Brutal death metal

Brutal death metal is a subgenre of death metal which focuses more upon speed, and advanced playing technique in the genre of death metal.
History
Brutal death metal developed in the early 1990s, as an outgrowth of death metal. The first hints of brutal death came from the band Cannibal Corpse, formed in 1988, which began to push death metal into more extreme levels, shaping the sound of brutal death metal. It wasn't until 1991 that brutal death metal emerged, with the releases of Suffocation's Effigy of the Forgotten and Immolation's Dawn of Possession.
The late 1990s proved to be an important time for brutal death metal with the release of both Devourment's Molesting the Decapitated and Disgorge's Cranial Impalement.
Characteristics
As the term "brutal" suggests, this sub-genre is pushing the ferocious and violent nature of death metal further into heavy territories. By applying traits such as compact song structures and loud, high-speed riffing, death metal was taken to greater extremes. Brutal death metal tends to be drum-heavy and rhythm oriented leaving little room for melody and harmony. Typically, guitar riffs make use of fast tremolo picking, and heavy palm muting for a percussive effect. The drum lines are fast with predominant use of double bass and blastbeats. Because of this, brutal death metal drummers must be able to coordinate their drumming with very high endurance and speed. Brutal death metal vocalists employ heavy and low-pitched death growls even more so than death metal, and the lyrics are often gore related.
Certain bands in brutal death metal, for example Nile and Spawn of Possession, have also been categorized as technical death metal. There is a sizable overlap between the two genres, as some bands not only focus on speed and aggression but also incorporate technical and progressive elements.
Bands
Some notable bands of this genre include:

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu