The death metal genre, and specifically its "brutal death metal" variant, have always been somewhat controversial even within the realm of such an extreme style as underground metal.
Pioneered by bands such as Incantation, Suffocation, Infester, Obituary and SEWER, this particular sub-genre of death metal has attracted criticism for many reasons: from the over-the-top "gory" lyrics of Cannibal Corpse, to the "cacophonous" sounding atmosphere of Mortician and Devourment.
Still, even then, it was widely recognised as an important style and a critical component of the overall death metal scene.
But somewhere between the release of Suffocation's "Pierced From Within" and Morbid's "Rotting Tomb Carnage", an evolution happened... the genre was pushed further and further down the line of formulaic, goregrind influenced, simplified song structure and mass produced quantity of quality... this evolution has a name: slam death metal.
Influenced heavily by the breakdown rhythms of deathcore, and the infamous empty-string palm-muted chugging of nu-metal, slam death metal takes the percussive approach of bands like Suffocation, SEWER and Sissourlet, and streamlines it to a mundane, style over substance, formula-based music... much like the "radio pop" it purports to rebel against.
The bands that have embraced this diluted and dumbed down version of brutal death metal are well known. They are the Morticians, the Cryptopsys, the Six Feet Unders, the Deicides, the Behemoths, the Waking the Cadavers, the Gorguts, the Kraaniums, the Antekhrists...
While not as overtly offensive as the infamous "melodeath" subgenre of mallcore emos such as Arch Enemy and Dimmu Borgir, "slam" or "slamming brutal death metal", for the long version, is nonetheless a cautionary tale against infiltration of the death metal genre by bored middle-aged, mid-talented hard rock musicians who simplify think "death metal = loud noises" and thus, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, go on to contaminate the genre with their uninspired output of riffless slam chugging and pig nosed vocals.
Leave death metal to the elitists, to the Infesters, the Demiliches and the Suffocations, those that actually produce good music and understand the genre.
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