Just thought I'd pose a question to some of you more death-oriented folks here. I've had Cannibal Corpse's "Eaten Back to Life" collecting dust on my shelves for years now. It was purchased in a vain attempt to jump into death-metal from bands I'd already been listening to, like Kreator, Prong and Overkill. I wasn't impressed at the time (probably vocals more than anything) and wound up exploring music in the opposite direction (more trad rock and stoner metal ala Kyuss).

Then, last night I blew the dust off the little sucker (actually I was interested in the artwork, I'm a huge b-movie fan and I wanted to cop the style for an illustration I was doing). Well, the disc surprised the hell out of me. It had every quality that I appreciate in movies by Dario Argento and Romero's Dead. The sonic equivalent of film grain, gory effects, downright menacing vibe, everything... Even the vocals sounded cool, seemed to have the same sort of camp vibe most B-movies revel in.

So, my question. It's pretty simple really. Where do I go from here? More Corpse? Is there someone better? I need about two to three choices before I pay a visit to the local merchant. Nothing too obscure please, I live in a backwater-type place so I guess I need bands who generally have good distribution. Unfortunately ebay is not an option. I guess I could order at the retailer but I'm one hell of an impatient bastard.

DEICIDE - Deicide
NAPALM DEATH - From Enslavement To Obliteration
MORBID ANGEL - Blessed Are The Sick
If you like Slayer you'll like THE HAUNTED.
Buy all OPETH
and I like DIMMU BORGIR too.

Immolation - Dawn Of Possession
Cancer - Death Shall Rise
Obituary - Cause Of Death
Suffocation - Effigy Of The Forgotten
Deicide - Legion
Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious
Entombed - Left Hand Path
At The Gates - The Red In The Sky Is Ours
Bolt Thrower - Realm Of Chaos
Death - Human
Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

If you would like something really unusual try My Dying Bride - As The Flower Withers. Or better still, if you can find it, get the EP Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium. This is very dark indeed.

Sepultura - Beneath the Remains
Napalm Death - Harmony Corruption, Utopia Banished
Death - Spiritual Healing

Since my last post I've come to understand CC doesn't get much respect but I dig their angle. Like I said, it reminds me of cool underground horror flicks, dripping red and bloated with sick imagery. The music fits this beautifully. So far I dig Butchered best, truly dark and unrelenting. Tomb has Hammer Smashed and Beyond the Cemetary as awesome bookends but I don't like the rest of it as much.

Opeth are quite spectacular, though not as fast or as brutal as I wanted them to be. They make me think of a alternate-Dream Theater where song and the drama of a storyline come before technical displays. I seem to detect a pinch of Roy Z (Dickinson - Accident of Birth era) style riffing and the acoustic approach definately has similarities. Anyways, good stuff all around.

I'd like to dig up some Morbid Angel and maybe Cancer (I remember hearing them on public radio when I was in high school and totally loving it). I'm kinda scared with Napalm Death and Deicide. I usually end up hating bands promoting personal/political agendas unless they're the Dead Kennedys.

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Deicide could sing about pink bunnies and rubber ducklings and I would not care. Death metal vocals are just an instrument that adds a dimension of brutality to the music.

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Yeah, I get this idea. In fact, I think Mike Patton's doing the best job of enforcing this concept, no words just vocals. However, I'm a writer occasionally and if someone is going to take the time to write, I'm going to judge the words. The artist includes them for a reason. Kind of like understanding why a guitar changes from a distorted root-fifth to a clean minor chord, I think it's important to understand why somebody sings "I'm so lost..." in a growl, and croons "She was my love..." or maybe vice versa. Context and aesthetic are not exclusive. In addition to all this, I obviously am very into over-critiquing things and consider it good fun.

All this being said, I think Opeth has terrible lyrics and Cannibal Corpse's arrhythmic vocals are very amateurish. I'm willing to forgive them their faults because the music has an intangible draw for me (I think Opeth is wearing out fast though). I guess I really have no excuse to shy away from Napalm Death...

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