10) Suffocation
Best Album: 'Pierced From Within'
About the band: Suffocation are credited with the invention of the subgenre 'Brutal Death Metal' and introducing the 'Death Growl.' Death Metal magazine commented on their 1991 EP by saying it was the first death metal album to fuse elements of punk, hardcore, grindcore and doom metal together.
Best Album: 'Death Rituals'
About the band: Originally formed as a side project by Cannibal Corpse vocalist Chris Barnes, Six Feet Under have released nine studio albums during the past 14 years. Barnes created the band so he could break away from the speedy sound of Cannibal Corpse and make something more "grooving."
8) Nile
Best Album: 'Ithyphallic'
About the band: Lead singer Karl Sanders' interest in Egyptology has been a strong influence on Nile's music and lyrics. Horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft is also an influence in the band and many of its lyrics are based on his works. This accounts for the grammatical peculiarities found in the songs.
7) Kataklysm
Best Album: 'Shadows & Dust'
About the band: Kataklysm calls their sound "northern hyperblast," which they adopted after seeing a commercial describing the band Fear Factory as "hyperblast." The "blast" refers to the typical death metal use of "blast beats" provided by their drummer. The band is also known for incorporating movie quotes into its music.
6) Bloodbath
Recommended Album: 'Nightmares Made Flesh'
About the band: Bloodbath is a Swedish death metal supergroup that has had different members from album to album. 'Nightmares Made Flesh' is the only album without lead singer Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth. Akerfeldt was replaced by Peter Tagtgren from Hypocrisy, who stayed only long enough to record this album.
5) Amon Amarth
Best Album: 'Twilight of the Thunder God'
About the band: Formed under the name Scum, the band changed its name to Amon Amarth, which is an alternate name for Mount Doom from J. R. R. Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings,' meaning "mountain of fate." Playing off its name nicely, the band's lyrics often refer to Norse mythology and the Viking Age.
4) Morbid Angel
Best Album: 'Gateways to Annihilation'
About the band: Created in 1983, the band is considered crucial in the development of death metal. They hold the current record for best-selling death metal album in the United States with the album 'Covenant.'
3) Vader
Best Album: 'The Art of War'
About the band: This Polish band adopted their name from the villain of the 'Star Wars' movies, as the forming members were fans. As of now, the current lineup features only one original member -- the other three have all joined in 2008.
Best Album: 'Bloodthirst'
About the band: Because of their horror-based lyrics and gruesome image, Cannibal Corpse has been banned in several countries, namely Australia and Germany. In response to the violence in their songs, vocalist George Fisher said, "There's nothing ever serious. We're not thinking of anybody in particular that we're trying to kill ... The people doing the killing in our songs are zombies."
1) Death
Best Album: 'Symbolic'
About the band: Chuck Schuldiner created the many variations of the Death lineup over the years and is known as the "Father of Death Metal." In response, Schuldiner said, "I don't think I should take the credits for this death metal stuff. I'm just a guy from a band, and I think Death is a metal band." In 2001, Schuldiner passed away from pneumonia after being weakened by a recently diagnosed brain tumor.
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1. Personally, I think this is an absolutely poor choice for the 'top 10 death metal bands'. I agree with Nile, Suffocation, Bloodbath, Cannibal Corpse and Vader but to me, Kataklysm, Amon Amarth and Six Feet Under don't even deserve to be in there. For one thing, Amon Amarth aren't even death metal, they're just...boring. You've overlooked some of the greatest death metal bands ever; Zyklon, Decapitated, Aeon, Hate Eternal, Opeth, et cetera. Although I think that Nile, Vader and Cannibal Corpse deserve their place here, you picked really wrong albums for their best. Ithyphallic certainly is not Nile's best, but Annihilation of the Wicked or Black Seeds of Vengeance. Same goes for Vader, you should have picked Impressions In Blood. And as for Cannibal, Either Kill or the new one, Evisceration Plague, are the best ones as it's nowhere near as cheesy or repetitive as the old stuff.
*Phew* I'm done, rant over. No offence, but you clearly have no idea what you're on about when it comes to metal. Leave it to us elitists, yeah?
Posted at 10:18AM on Jul 24th 2009 by Isaac