It's about time somebody came in to this hellhole and posted about some real metal; the kind of stuff that inspires you, challenges you, and makes you think while punching you in the face with a fistful of chains. I've been burning stupid bands in here off and on and I figure it's time to lay down some positive material before the populace gets uppity.
Death was an American death metal band formed in 1983 in Orlando, Florida (where most good metal comes from). At the time, Florida was a hotspot for death metal in the United States and produced a number of amazing bands including Obituary, Morbid Angel, and Deicide (none of which I expect anybody in this forum to know about). While all these bands are utterly badass in their own ways, Death were in some estimation the primogenitors of the majority of death metal heard today in the United States. The lead guitarist and vocalist, Chuck Schuldiner, was the only constant member and was the primary creative force in the band. He recruited friends and members of other bands to write albums, record, and tour, and this roster included people like Paul Masvidal (Cynic, Aeon Spoke), James Murphy (Obituary, Testament), Andy LaRoque (King Diamond), Ralph Santolla (Iced Earth, Deicide), fretless metal bassist Steve DiGiorgio, drummer Richard Christy (Howard Stern Show) and drummer Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel, Opeth, Unearth, Dethklok, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.). Death released seven studio albums between '83 and '01 until Schuldiner was diagnosed with a malignant cancerous brain tumour. The metal community came out in numbers to raise money to pay for his cancer treatments (the dude was not anywhere near Gene Simmons rich) but they left his immune system weak and on December 13th, 2001 he died of complications of pneumonia, leaving behind a legacy arguably as big or larger than Pantera's Dimebag Darrell (yeah yeah bite me).
ITH I'll be reviewing and commenting on Death's seven albums in chronological order.
Scream Bloody Gore was the first full-length studio album released by Death after the release of several demo tapes and EPs. All the instruments on the album apart from drums (which Schuldiner apparently had a hand in arranging) are played by Chuck, including both lead and rhythm guitar and bass. SBG is widely believed to be one of the first real "death metal" albums, and lyrically it included themes relating to zombies, the movie Evil Dead, general gore, and demonic possession. While the production is nowhere near the sonic quality of modern metal albums, the songs are undeniably brutal and continue to kick the ass of most two-bit "musicians" these days. If you are familiar with other death metal bands then SBG will likely seem the most "normal" to you, as it was the precursor to Death's exploration of other musical and lyrical themes and levels of complexity. This album was recorded in regular ol' E tuning (because dropped doesn't necessarily mean good) and contains some decent guitar solos but mostly just a collection of sick riffs and terrifying vocals. For fans of Slayer, SBG can be said to be Death's Show No Mercy; it essentially demonstrated the talents of the members at the time and is obviously the bands' first release. In this case however, SBG is more complicated and technically more advanced but written entirely by only one member.
Next album later today, although Leprosy is my least favourite.