Top 5: Favorite Death Metal Bands

For some reason I've been listening to a lot of Death Metal this week. Got me thinking ...

Who are your top 5 favorite Death Metal bands? Try to keep it to just five, as this will be a 'cream of the crop' discussion.


Can be 'any' subgenre of Death Metal also (including: Deathgrind, Goregrind, Death n Roll, Brutal, Slam, Melodic, Technical, etc)

Can be Christian or secular ... hence why I placed this thread in this forum.

Top 5 ...

Whelp Deathcore here I come!!!!!

1.Impending Doom
2.With Blood Comes Cleansing
3.I Built The Cross
4.Earth From Above
5.Becoming The Archetype

Noumena, Sawol, 7 Horns 7 Eyes, Pantokrator, Екклесиаст

Don't ask me to rank them, though!  They're all #1.

In Flames
Dark Tranquillity
Gardenian
Soilwork
Amon Amarth

Im a huge sucker for melodic death metal and hands down for an all-inclusive favorites list, melo-death will dominate. I could go on and on and need a separate list for other types of DM.

LemonMouse wrote:Noumena, Sawol, 7 Horns 7 Eyes, Pantokrator, Екклесиаст

Don't ask me to rank them, though!  They're all #1.

7 Horns 7 Eyes!!!!!

Man I saw those guys opening for Demon Hunter in Seattle

They had just started and their lead singer was 16!!!!

I picked up their EP, and he could do it all the highs, lows and clean singing.
YET YOU STILL CHOKE!!!

Wow! I'm actually not familiar with even one of any of those bands either of you posted! I guess Death Metal is not my top favorite genre, but I do like what I've discovered of it. My faves would be:

1. Six Feet Under (my current fave of the genre. love this band!)

2. Obituary

3. Amon Amarth

4. Cattle Decapitation

5. Cannabis Corpse

That would be my top 5, but I had a real hard time not including Nile. They would be 6. Love that band too. Anyway ...

I've not heard much in the way of Christian Death Metal that compares to the secular (quality wise). Love the first few Mortification albums, but they didn't stay true to Death Metal but instead turned into a Thrash Metal band - then a Heavy Metal band. Wish they had stayed with that sound of their first 4 albums.

spitshockey81 wrote:In Flames
Dark Tranquillity
Gardenian
Soilwork
Amon Amarth

Im a huge sucker for melodic death metal and hands down for an all-inclusive favorites list, melo-death will dominate. I could go on and on and need a separate list for other types of DM.

You rule dude 

Mi list is very similar to yours. Melo-death is the best metal genre imo. Everything about it it's great!

Mine would be:

1- Dark Tranquillity 
2- Exhumation/Nightrage 
3- Soilwork
4- In Flames 
5- Immortal Souls

And i still think its missing so badly some Kalmah. Love that band too 

The Off the top of my head, without any real thought or order:
Amon Amarth
Dagon
Dark Tranquility
Cattle Decapitation
Boreworm

1. Slechtvalk (melodic/blackened death metal)
2. A Hill to Die Upon (blackened death metal)
3. early Mortification (old school death metal)
4. Immortal Souls (melodic death metal)
5. Tortured Conscience (old school death metal)

Honorable mentions: In the Midst of Lions (deathcore), Indwelling (technical death metal), 7 Horns 7 Eyes (progressive doom/death metal), Broken Flesh (brutal death metal), Schaliach (melodic doom/death metal)

[Edit]AHHHHHH had to add a couple more honorable mentions! There is too much good music in the metal genre! I feel sorry for fans of other genres because there is very little of that stuff that is good nowadays![/Edit]

1. Suffocation
2. Malevolent Creation
3. Origin
4. Death
5. Obscura

(Triptykon crushes all, but I find it tough to categorize them as DM!)

Hardcore Christian wrote:

LemonMouse wrote:Noumena, Sawol, 7 Horns 7 Eyes, Pantokrator, Екклесиаст

Don't ask me to rank them, though!  They're all #1.

7 Horns 7 Eyes!!!!!

Man I saw those guys opening for Demon Hunter in Seattle

They had just started and their lead singer was 16!!!!

I picked up their EP, and he could do it all the highs, lows and clean singing.
YET YOU STILL CHOKE!!!

Yeah, their original vocalist was great. I wished he hadn't left, but the current guy is real good, too. Deeeeeep.

Though, I always thought the clean singing was Aaron Smith rather than Kyle Wood?

And 7H7E is no longer in the Metal Archives?????????? "7 Horns 7 Eyes" and "Throes of Absolution" don't bring up any search results!

RavenWolf wrote:Wow! I'm actually not familiar with even one of any of those bands either of you posted! I guess Death Metal is not my top favorite genre, but I do like what I've discovered of it. My faves would be:

1. Six Feet Under (my current fave of the genre. love this band!)

2. Obituary

3. Amon Amarth

4. Cattle Decapitation

5. Cannabis Corpse

That would be my top 5, but I had a real hard time not including Nile. They would be 6. Love that band too. Anyway ...

I've not heard much in the way of Christian Death Metal that compares to the secular (quality wise). Love the first few Mortification albums, but they didn't stay true to Death Metal but instead turned into a Thrash Metal band - then a Heavy Metal band. Wish they had stayed with that sound of their first 4 albums.

I totally dig Obituary, too.  I was working at my college's radio station at the time Slowly We Rot came out.  It was pretty much the last new release that we got before summer break, and I remember the other metal guy and I being completely impressed with the extremity of John Tardy's vocals...unreal!!

I lost a muffler on a 4.5 hour (in 1 direction) trip to see them in the summer of 1990 with Sacred Reich and Forced Entry--the drive home was almost as loud as the gig!  I've also been fortunate enough to catch them on pretty much every tour since, but the best time had to be when they came back to town later in 1990 on tour with Sepultura and Sadus.  Sepultura was supporting Beneath the Remains, Obituary Cause of Death, and Sadus Swallowed in Black.  ALL 3 OF THESE AMAZING BANDS AT THE HEIGHT OF THEIR POWERS!!  AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

LemonMouse wrote:And 7H7E is no longer in the Metal Archives?????????? "7 Horns 7 Eyes" and "Throes of Absolution" don't bring up any search results!

They had a nasty breakup recently, I wonder if that has anything to do with it.  I saw something on their singer's FB about it a little while back.

I'm not a huge straight-up death metal fan, but sometimes it's nice - especially when mixed with other stuff like doom.    Some of my favorites are:

My Silent Wake
Becoming The Archetype
Pantokrator
Paramaecium
Morgion

LemonMouse wrote:

Hardcore Christian wrote:

LemonMouse wrote:Noumena, Sawol, 7 Horns 7 Eyes, Pantokrator, Екклесиаст

Don't ask me to rank them, though!  They're all #1.

7 Horns 7 Eyes!!!!!

Man I saw those guys opening for Demon Hunter in Seattle

They had just started and their lead singer was 16!!!!

I picked up their EP, and he could do it all the highs, lows and clean singing.
YET YOU STILL CHOKE!!!

Yeah, their original vocalist was great. I wished he hadn't left, but the current guy is real good, too. Deeeeeep.

Though, I always thought the clean singing was Aaron Smith rather than Kyle Wood?

And 7H7E is no longer in the Metal Archives?????????? "7 Horns 7 Eyes" and "Throes of Absolution" don't bring up any search results!

Im sure your right, about the cleans. I never did pick up Throes. I always saw it and passed on it.

Kerrick wrote:

LemonMouse wrote:And 7H7E is no longer in the Metal Archives?????????? "7 Horns 7 Eyes" and "Throes of Absolution" don't bring up any search results!

They had a nasty breakup recently, I wonder if that has anything to do with it.  I saw something on their singer's FB about it a little while back.

Well thats a shame

Kerrick wrote:

LemonMouse wrote:And 7H7E is no longer in the Metal Archives?????????? "7 Horns 7 Eyes" and "Throes of Absolution" don't bring up any search results!

They had a nasty breakup recently, I wonder if that has anything to do with it.  I saw something on their singer's FB about it a little while back.

The last posts on the band's Twitter/Facebook is from early August, that they were writing stuff. If they did break up, I would hope they would announce that.


Anyway, after searching the MA forums, I found this:

http://www.metal-archives.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=64985&p=2362736&hilit=+7+Horns+7+Eyes+#p2362736

"Deleted for being -core/djent". Which is total crap, particularly for Throes of Absolution.

In order from favorite to less favorite:

Sophicide
Devourment
Portal
Brain Drill
Myrkskog (latest album)

Crimson Thorn
Mortification
Corpse
Impending Doom
Bolt Thrower

heres my non-melodeath list

Malevolent Creation
Dismember
Death
Asphyx
Bolt Thrower

I never got into death metal as a whole, but I do still like some individual bands. My list in no particular order would be:

Becoming The Archetype
Soilwork
Extol
Amon Amarth
Solamors

Morbid Angel
Cannibal Corpse
Sinister
Monstrosity
Cynic
Death
Disincarnate

xMetalMarkx wrote:

RavenWolf wrote:Wow! I'm actually not familiar with even one of any of those bands either of you posted! I guess Death Metal is not my top favorite genre, but I do like what I've discovered of it. My faves would be:

1. Six Feet Under (my current fave of the genre. love this band!)

2. Obituary

3. Amon Amarth

4. Cattle Decapitation

5. Cannabis Corpse

That would be my top 5, but I had a real hard time not including Nile. They would be 6. Love that band too. Anyway ...

I've not heard much in the way of Christian Death Metal that compares to the secular (quality wise). Love the first few Mortification albums, but they didn't stay true to Death Metal but instead turned into a Thrash Metal band - then a Heavy Metal band. Wish they had stayed with that sound of their first 4 albums.

I totally dig Obituary, too.  I was working at my college's radio station at the time Slowly We Rot came out.  It was pretty much the last new release that we got before summer break, and I remember the other metal guy and I being completely impressed with the extremity of John Tardy's vocals...unreal!!

I lost a muffler on a 4.5 hour (in 1 direction) trip to see them in the summer of 1990 with Sacred Reich and Forced Entry--the drive home was almost as loud as the gig!  I've also been fortunate enough to catch them on pretty much every tour since, but the best time had to be when they came back to town later in 1990 on tour with Sepultura and Sadus.  Sepultura was supporting Beneath the Remains, Obituary Cause of Death, and Sadus Swallowed in Black.  ALL 3 OF THESE AMAZING BANDS AT THE HEIGHT OF THEIR POWERS!!  AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

O M FREEKING Goodness! That would have RULED to have seen all three of those bands on that tour!!! You were very lucky!!!

Totally!  That show remains firmly in the top 5 best shows I've ever seen, even 25 years later!!

I know this thread is about people favourite's death metal bands but, can i ask for specific stuff on death metal in this thread?

Kaiser_19 wrote:I know this thread is about people favourite's death metal bands but, can i ask for specific stuff on death metal in this thread?

Absolutely bro!

Great  

Ok guys i need your help. I summon you 

I'm looking for some Death Metal similar to Evocation, one of my favourites in the genre, pretty much something like this.

 or at 03:13 of this 

that means death metal with haunting melodies, death/thrash drum beats with some blast beats here and there, and NOT deep guttural growls please, and of course, great solos!. The way the vocals are on Evocation is how do i like the most. 

What i DO NOT like is death metal with endless blast beats, riffless and any song that you pick the guitars sounds like ZZZZZZZZZZZ with tons of needless distortion and lacking substance. This bores me to death  . Early fleshcrawl is a great example of what i do not want, however their latest stuff, while still filled with deep guttural growls i don't like very much, i found Structures of death to be quite close of Death metal the way i like it.



other bands that sound like this and i already know and like are: Dismember, Entrails, Tormented