Death metal

History and character

Death metal emerged in the mid-1980s in the United States, above all in Florida and the Bay Area, out of thrash metal, first-wave black metal and hardcore punk. The first two Venom albums and Slayer's Reign in Blood (1986) are direct influences. Possessed (Seven Churches, 1985) serves as a bridge between thrash and death; Death by Chuck Schuldiner, the “father of death metal” (Scream Bloody Gore, 1987; Human, 1991, a landmark of technical death), Morbid Angel (Altars of Madness, 1989), Obituary, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Autopsy, Immolation, Suffocation and Massacre defined the genre; labels such as Earache, Roadrunner, Nuclear Blast and Century Media spread it, with a commercial peak around 1992–1993.

A parallel scene developed in Sweden: Stockholm (Nihilist, Entombed with Left Hand Path in 1990, Dismember, Grave, Unleashed), with the “buzzsaw” sound of the Boss HM-2 pedal used with all the controls maxed out (produced from 1983 to 1991, it emulated the response of a Marshall; often paired with Peavey amps), and Gothenburg with melodic death metal (At the Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, also influenced by the NWOBHM; Carcass's Heartwork from 1993 is an early example). Subgenres: technical (Nile, Necrophagist, Obscura, early Opeth), brutal (Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Cryptopsy), death-doom, blackened death, slam, deathcore.

Characteristics: heavily distorted and downtuned guitars with palm mutes and tremolo picking, guttural vocals (growl), fast, aggressive drums with double kick and blast beats, minor keys or atonal passages, chromatic progressions, sudden changes of tempo, key and meter; a typical lineup of two guitars, bass, vocals and drums; lyrics about violence, horror, religion, philosophy, nature, science fiction.

Scales and keys

Chromatic and clusters

• Formula: all 12 notes; in death metal the riffs are often built on chromatic fragments (E–F–F#–G) and on minor-second and tritone intervals.
• Use: atonal riffs or ones “centered” on a pedal note (the open string), chromatic tremolo-picking passages.
• Real example: Morbid Angel — Immortal Rites (chromatic and tritone riffs); Immolation — extreme dissonances.
• Common mistakes: chromaticism without a center: return to the open string to give a “floor.”

Phrygian

• Formula: 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. In D (D standard): D Eb F G A Bb C.
• Characteristic note: b2 (Eb).
• Chords: i Dm, bII Eb, bIII F, iv Gm, v° Adim, bVI Bb, bvii Cm.
• Use: pedal-point riffs, doom passages.

Locrian

• Formula: 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7. In D: D Eb F G Ab Bb C.
• Characteristic note: b5 (Ab).
• Use: “evil” tritone riffs (Morbid Angel, Deicide).

Harmonic minor and Phrygian dominant (technical and melodic death)

• Harmonic minor: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7 (in E: E F# G A B C D#). Phrygian dominant: 1 b2 3 4 5 b6 b7 (in E: E F G# A B C D).
• Use: Nile (Egyptian themes in Phrygian dominant), Necrophagist and Obscura (neoclassical arpeggios), melodic death (harmonized leads).
• Real example: Nile — Black Seeds of Vengeance (Phrygian dominant colors).

Aeolian (melodic death metal)

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. In E: E F# G A B C D.
• Use: “Gothenburg” two-guitar harmonies (In Flames, At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity), melodic tremolo-picked riffs over i–VI–VII.
• Real example: At the Gates — Blinded by Fear (melodic riffs in minor).

Diminished

• Formula (half-whole): 1 b2 #2 3 #4 5 6 b7. In E: E F G G# A# B C# D.
• Use: symmetrical leads and riffs in technical death.

How to choose

• Brutal: chromaticism, Phrygian and tritones on the lowest string. Old-school Florida: chromaticism + Phrygian. Swedish (Stockholm): minor power chords and punk-ish melodies with the HM-2. Melodic (Gothenburg): Aeolian harmonized in thirds. Technical: harmonic minor, diminished, arpeggios.

Harmony

Function

Atonal or modal minor harmony, built on the riffs: chromatic power-chord progressions, tritone leaps, pedals on the open string, fragments of minor and Phrygian scales. Sudden changes of key and meter. In melodic death you find Aeolian progressions (i–VI–VII) harmonized in thirds, in technical death augmented and diminished chords and neoclassical arpeggios.

Tremolo picking

• Single notes or power chords repeated at great speed (sixteenth notes or thirty-second notes) that create chromatic “melodies” over the blast.

Tunings

• D standard and C standard (Death, Cannibal Corpse in some periods, Morbid Angel), Eb (1980s Florida death), B standard and lower in brutal death; 7-string in modern technical death.

Voicing

• Power chords, dissonant dyads (diminished fifth, minor second), octaves, open chords with dissonances; solos often atonal (Trey Azagthoth, Morbid Angel) or melodic (Schuldiner).

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

A great variety of tempos within the same song: blast beats (from 180 BPM in sixteenth notes upward, often 250–280), continuous double kick, skank/thrash beat, heavy midtempo grooves, doom half-time passages, sudden meter changes (technical death). The guitars' tremolo picking follows the blast grid; the palm mutes follow the kick. Pete Sandoval (Morbid Angel) is cited as the first to use blasts at a metronomic tempo, as a way of keeping time.

Drums

Role

The drums are the extreme engine: blasts, double kick, tempo changes and absolute precision. Models: Pete Sandoval (Morbid Angel), Sean Reinert and Gene Hoglan (Death), Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy), George Kollias (Nile), Paul Mazurkiewicz (Cannibal Corpse, bomb blast), Dave Culross.

Kick

• Continuous sixteenth-note double kick under the riffs; blast (alternating with the snare); in unison with the palm mutes in the grooves.
• Triggered sound with lots of click (5–8 kHz) so it can be heard at high speeds.

Snare

• Traditional blast: alternating with the kick in sixteenth notes. Bomb blast: eighth-note snare over sixteenth-note kick (Cannibal Corpse). Hammer blast: kick and snare together in eighth notes. Gravity blast: one-handed roll using the rim as a fulcrum.
• In the grooves: 2 and 4 or on 3.

Cymbals

• Ride or crash in unison with the kick in the blasts, china on the accents, closed hi-hat in the thrash grooves.

Interaction

• Blast ↔ tremolo picking; groove ↔ palm mute; everything in unison on the stops.

Sections

• Intro (often half-time or a riff alone) → verse with blast → midtempo groove → solo with double kick → doom half-time → return of the blast → stop.

Fills

• Very fast snare and tom fills in sixteenth notes/sextuplets, fills with double kick underneath.

Sounds

• Kit with big, low-tuned toms, triggered kick, high, “pingy” snare (old school) or big (modern); samples with round robin for the blasts.

Typical mistakes

• Blasts with all the same velocity (the snare needs micro-variations); kick with a long tail that muddies; no variation between blast and groove.

Bass

Sound

Distorted bass played with a pick or with fingers (Steve Di Giorgio fretless with Death and Testament, Alex Webster with lightning-fast fingers in Cannibal Corpse), very present in the mids to cut through the wall.

Role

• Unison with the riff, tremolo notes an octave below, independent lines in technical death.

Relationship with the kick

Aligned; in the blasts the bass holds longer notes or follows the tremolo.

Examples

• Cannibal Corpse — Hammer Smashed Face (Alex Webster); Death — The Philosopher (Steve Di Giorgio); Obscura — Anticosmic Overload (Jeroen Paul Thesseling, fretless).

Harmonic instruments

Rhythm guitar layering (modern metal)

• Quad tracking: 4 separate takes of the same riff (never copies: you need the micro-differences for width), two per side: L100 + L80 and R100 + R80 (or all four at L100/R100 if you want maximum width).
• Different amps per side or per pair: for example Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier + Peavey/EVH 5150 (or their simulations), or the same amp with two different cabinet IRs (Mesa 4x12 with V30 + Marshall 1960 with Greenback). Sound On Sound suggests, for live-recorded guitars, two amps with contrasting/complementary tones panned hard left and right.
• Double vs. quad: double tracking (L100/R100) is more defined and “tight”; quad tracking is bigger but less precise. Thrash and technical death prefer 2 very precise tracks; modern metalcore, deathcore and djent often use 4 tracks or 2 tracks + re-amp.
• Always record a DI: it lets you re-amp and change the sound in the mix.
• Leads and harmonies: center or L30/R30 (third harmonies, one per side), with delay and reverb; the rhythm stays dry.

Typical tunings

The “drop” tunings in the drop D family (drop Db, C, B, Bb, A) all use the same fingerings: power chords with a single finger across the three low strings.

Death metal specifics

• Swedish (Stockholm): Boss HM-2 with all the controls maxed out (the “dimed HM-2” of Leif Cuzner of Nihilist, then Entombed, Dismember, Bloodbath) for the “chainsaw” sound with exaggerated mids and highs; sessions at Sunlight Studio with Tomas Skogsberg.
• Modern/brutal: 7-string, very high but tight gain, quad tracking.
• Techniques: tremolo picking, palm mute, pinch harmonics, pick slide, sweeping and tapping in the technical solos.

Melody and vocals

Vocals

• Deep, guttural growl (Chris Barnes, George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, John Tardy), a more “raspy” mid-range voice (Chuck Schuldiner, LG Petrov), scream in melodic death (Tomas Lindberg).
• The voice is rhythmic and follows the riff; the lyrics are often barely intelligible.

Backing vocals

• Doubled growls, alternation of growl/scream between two voices (Deicide, Cannibal Corpse on some songs).

Effects

• Tight doubles, saturation, little reverb; sometimes a slight pitch shift to darken.

Instruments

• Two high-gain (downtuned) electric guitars.
• Electric bass.
• Drums with double kick (triggers).
• Growl vocals.
• Keyboards and orchestra in only some bands (Nile, Fleshgod Apocalypse in symphonic death).

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• Augmented Strings — Strings and orchestra: Intros and symphonic passages (Fleshgod Apocalypse, Nile): low strings and simulated brass.
• Augmented Voices — Choirs: Mournful, liturgical choirs for intros and outros.
• Mellotron V — Vintage choirs: Dark old-school intros.
• Modular V — Noises and drones: Drones and horror textures for intros and transitions.

Song structure

Form (3:30–6:00)

Death metal is often riff-based: a sequence of different riffs rather than verse–chorus.

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

Heaviness and clarity despite the speed: dense but defined guitars, a kick audible on every hit of the blast, a snare that cuts, bass with growl, the vocal inside the wall. References: Death — Symbolic (1995), Morbid Angel — Covenant (1993), Cannibal Corpse — Kill (2006), Entombed — Left Hand Path (1990), Nile — Annihilation of the Wicked (2005).

Kick

• EQ: HP 35 Hz; +3 dB at 60 Hz; −8 dB at 300–400 Hz; +6 dB at 5–8 kHz (click). Samples with a short tail (100–150 ms); gate; light compression (the sample is already uniform).

Snare

• EQ: +3 dB at 200–250 Hz; −3 dB at 700 Hz; +4 dB at 5–6 kHz. Blend with a sample (40–70%); short room 0.6–0.9 s.

Toms and cymbals

• Gated toms, +4 dB at 80–100 Hz; overheads HP 400–500 Hz, −3 dB at 3 kHz; well-defined ride for the blasts.
• Drum bus: 4:1, 3 dB.

Bass

• Bass split: sub (LP 150 Hz) + distorted (HP 250 Hz, +4 dB at 1–2 kHz); compression 8–10 dB.

Guitars

• 2 or 4 rhythm tracks L100/R100 (+L80/R80). EQ: HP 80–100 Hz; −4 dB at 200–400 Hz; +2 dB at 800 Hz–1.2 kHz (definition); −2/−3 dB at 3–4 kHz; LP 9–10 kHz.
• HM-2: the sound already has exaggerated mids and highs: cut 3–5 kHz if it hurts, add body at 150 Hz.
• Tight gate; dynamic EQ at 100–200 Hz.
• Solos: center, delay and plate.

Growl vocals

• Chain: HP 80–100 Hz (the growl has low energy: don't cut too much); −4 dB at 300–500 Hz; +3 dB at 1.5–2.5 kHz; compression 10–12 dB (two stages); saturation; tight double.
• Level: inside the wall, but with presence at 2 kHz so the articulation can be heard.
• Short room or no reverb.

FX

• Few: room, delay throw; horror samples in the intros.

Buses and groups

• Guitar bus with a light limiter; “low end” bus.

Sidechain

• Guitars and bass from the kick with dynamic EQ at 60–150 Hz: essential for hearing the double kick.

Master

• Target: −8/−6 LUFS integrated; true peak −1 dBTP. Old-school masters are more dynamic (−11/−9).

Common mistakes

• Double kick that becomes an indistinct hum (tail too long, too little click); muddy guitars; a growl that covers the guitars or disappears.

Reference tracks for the mix

• Possessed — The Exorcist (1985); Death — Pull the Plug (1988); Morbid Angel — Immortal Rites (1989); Entombed — Left Hand Path (1990); Cannibal Corpse — Hammer Smashed Face (1992); At the Gates — Blinded by Fear (1995); Nile — Sarcophagus (2005).

Reference listening

• Possessed — The Exorcist (1985)
• Death — Zombie Ritual (1987)
• Morbid Angel — Immortal Rites (1989)
• Entombed — Left Hand Path (1990)
• Death — Lack of Comprehension (1991)
• Cannibal Corpse — Hammer Smashed Face (1992)
• Carcass — Heartwork (1993)
• At the Gates — Blinded by Fear (1995)
• Nile — Black Seeds of Vengeance (2000)