Tag: death metal

650. Carcass

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(May 2025) Episode 650 is CARCASS. An extreme metal band from Liverpool that influenced grindcore and melodic death metal. Their early (late 80s/early 90s) albums are punishing affairs (the best in my opinion), cultivating a certain image with song titles like “Vomited Anal Tract,” “Mucopurulence Excretor,” “Crepitating Bowel Erosion” and “Embryonic Necropsy and Devourment.” They reunited in the 2000s for a couple decent but not distinguished albums.

Favourite album: Symphonies of Sickness

Favourite song: Corporal Jigsore Quandry

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: The first three albums: Reek of Putrefaction, Symphonies of Sickness and Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious.

642. Sepultura

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(April 2025) Episode 642 is SEPULTURA, vaulting to the top tier of my favorite metal bands. In a genre that demands a high level of orthodoxy to the metal formula, Sepultura separates themselves: they create music within the metal idiom. Beyond their skillful navigation within subgenres (speed/thrash, death, groove, prog), they bring in novel elements like drumming rhythms from their native Brazil, notably on the albums Chaos A.D. and Roots when they reached their creative peak. But it’s not a mere meld, it makes part of a whole. Each album has its own personality; they’ll try something new and then circle back to hit you in the face with power thrash.

Favorite album: Roots

Favorite song: Lookaway

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Highly recommend. Chaos A.D. and Roots are their most inventive, but there’s really not a bad album in the lot.

598. Possessed

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(August 2024) Episode 598 of the “opus project” is POSSESSED. They combined the hyper-speed of emergent thrash metal with punk rock-style growled vocals to form what, in retrospect, some call the first death metal album and band. Helping shape this legacy were their devil lyrics, which were both a cause of and lovely response to the Satanic Panic lunacy of the mid-1980s. Despite exposure by a college roommate, I was not into this stuff at the time, which is a regret. This is good stuff. They regrouped and issued a long-awaited third album in 2019, which is a quality effort.

Favorite album: Seven Churches

Favorite song: The Exorcist

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: All three albums are good, but try the first as an O.G.

554. Napalm Death

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(March 2024) Episode 554 is NAPALM DEATH, pioneers of the “grindcore” subgenre, a mix of hardcore punk and extreme metal. But to my unsophisticated ear, this is indistinguishable from death metal, with the cookie monster growl and thunder kicks. Detectable punk elements include their anarcho-political lyrics (they cover “Nazi Punks Fuck Off” in fine form) and brevity of song: the Guinness Book of World Records awards Napalm Death for having the shortest song ever recorded, “You Suffer,” which clocks in at a little more than a second. They went through several lineup changes, and the early few albums are mixed rawer than what came later. But the pace and fury is consistent from their notable first (1987) to the latest (2020). As I’ve said before, I’m attracted to music at the extremes, and Napalm Death certainly offers that.

Favourite album: Order of the Leech

Favourite song:  Cesspits

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Do it. Even if you know you’ll hate it, put it on and force yourself to experience it.

479. Cannibal Corpse

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(March 2023) Episode 479 is CANNIBAL CORPSE, an influential American death metal band that takes everything to the extreme: volume, album covers, song titles, lyrics (as if you could understand them).  It’s so gory and transgressive that they earned the targeted scorn of self-righteous moralizing politicians, which makes me like them more! Cannibal Corpse brings all the essential elements: cookie monster growl, double-pedal speed, tempo changes.  Their approach is remarkably consistent across 15 albums.  Like Bluegrass, death metal seems to demand a rigorous orthodoxy in form and sound.

Favorite album: Butchered at Birth

Favorite song: Crucifier Avenged

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: it’s not for the squeamish or prudish, but if you like music at the extremes, I recommend

414. Dismember

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(June 2022) Episode 414 is DISMEMBER, the last of the ‘big four’ Swedish death metal bands in my review. Excellent speed, grind and growl. Like many fellow bands, they took a detour to more melodic sound in the mid-90s, but came back to the core effort (better IMO).

Favorite album: Indecent and Obscene

Favorite song: Skinfather

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: yes for those who appreciate death metal

407. Death

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Episode 407 is DEATH (the death metal band, not the proto-punk band).  Further proof that the best (only?) good music to come out of the 80s was aggressive metal. Death arguably invented their eponymous genre, with leader Chuck Schuldiner the pioneer. From the first double-pedaled beat of the first album, the death metal template was set: machine-gun speed and noise, growl vocals, necrotic themes.

Favorite album: Leprosy

Favorite song: Pull the Plug

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: essential metal

389. Grave

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(March 2022) Episode 389 is GRAVE, another of the ‘big four’ Swedish death metal bands. All the speed, thrash, growl, scream, doom and death goodness.

Favorite album: Dominion VIII

Favorite song: A World in Darkness

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: yes for both the death metal curious and committed

369. Unleashed

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(December 2021) Episode 369 is UNLEASHED, another of the ‘big four’ Swedish death metal bands. Consistently loud and fast, with plenty of Viking themes.

Favorite album: Shadows in the Deep

Favorite song: The One Insane

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: essential for any Swedish death metal listeners

362. Entombed

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(October 2021) Episode 362 is ENTOMBED, along with progenitor NIHILIST. Considered one of the ‘big four’ Swedish death metal bands, pioneering the buzzsaw guitar sound along with speed and growl.  By the mid-90s they turned down the tempo, yelled rather than growled the lyrics, becoming more regular heavy or thrash metal, which worked on some albums but not on others.

Favorite album: Wolverine Blues

Favorite song: Chief Rebel Angel

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: essential for any Swedish death metal listeners