sanguisugabogg, Frozen Soul, Vomit Forth, Encoffinized, Unurnment, Abraded, Malignant Altar), 20 Buck Spin (Tomb Mold, Witch Vomit, Acephalix, Scorched, Fetid, Cerebral Rot), Redefining Darkness (Wretched Fate, Sentient Horror, Plague) or Relapse (Outer Heaven, Genocide Pact, Gatecreeper). There were plenty of bands in the live premiere that I wished we had cover. Take, for example, Aborted! Obviously I love that band (have you seen the 2010s episode, in which I say they released my favourite album of that decade?), but I think I had my blinders on with what I thought we were doing, so I didn’t think to go with a band who started more in on the grind side, similar to how someone else brought up Cattle Decapitation!
I feel bad I forgot Converge from the three life-changing bands on my graphic, and I guess that’s because I included Sum 41, whom were actually on there as my first CD. Converge is my favourite band of all time. I love Converge!
I appreciate you all watching and reading. Much love always.
k
Sum 41 are cooler than Converge
Watching this, I was waiting for you to bring up Aborted. Definitely a tough call for this episode, too many great fucking bands. Honestly forgot about Disma (good album, dislike the dude though, much like those two Incantation albums)
Let me send you some merch fam check you Enterprise Earth new album he’s was the first singer of infant annihilator and was on their first album back in 2012 take notes
Aggressive Tendencies hey bud. Did you guys forget about Gojira or leave them out because they aren’t modern death?
The 2 Necrophagist albums (Onset of Putrefecation and Epitaph) definitely opened the floodgates on an era of hyper technical and highly produced death metal.
Epitaph was really the album that got me into death metal. I used to hate it lol
Epitaph is not really a "highly produced" record though. It was produced by Bob Katz, who is primarily known for working with jazz and classical musicians. It's has a natural and unusually warm sound production with pretty high DR, which is a far cry from a majoriy of modern tech death releases.
That ain’t wrong.
Agreed I was listening to stabwound the other day and was thinking just how fucking ahead of the curve they were about 20 years ahead of time.
Revocation should totally be on the list of essential. Dave Davidson is one of the best songwriters in metal hands down.
Guy has no shortage of killer riffs and solos. Definitely essential
Dying fetus is the most essential death metal band I can’t believe wasn’t even mentioned!
Stephen keddy You are sooo right
Maybe as far as influences, but they probably weren't mentioned cuz they're not modern.
This is about modern death metal. DF has been around and releasing music for over 20 years.
Joey Wheeler Amon Amarth have been also been releasing music since the mid 90s
@@twelvegaugeslug7840 fair. I haven't gotten that far into the video, so. But if they're gonna include DF then Amon Amarth absolutely should be there.
Blood incantation is leading the scene, Gigan, Portal, Chthe’ilist within others
Don't fprget Pyrrhon really underappreciated IMO So happy you mentioned Gigan! and Chthe'ilist are awesome from my city :)
@mooky sure cthe'ilist takes a lot of inspiration from Demilich (who I love btw), but if you look at other genres of metal there is a lot of copying and refining.... this is super abundant in stoner and doom metal, that doesnt devalue the band though I havent seen all that much "evolution of" or massive innovation of DM this past decade, it's a lot of fine tweaking
Definitely Blood Incantation and Gigan... Excellent suggestions!👌
Pretty sure this was filmed before Blood Incantation’s second album was released. Also, just because they are spearheading the underground currently doesn’t make them influential yet. Not saying they can’t be in that position eventually, but as the crew mentioned, they’re simply too new still.
yeah totally. I would put Tomb Mold on this list too
I can't imagine debating on modern death metal and like you said, tech death, deathcore, slam death, modern sound... And not at once talking about Dying Fetus wich is probably one of the bands that influenced some bands you talked about.
I think that one of the most underrated bands in this genre is Hipocrisy, and they absolutely deserve to be mentioned in this discussion. Their tone on albums like Virus and The Arrival is the best representation of how modern death metal should sound. And Peter Tagtgren should be acknowledged for his work as a producer with bands like Amon Amarth, Septicflesh and Belphegor
100 per cent Hypocrisy, though they might have formed a bit too long ago (?). Also, Tagtgren's vocals on Bloodbath's Nightmares Made Flesh is one of the best death metal performances ever.
Peter needs to be mentioned a lot more when it comes to a legends of metal conversation. He perfects everything he touches
@@Hegder My favorite Bloodbath!
williamblake1666 I saw them live one time thankfully and they were amazing. Binge listened to them for at least 2 weeks after that
@@Hegder yeah you are right, they formed a long time ago, but it's about their evolution and the evolution of their sound
Portal is definitely a band that needs to be recognized.
Fucking yes!
Very true, but at the same time they’re so singular in their sound that no one else has really been able to sound remotely like them, which kind of fucks up the whole influence factor lol
@@passionateintrovert Well there are bands that are sorta similar, like Grave Upheaval and Impetuous Ritual.
@@passionateintrovert
Abyssal
the ominous circle
and re-categorized, if you please.
Here’s my list as someone who grew up through the 2000s. You could not go to a death metal show without a Deathcore band being on the bill. Later those Deathcore bands were even headlining such as Whitechapel at Summer Slaughter 2011. Death metal as a genre splintered off into 3 directions “core” “technical” and “brutal” with Behemoth really being the only popular “blackened” band. For this reason a list that incapsulates all these styles and fusions is needed to accurately depict what was happening in the scene ie, the record label signings, the shows, the shirts everyone was wearing etc. Of course Death Metal had its underground bands such as Dead Congregation but this didn’t hit big until the OSDM revival 2016-Present. Here’s the list of the bands I would say had the most influence on their respective sub death metal genre:
1. Necrophagist (Technical)
2. Whitechapel or Suicide Silence (Core)
3. Devourment (Brutal)
4. Meshuggah (Groove)
5. Children of Bodom (Melodic)
6. Cattle Decapitation (Grind)
7. Fleshgod Apocalypse (Symphonic)
8. Opeth (Progressive)
9. Behemoth (Blackened)
*Notable bands playing more of a extension of Death Metal rather than a subgenre
1. Kataklysm
2. Nile
3. Abysmal Dawn
4. Skinless
5. Dying Fetus
6. Aeon
*Although Vital Remains and Bloodbath had a huge influence in the 2000s Bloodbath was more a supergroup dedicated to the Old School Swedish sound, and Vital Remains hit its popularity with Glenn Benton on vocals so both bands are coming from the 90s end of the spectrum. Although they had unique sounds it wasn’t really new blood like say Opeth was.
Some of my favorite death metal bands will always be Spawn of Possession, Hour of Penance, Odious mortem, Severed Savior, Deeds of Flesh, Vital Remains, Decrepit Birth, and Necrophagist.
Slugdge, Hath, Dyscarnate, Gorod, Xoth, Xenobiotic
Muddy Ravine slugdge and xoth just made their own amazing sound hope it evolves into something of its own as big as everything else!
Kinda surprised that nobody talked about Septicflesh at all...or even symphonic death metal as a sub-genre.
I wouldn't have either
My top modern death metal bands.
Active: Dead Congregation, Grave Miasma, Obliteration, Blood Incantation, Teitanblood, Vassafor, Diocletian, Ulcerate, Venenum, Portal.
Inactive/Split up: Kasmos, Repugnant, Morbus Chron, Witchrist, Antediluvian
I’m really surprised that the conversation about modern death metal bands didn’t include Job For A Cowboy, The Faceless, Psycroptic, Aborted and Decrepit Birth. All bands that really need to be part of the conversation.
Too much emphasis here on old school bands and name dropping as many new/underground bands from the last 3 years as possible. How can Bloodbath, Gatecreeper, Sanguisugabog, Blood Incantation, etc he mentioned multiple times and bands like JFAC never even come up. Was so looking forward to this episode and I’m honestly pretty let down by it.
g0d_0f_w4r JFAC in my opinion is more metalcore than DM at all. The Faceless is pure TechDeath with some electronic sounds.
Because they weren't that good
I have learned that Metal and Music in general is generational. I grew up in the golden age of DM (88-92) and I am still giving new bands A listen but nothing brings me more joy than the OGs.
I started listening to death metal in 92. Trying to listen to newer bands as well like after watching this episode and listened to Dead Congregation and those guys are definitely old school modern death metal. They are freakin riff machines. Blood Incantation is cool too. For along time the newest thing I would listen to was Nile.
*starts talking about Bloodbath, puts up Blood Incantation logo*
Gatecreeper! They stick to the roots essential to the genre, but are giving it a modern sound with crisper production than what was available in the 90s.
Gatecreeper is a snorefest
Love them too! Been digging them since I discovered Sonoran Deprivation a couple years back.
Gatecreeper is not a snorefest, Gatecreeper is Hipster Death Metal. Think Deafheaven.
@Jesus Christ Denton haven't thoroughly heard much from them, but just like in late 90s metalcore plethora bands started ripping off at the gates blueprint at first instance gatecreeper and baest are ripping off bolt thrower / dismember / grave blueprint of sound (so not too overtly unique, I suppose why reinvent a tried and tested formula). I would rather place full of hell, aborted and cattle decapitation, in the category as to me they have unique shifts and travel-cross various boundaries of death metal / grind nuances to give their own modern interpretation of the sub genre.
Can’t mention modern death metal without mentioning any/all of the bands signed to Maggot Stomp.
I definitely mentioned that a few times. I wish I got to talk about it more. When I first heard about this episode, I thought that was the focal point...the new school of old school death metal! I was pumped. Still happy we got to talk about these bands, but godDAMN did I want to highlight the STOMP more.
Chris Misenti FROZEN SOUL!!
No weak shit!
Some bands I love - Obliteration, Pyrrhon, Gigan, Dead Congregation, chapel of disease, blood incantation, Horrendous, Aeternam, Teitanblood, cthe'ilist, etc
CHAPEL OF DISEASE!!!! Fuck yes dude!
@@fishcultJF it just sounds so unlike everything else death metal!
@@shawnsmith8558 For sure! Great band, their most recent album is killer!
Rivers Of Nhil, Gatecreeper, Blood Incantation, Tomb Mold, Gruesome...sooo much great new death out there I can't even keep up 🤘
Depending on the color text of why they see as modern Death Metal bands like Tomb Mold and Gatecreeñer could be out, because they played Old School style Death Metal, so in Modern Death Metal we talk about bands that are new to the scen or bands with new modernized sound like Blood Incantation or Decapitated, Black Dahlia Murder etc.
Hypocrisy, Kataklysm, Dying Fetus and Nile absolutely got snubbed. I agree with Amon Amarth, The Black Dahlia Murder and even Cattle Decapitation with their newer stuff. But to not even include Nile or Hypocrisy or Kataklysm is just weird to me, and as big as Dying Fetus is its hard to see them not even getting a mention.
^^^ This
Dying Fetus, Nile, Kataklysm and Hypocrisy! these were some of the bands that came out just after the wave OSDM bands and I think they all kinda picked up the torch in a way
@@deadmentellnotales8772 Exactly
preach
Dying Fetus definitely came to mind for me
Especially Nile for me, Anihilation of the Wicked is easilly one of my favorite albums of all time.
Gruesome, decapitated, Krisiun, Suffocation, Entrails, Sinister, Necrot, Memoriam and ofcourse Fleshgod Apocalypse
Krisiun, Suffocation and Sinister are all too old, they aren't modern death metal bands considering theyve all been dropping albums since the early 90s..
Suffocation is 100% in the OG category, but they are still relevant and actually have morphed their sound into a much more modern sound.
Glad someone mentioned Gruesome. I'd add Gravebomb and Amputory as well.
@mooky nothing wrong with playing in an old style. They still have sick songwriting
@mooky well define modern then, I think if they put out a first album around the late 90s they are modern
You can tell it killed Brad having Gatecreeper denied for being too new then Rivers of Nihil end up making the cut hahahaha
I loveeee both of those bands, but I was disappointed that GC got disqualified for that, while RON didn't. Blayne's statement about RON having THAT album, which GC arguably don't, did soften the blow a bit because I do think there's some validity to that, but I also think GC might not have THE album because the respect and demand was SO high off the first album. Hell, I'm pretty sure 'Deserted' crashed the Relapse site on pre-orders, so I think they've earned the position!
I just LOVE these discussions, really, really love it. I don’t have enough buddies willing to discuss metal on this level. I live vicariously through whomever is in those comfy chairs. Keep up the great work! Old format being live was great too though honestly,
Same. Im the metalhead guy in my friends group. And I do have a friend who is also mainly a metalhead, but Ive massively influenced his taste and so I feel like we lack some diversity in conversations.
Black crown initiate, disentomb, decrepit birth, farmakon, rivers of nihil, obscura, misery index, cattle decapitation, cephalic carnage etc are probably what i'd put in this category.
COFFINS in my opinion meets all of your parameters while definitely on the slower side are criminally underrated and just there choice of cover songs alone makes them more interesting to me than some of the more popular choices
Death Atlas is the most thunderous, intense, emotional, heavy music I've ever heard. It's my favorite album of all time, and it was a game changer for me.
More than agree with you on that. Blasting it since it came out. Best album by Cattle Decap, period!
@@TheCryptCrawler I can't even count how many times I've listened to that album. It hits home on a lot of subjects that are important to me, and Travis's lyrics are incredible. There's no one like them 🤘
Saw them live in nyc back in December. Killer live band just fantastic!
@@freq9939 That's a huge goal of mine, need to catch them live. I need to see papi Travis and the gang live. Also, seeing Dave Mcgraw drum live would be amazing, he's insane
"Favourite album of all time"? That's a big call for an album which is only a few months old. Personally I thought it was a bit of a let down. IMO Anthropocene is a lot better.
Blood Incantation, Contrarian, Horrendous are the best modern death metal.
I think Hate Eternal is essential modern death metal
Ulcerate, Portal, Mithras, Pyrrhon, Gigan, Ad Nauseam, Imperial Triumphant (if you don't count them more as black), Coma Cluster Void, Artificial Brain
Horrendous, Contrarian and Blood Incantation are three wisemen of modem death metal. A true understanding of the old with a new approach. You guys should have a discussion about this.
Yes, This is a very good observation! @bangertv, all these bands like GateCreeper, Tomb Mold, etc are very REGRESSIVE, it is very dangerous to set these as leaders, especially on a genre built on evolving craft competence!
I'm kind of blown away Gojira didn't get a mention. I consider them death metal. Formed in 2001. Legends.
You're the second person I've seen mention them. I love Gojira, but never thought of them as death metal.
yeah I love Gojira too, not really what I would call death metal though...I would call them progressive groove if anything
Michael Patterson first albums definitely had a big death metal influence.
@@mangogoat4691 Yeah, that's what I was thinking. They definitely have a good amount of death metal influence. 100% not a standard death metal band by no means. I do think they have just enough in there throughout their career to warrant at least a mention by one of the guys on the show. They were talking about multiple sub-genres being what defines modern death metal, and I think Gojiras brand of progressive/groove/death is a prime example of the modern evolution of the genre.
I’m not sure they would qualify as “essential” but if you’re talking about The Black Dahlia Murder, I feel like you also have to at least mention Job for a Cowboy. They were in the same position as TBDM in that they were a band that led a lot of people from deathcore to death metal and vice versa, plus they get lumped into deathcore (like Dahlia) because of the time they were coming up. Obviously they’re a bit different since they played a key role in inventing deathcore in the first place with the Doom EP but they immediately turned into a straight forward death metal band (maybe even tech death?) once they released Genesis.
They were pretty big for a few years even after the transition made all the deathcore kids lose interest and they had a pretty big impact on the metal scene as a whole so I think they at least deserve a name drop.
It was crazy to me that there wasn't one mention for JFAC in the whole discussion when they had Whitechapel and Black Dahlia who all came up at the same time.
@@mikemindy Totally agree with that comment. Those bands all came up about the same time and JFAC is definitely as influential as TBDM and way more so (IMHO) than Whitechapel.
They aren’t death metal. Love em’ one of the few deathcore bands I really like.... but they are not death metal
@@Nothing-bl7bj I don't necessarily disagree with that...BUT - all I am saying (and original commentor was) is that if you are going to mention other bands that might walk the line between genres - like TBDM, White Chapel, Cattle Decap, etc. - how do you not even mention JFAC? Not saying they should be one of the 5 bands considered essential to the genre - just saying these guys mentioned a ton of other bands that all came out about the same time as JFAC and they probably should have at least been included with those bands.
@@Nothing-bl7bj they are post DOOM ep. listen to sun eater and tell me that's not straight up technical death metal. nothing 'core' about it.
I'm fairly new to the death metal scene and am still learning quite a bit from very knowledgeable folks such as yourselves, but I can definitely say that I agree with the five bands chosen to rep modern death metal, in that they have most definitely created a big impact and each stand out in their own unique way.
That being said, this was another great watch from the banger crew and a lunch break at work well spent. Thank you once again for all that you do. Hails and horns from AZ. \m/
I’m a huge fan of Lock Horns and am really pleased with the final band selection (except for one of them) despite the few times during this video when I was perplexed and/or pulling my hair out. Then again, that’s partially what makes Lock Horns great.
I’d replace the one bad band selection (Rivers of Nihil for obvious reasons) with Behemoth. BUT- if we are saying Behemoth is black metal (even though they’re totally not) then the 5th band in my opinion needs to be Gojira or Nile.
Led led the way for the face melting bands that are brutal, fast, and technical. They’ve also put out all their best stuff after 2000, with only their debut being pre-2000.
Gojira (not one of my personal favorites but I respect them) are talented, dedicated artists who consistently put out great albums post-2000 that were well-crafted, dark, beautiful, melodic, and technical. They also reached a very wide audience compared to many of the bands we’ve been mentioning.
One tangent I won’t go down but would be a fun one: the bands that aren’t quite old school, not modern, but definitely gave birth to modern death metal (Suffocation, Cryptopsy, Dying Fetus, the melodic Swedish era, Vader, Krisiun, Exhumed, Gorguts).
That’s my two(?) cents, anyway. Great vid. I disagree with many of the complainers.
48 minutes in and I can’t believe no one has mentioned Aborted, Nile, or Dying Fetus! To me they started what we would call modern death metal! Great production, ridiculous imagery, and a greater focus on songwriting.
Aborted are awfully derivative
30 minutes in and no mention of suffocation or incantation. early 2000s set the new bar for modern death metal.
Brutal Death Bands like Suffocation or Incantation doesn't deserve to be call "Modern" coff*main*coff*stream, these bands are in "Death Metal Hall of Fame".
What’s the band on Blayne’s shirt?
First off Blayne was bringing it in this episode. His debates, his opinions, and knowledge shined so my hat is off to you man; awesome. Modern death metal had me thinking Tomb Mold, Blood Incantation, Horendous, and Rivers of Nihl not nessacerily Black Dahlia Murder, Amon Amarth, or Cattle Decapitation. Those older bands are getting close to the 20yr mark. Hard to call any album from a band that came out almost 20yrs ago essential when the word modern is thrown in. Not to say a discussion about those bands shouldnt be continued, but if this episode was called New Millinium Death Metal or post Y2K Death Metal then Cattle Decap, Black Dahlia, and Decapitation would fit into the theme. Mordern Old School Death Metal should be talked about bands that have 5-7 years of existence and thier music. Just my opinion.
Revocation are a great modern death metal band
My favorite band of recent years
Saw them live last weekend, too bad the venue was terrible and it was just ridiculously too loud. Was looking so forward to it
I miss the style and production of 90s death metal for sure thats when death metal was at its peak
There are still bands like that now, you just have to find it.
My take on this is that modern death metal is comprised of multiple sub genres like melodic death, technical death, death core, progressive death, death doom, modern versions of old school death... etc. Modern death metal is not one specific style, its a variety of subgenres. That is how it evolved from early old school death metal - it branched out into subgenres. One band worthy of mentioning that wasn't included in the discussion is Suffocation. They were one of the first bands that really took technical playing to an extreme level. As for melodic death metal, I agree that Amon Amarth was one of the pivotal ones, but another one that deserves mention is Dismember. They were also one of the first bands of the next generation of death (90's) metal who took the raw brutal old school sound and incorporated melodic elements into it.
I really believe that VITIOL has brought so much to the table when it comes to death metal. They are just utterly intense and brutal. A great “Modern Death Metal” band.
I like my modern production to be as clean as a cat's ass.
The fact that literally NO ONE mentioned Vastum makes me sick.
bands like that would fly over this channels collective heads cos of shyte like amon amarth lel
I have never even heard of Vastum, just checked them out and I dig it. Thanks!
Official Purge was so fucking good!
Pretty much everything about this episode was nausea-inducing.
@@ceannairereibiliunach8133 sarah did should out vastum though in one of her reviews
Great episode guys. Very well done. I haven’t been a huge fan of the newer Lock Horns episodes, love the old live debates, but I thought this episode was very well done.
What band is on blayne's shirt?
This new format is great, there's more intelligent discourse; lots of thorough thinking and arguments (but dialectic so it still feels organic) besides just name dropping for an hour! Keep up the great work!
Blood Incantation’s November release is Super sick. Definitely recommended for fans of that old-school analogue sound.
Totally agree - if you are going to listen to any recent Death Metal release this is a must
Goatwhore and Misery Index should have a mention in the discussion as well. Two diverse and well rounded bands that have significant sound and considerable following= a mention at least. At least by your criteria anyway...
Cheerz from Vancouver. DM forever
What's the band on their shirts
brad loves deathcore so much i love it haha he brings it up in almost every convo.
Portal, Gigan, Artificial Brain, Archspire, TBDM, Beneath The Massacre, JFAC,Braindrill..that would be my picks for modern death. basically, bands that picked up what Gorguts started on "Obscura"
Hell yeah. Love these dudes doing this topic. Cant wait!
This is great. Thoughtful and informative. Bravo, and more! Certainly, worth re-subscribing at Patreon. I do hope Bangar puts effort into bands disinterested in re-interpreting the past. Extreme music is vast-the 90’s can’t contain it!
Gorguts should definitely be of some reference. I could agree that their impact is not directly concerning Death Metal, because DSO took the recipe and expanded upon, but the sheer originality is quite clear. I would also agree that they would tap in some spaces that are more clear, or represented, in the Black Metal realm but the originality they brought to the genre is undeniable. That notion, in some sense, of a meditative death metal was, until then, quite absent.
I would add Pan.Thy.Monium to that list along with Portal, all 3 bands have a strong gravitational pull on the scene nowadays.
I would say modern stuff Gorguts, because their first album where some really good but generic Death Metal from their time Obscura was the album.m tha hinted their new direction and Colored Sands was the kickstarter of thee new progressive wall of sound style, and Pleiades Dust it's their current peak
@@personavisceration371 Pan Thy Monium: using sax since before Rivers of Nihil made it cool
I'm surprised they haven't mentioned Obscura (Gorguts) as the cornerstone of perhaps a new subgenre: Dissonant death metal, with bands like Ulcerate, Deathspell Omega, Imperial Triumphant, etc.
Could there be a chapter dedicated to this 'new' sound?
It seems they just don't care about this kind of (tech) death. They are fine with jerking of on Rivers of nihil because omg they used saxophone! Holy shit!
Don't mention Desthspell Omega, you'll make Blayne cry.
DsO aren't really a death metal band. They've had a clear influence on parts of the genre, and definitely take after Gorguts in certain key respects, but they are fundamentally an unusually technical black metal band. Same with Imperial Triumphant. Dissonant black metal and death metal, as they are sometimes called, are totally things that exist and are closely related phenomena, but for the most part they are distinct, with the whole "cavernous death" phenomenon surrounding Portal and their disciples being a point of overlap as well as its own thing in turn.
Am I the only one that really loves Creeping Death?
"Let's be careful not to leapfrog these older bands"
*keeps talking about Amon Amarth that have been around since early 1990s*
that was low key bothering the s#$t out of me lol formed in 92, had demos out in 93 and 94. modern in what sense?
summer slaughter 2007 - Mohammad talking about the new album comming out by 2008... yeah, those were the times
Rivers of Nihil, 1914, Gomorrah, Vail of Pnath, Iscsriot, and Vitriol are some of my favorite heavy bands right now
I’m in the “old guy” boat w/ Sam, so this was highly informative. Really loving Horrendous. Thanks dudes.
Gonna throw one band in there that I feel should have gotten at least a mention, if not a spot in the top 5. Nile. Annihilation of the Wicked was an absolute masterpiece and is still a relevant album in modern technical death metal.
Again, not really modern, they've been around since the late 90s
@@trve_ingvar by those standards Amon Amarth and Decapitated should be excluded too, they've been around even longer. Their stipulations were basically over the last 20 years. Nile, and especially Annihilation of the Wicked fits that bill perfectly. I don't think the length of being a band has much at all to do with "modern" as long as(in their opinion) it's not too short of a period to make an impact. Nile has exactly what it takes to be included.
@@Holisticbarbarian yeah, that is true, I guess Dying Fetus could have been there as well, so many great bands!
@@trve_ingvar so true, Dying Fetus would have been a great addition to that lineup. I think in their case there were just too many bands to discuss and they got caught up in a smaller segment. Kind of a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees.
Heck yes!
I’ve not read all the comments but the “Bolt Thrower” picture is actually Benediction 😂
whoops
I was immediately looking for Jo Bench and then laughed at myself for being played
Amon is a really good group. Definitely original. I put them on the cusp of old, and modern
I don't really get the case for including Amon Amarth just because they're popular. They don't have a modern approach to making DM. They sound very traditional, not much technicality and they've never really pushed any boundaries.
I always found them boring as hell.
This is my problem essentially as well. They were around with the other melodic bands in the 1990s just made it big after the others had their success. However I do feel they are an important band, especially when talking about gateway bands. But in the context of what this video was about, hell no.
Even though I'm a huge Amon Amarth fan, I have to agree. They're the ACDC of death metal. They found a sound and stuck with it.
Here's my main problem we're looking at modern death metal bands but putting Amon Amarth, The Black Dahlia Murder, Decapitated under modern is too weird for me. When i think of modern i'm thinking of current new generation of bands. Decapitated started out sounding like Vader and then went more technical and groove later. They were modern like almost 20 years ago lol. Same with Black Dahlia Murder, they were more into the At The Gates style at the time with a more modern approach. I feel the discussion should of been more into the newer bands with todays modern sound. These bands are not modern at all. The new generation should get more of a chance instead of getting pushed aside.
The discussion definitely veered too far into the 2000-2009 territory. I would have preferred this video stuck to the last 10 years as it fits the “modern” tag better. Maybe they’ll redux the redux down the road?
Misery Index!
I just saw Misery Index playing with Napalm Death, I was impressed!
Saw them with Psyopus back in the day, was a face melting evening.
I think your list is excelent! Now we need Essential modern black metal bands
MySpace 2005 the biggest thing to hit metal/ death, justthrough networkig, and sharing, and also the rise of the daws , being able to record at home with quality. The most influential thing in metal
I feel like bands like Suicide Silence, All Shall Perish, Necrophagist, and even Job For A Cowboy all had a huge roll in forming today's Modern Death Metal bands like White Chapel, Shadow of Intent. Bands like Lamb of God, and even Slipknot I feel like really brought Metal into a more popular scene. You have your consistent bands that have evolved over the years (Cannibal Corpse for instance. Black Dahlia) that are still go-to for hardcores. I'm a tattoo artist and when I ask people what music they like and they say "metal", I have to say "Okay, do you mean Slipknot, or "real" metal/death metal, and if they don't know extreme music, they almost always say "Slipknot". I feel like Slipknot doesn't get enough credit for what they've done for Metal music over the years. They've really helped bring a lot of bands into the mainstream. Through tours, or just through their own popularity. People like their music and say to themselves "I like this, I want to find more like it".
Interesting is that I still come here to search for Death Metal bands. :)
I shared my old album. The band was Core of Desolation. Then I put up a song by my old lead where he stole my song. He keeps doing. Rewriting them, and putting them under a different name.
Macabre Eternal
Interment from Dallas Texas!!! There a lot like cannibal corpse though
Excellent sibling program with a big hello and strong metal hug from Venezuela ... South America
Maybe this should be called 'contemporary death metal' as a movement, 'modern death metal' is a style.
Here's your title: "Three Grits on Modern Death Metal"
I came here just to listen to people talk about The Black Dahlia Murder. I wasn't disappointed. And I also have new bands to check out. Sweet video.
Really cool discussion, I really enjoy these kinds of videos!
I think, it would've been worth to mention 3 more bands: dying fetus, meshuggah and gojira - especially the last two have clear death metal roots, but spawned a whole new direction of sub genres.
I feel that Tomb Mold really deserves to be in the top 5. That is simply because of how important they are to the modern sound. They are really spearheading the modern death metal movement, and most newer bands want to sound like them and Blood Incantation.
This modern death metal movement will also leave its mark on the scene simply because of how different it is. It is old school in a sense yes, but instead of going back to Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse or the Swedish scene, they went to Timeghoul and Incantation. Two bands that we haven’t seen the impact of until now with Tomb Mold and co. This, in my mind, will keep the movement relevant for years to come, and Tomb Mold is really the quintessential name out of all these “cavernous death metal” bands.
Talk about living in the moment, shooting straight, and speaking the truth. Don't ever doubt yourselves guys. Everything about this particular show was spot fuckin on. Metal philosophy is born by Banger.
I would have put either Nile or Dying Fetus in that fifth spot. They were huge and influential since back in that "modern" era and still hold their status today.
Behemoth was my entry gate to black metal, although they're blackened death metal. But after listening to those guys I started listening to black metal. One of the most important and in my opinion highly underrated death metal band is Kataklysm.
Blood on the swans! 🤘👹🤘
Man, I miss lockhorns being live.
And the magnet board for the album covers.
@@caseyfelella7450, I didnt really care about it being live or not, but they need to bring back the magnet board.
Death metal has definitely evolved, from political lyrics and gory content to more statement making concepts, we have had and still have our incredible forefathers of death metal making their mark in the death metal scene but modern bands today have mixed multiple sounds,concepts and have added a lot of their personality in their music, every band now has a very unique way of writing death metal such as gojira, obscura,Arch enemy, decapitated and many more..
It's easy to tell that Sam and I come from a similar age because the first two albums that came to mind on this topic are Winds of Creation from Decapitated and Onset of Putrefaction by Necrophagist. But other modern death metal albums that I think that signal a second wave would be early Faceless, Dying Fetus, Black Dahlia, Amon Amarth.
As far as I'm concerned, there was a turning point between 2000 and 2010 were Death war mixed with metalcore with bands like Maroon, Born from Pain. They were much more -core than death but it started the shift. Black Dahlia when arrived was a huge turning point because they had Swedish sound but with a "brand" that was 100% core, skate board, nerd. Then you have Tech Death which comes from Polish Death scene with bands like Decapitated, Hate, Behemoth, Trauma, Sceptic, etc. Vader was a huge turning point for the Polish Modern sound because between the death of Docent and the start of Daray, the sound had changed so much, even at concerts, you had 90% kids suddenly. Devourement was also a turning point for slam death with 1.3.8.
All this to say that if you want to put a tag on a band, Modern Death exists properly since 5 to 10 years, not more. Modern for me is to take all these turning points above and the sound suddenly became a little of Slam, definitely more technical, maybe more melodic for some, and all of this gave a new Death sound.
In my opinion, Obscura is the greatest death metal band of more than the last decade, since they exploded to the face of the world in 2009 with their already all time classic « Cosmogenesis ». Let me explain.
(i) First of all, they made the ultimate synthesis of the greatest death metal bands in History and all the sub-genres of death metal. Obscura incorporated to “classical old school US death metal” (like Morbid Angel or Suffocation ; listen to Ocean Gateways for example) the “old school technical and progressive death metal" (like Death, Cynic, Atheist, Atrocity or Gorguts) but also the “old school swedish death metal” (like In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates....) and, of course, the “modern technical European death metal” (Necrophagist is the model, with 2 ex members who joined Obscura in 2008 : Hannes Grossman and Christian Muenzner ; but also Gorod for example). And just for this, just WOW. There are SO MANY influences in their music. They are the representants of all this diverse legacy of death metal. Obscura is, in my opinion, the only band to have such a diversity in the music they made. I can even hear sometimes some old school swedish death/black melodic metal like Dissection, Sacramentum or Unanimated in the riffing.
(ii) Then, their leader and main composer, Steffen Kummerer, is Chuck Schuldiner direct descendant. The way he sings, the way he writes songs. OMG. Listen to “Incarnated” or “Akroasis”. To me, it just sounds like if Chuck were still alive and making music with Death, following the path of the modern death metal he created with Human in 1991.
(iii) This guys are making some of the best instrumentals songs I’ve ever heard. Just listen to "Orbital elements" or "The origin of primal expression"… blow-minding.
(iv) The Obscura members are some of the greatest metal artists. Steffen Kummerer is freaking amazing. On lead guitars, Christian Muenzer is a god, and their new one Rafael Trujillo is even better. On drums, Hannes Grossman is probably the best extrem metal drummer currently, and their new one, Sebastian Lanser, is also a fucking beast. On bass, Jeroen Paul Thesseling and Linus Klausenitzer are just genious.
(v) Their legacy in technical death metal is just amazing. 5 albums, 4 masterpieces (from Cosmogenesis in 2009 to Diluvium in 2018). They are the fathers of bands like Beyond Creation, Rivers of Nihil, Horrendous etc. Their message has crossed through generations : technical yes, but always at the service of an exceptional artistic and melodic vision. They also democratized “fretless bass” in extreme metal”, wich is amazing.
(vi) I saw Obscura live a few days ago in Metz in France. They are just AWESOME live, one the the greatest death metal band to see live. Their show is amazing.
That’s why Obscura is the ultimate modern death metal band.
Hell to the yeah!
Obscura is the most essential modern death metal band. The main person behind the innovation is Hannes Grossman. He is just too good. His post Obscura music is even better . With his self title band Hannes Grossman and Alkaloid he just keeps raising the bar.
Darth Jason yes Hannes is just amazing... ! Totally agree, appart of incredible skills in drumming, he’s also an awesome composer as you said, in his own project and with Alkaloid.
But even without him, Obscura still make masterpieces. Akroasis and Diluvium are fucking good album. And that’s because Obscura is mainly the project of Steffen Kummerer and this guy has so muchhhh taste to write subtil, catchy and technical song. He composed probably the best Obscura songs : Incarnated, Emergent Evolution, Akroasis.
I saw Gatecreeper live about a year and half ago, actually the last time I had a drink (they had nothing to do with it, lol) fantastic show and I hadn't heard any of the bands, glad they are doing well!
Thanks to subgenrization we can call Behemoth blackened death :) Also Horrendous has put out 3 stellar albums since 2014, might be too young but still one of my favourites. This was a great watch/listen, thanks for the discussion guys :)
Great episode, it really is difficult to say who are THE DEFINING bands in this era of death metal and a lot of folks, including myself are mentioning bands who'd be considered "too new". I have to agree with the five listed, especially (because I'm biased and love them) Cattle Decapitation. TBDM and Amon Amarth sure, both are really fun bands, who doesn't love Nocturnal and With Odin on Our Side. Decapitated is a good pick. Rivers of Nihil may be "too new" in the sense that their breakout album was not long ago but it was really fucking good, they are the next Opeth.
Why wasn't Myrkskog mentioned here?
Job for a cowboy deserve to be mentioned, they are in a hiatus right now, but their last album is considered by many one of the best death metal release in the last decade, to me is a album so great as the last Rivers of Nihil, is possible that JFC is coming back soon and, in case they release a album as good as the last one or even the other albums, they will become once more a relevant band and maybe a big name in the scene.
I know diddly squat when it comes to modern death metal (hell, death metal in general), but I can't believe Drawn And Quartered were not mentioned. They're unbelievably consistent and write unbelievably good songs and truly deserve a spot on the list
Where did this myth that Rivers of Nihil introduced the saxophone into extreme metal come from? Ihsahn did it 9 years earlier on "After", which was a well reviewed and widely received album. There was evil sax all over that album, but Sam just keeps bringing up the appearance of sax on "Owls" like it was some watershed moment (and I like the album!).
prismhead Yakuza and Cephalic Carnage before Ihsahn
@@twelvegaugeslug7840 Good call; forgot about those two.
prismhead "Cancer of Industry", "Repangaea"... I think they try to keep the bands they reference within the most popular group of bands for familiarity among the most viewers, but yeah, Credit should go where it's due. These two are the earliest I'm thinking of...
Amon Amarth have been releasing albums since the 90s. Cmon guys.
They didn’t hit their stride and makes waves until the 2000s though, so I get why they’re talked about in the discussion.
nice to see winds of creation mentioned. got me reinvigorated with death metal when it came out. still a go-to death metal album for me personally.
"We'll probably wake up next day and feel different"
That's so true
One day I'm arguing with someone and next day I feel like I'm agreeing with him/her
Pretty weird right?
Maybe because it's human nature to change/evolve
Could be the topic. The modern death metal subject is making me LOCK HORNS!!!!!!!!!
Irreversible mechanism is one of the best tech death bands in the recent years, really pushing the genre forward. If you haven't heard it before, you need to listen to them.
My three favorite new discoveries are Corpsessed, Glacial Tomb and Proscription.
I think amon amarth is too old to be classed as modern death metal. They formed in '92.
Idk but they have kept relevant and still evolved enough to sound like a "modern" band".
@@6idangle Yeah and their first release was in 1998... they are clearly not old school