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when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 06 Oct 2025, 08:02
by zim
where was the tipping point where death metal started getting (stupidly) ridiculous with gravity blasts, guitar sweeping, and low gutturals?
necrophagist released onset of putrefaction in 1999 which was very tech death but not quite the ear assault i'm looking for
some people claim origin's first album (2000) has the first gravity blasts. paul ryan wasn't shredding yet on this album, really wasn't doing that sweep kind of playing until about 2008 but they were pushing speed
cryptopsy were definitely pushing it with none so vile (1996)
devourment maybe with molesting the decapitated (1999)
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 06 Oct 2025, 12:09
by Mesarthim
I blame The Berzerker
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 06 Oct 2025, 20:21
by zim
Mesarthim wrote: ↑06 Oct 2025, 12:09
I blame The Berzerker
i was going to include them, their first album is pretty ridiculous though they were speeding things up in the studio
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 06 Oct 2025, 20:33
by jawn galliano
the arrival of this style was more or less inevitable imo, because metal tends for obvious reasons to attract people who are primarily interested in technique. as death metal started to congeal into a sort of identifiable constellation of sounds in the late 80s/early gloryhole era , there was just always going to be some portion of the audience that could only understand it in technical terms. so that's what they built on, not understanding that technique was just a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. the shred ethos where music is a competition and the winner is the one hitting the most notes/riffs/blasts per measure or whatever wound up reconstituting itself in death metal, leading to a genre overstuffed with empty athleticism. most prog stuff is similarly redundant!
i think it can be fun in small doses, but it's maybe the kind of thing you ought to build a track around rather than a career
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 06 Oct 2025, 21:53
by Methuselah Honeysuckle
zim wrote: ↑06 Oct 2025, 08:02
where was the tipping point where death metal started getting (stupidly) ridiculous with gravity blasts, guitar sweeping, and low gutturals?
necrophagist released onset of putrefaction in 1999 which was very tech death but not quite the ear assault i'm looking for
some people claim origin's first album (2000) has the first gravity blasts. paul ryan wasn't shredding yet on this album, really wasn't doing that sweep kind of playing until about 2008 but they were pushing speed
cryptopsy were definitely pushing it with none so vile (1996)
devourment maybe with molesting the decapitated (1999)
Domination through impurity dropped their first album in 05 and tech death was already a well established thing by that point. So I think your gay man's telescope is somewhere between 99-02/03.
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 07 Oct 2025, 02:39
by Corpsepyre
Definitely not the wanky I came here thinking about. Interesting examples there, Zim.
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 07 Oct 2025, 02:55
by zim
Corpsepyre wrote: ↑07 Oct 2025, 02:39
Definitely not the wanky I came here thinking about. Interesting examples there, Zim.
i'm not saying the bands i listed are wanky, just that they were some early examples of pushing tempos and technicality, i love all of those groups
i was inspired to ask the question because archspire started auto-playing on youtube and it's just soulless bullshit which is part of modern trends. the guitars and vocals are so low that they all blend together, it's sonically indistinguishable. i feel like these modern groups are devoid of riffs or good songwriting.
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 07 Oct 2025, 04:30
by jawn galliano
to actually address the question... i think the massive popularity of necrophagist is responsible for this turn more than any of the others, i'll grant it's maybe a little better crafted than the run of the mill wank, but it was still wank-first and everything downstream from it followed suit
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 07 Oct 2025, 16:57
by User
necrophagist rock though
and archpsire have some great tracks
i like this whole genre
bring on the wank, in my face
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 07 Oct 2025, 19:59
by Mesarthim
jawn galliano wrote: ↑07 Oct 2025, 04:30
to actually address the question... i think the massive popularity of necrophagist is responsible for this turn more than any of the others, i'll grant it's maybe a little better crafted than the run of the mill wank, but it was still wank-first and everything downstream from it followed suit
It still kind of amazes me how there hasn’t been a Necrophagist reunion - for someone who was extremely proficient at their craft Muhammad straight up left the music scene altogether.
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 07 Oct 2025, 22:33
by zim
Mesarthim wrote: ↑07 Oct 2025, 19:59
jawn galliano wrote: ↑07 Oct 2025, 04:30
to actually address the question... i think the massive popularity of necrophagist is responsible for this turn more than any of the others, i'll grant it's maybe a little better crafted than the run of the mill wank, but it was still wank-first and everything downstream from it followed suit
It still kind of amazes me how there hasn’t been a Necrophagist reunion - for someone who was extremely proficient at their craft Muhammad straight up left the music scene altogether.
but also kind of badass that they would drop two great albums and then just fuck off forever
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 08 Oct 2025, 05:19
by Mesarthim
Yeah, just unusual that he didn’t go onto to something else musically (that we know of) even if it had nothing to do with metal.
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 08 Oct 2025, 16:36
by User
epitaph is a genius bomb dropped from the gods. like elvenefris
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 08 Oct 2025, 20:25
by jawn galliano
elvenefris pisses all over epitaph
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 08 Oct 2025, 20:28
by zim
jawn galliano wrote: ↑08 Oct 2025, 20:25
elvenefris pisses all over epitaph
they're both good
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 08 Oct 2025, 21:09
by jawn galliano
zim wrote: ↑08 Oct 2025, 20:28
jawn galliano wrote: ↑08 Oct 2025, 20:25
elvenefris pisses all over epitaph
they're both good
no! only elvenefris!
Re: when did death metal get too wanky?
Posted: 09 Oct 2025, 02:20
by Mesarthim
zim wrote: ↑08 Oct 2025, 20:28
jawn galliano wrote: ↑08 Oct 2025, 20:25
elvenefris pisses all over epitaph
they're both good