ESSENTIAL MODERN DEATH METAL BANDS | Lock Horns Redux - Episode 4

Lock Horns Redux is made with the support of Ontario Creates.
Support us on Patreon: / bangertv
Subscribe to BangerTV: bit.ly/1KkhxWW
Sam Dunn and guests Blayne Smith and Bradley Zorgdrager debate
modern death metal, how did we get here? Who are the bands that pioneered new directions in death metal and what are those albums?
Sign up for updates: bangertv.com/
Like us on Facebook: on. 1KkhNW6
Follow us on Instagram: bit.ly/1KkigY8
Watch more Overkill Reviews: bit.ly/2h1DO8S

[@metalbladerecords]

DM FOR LIFE, BROTHERS

[@burneracc5397]

can I mail you guys my band's ep? \m/ ,cheers nonetheless lmao.

[@6idangle]

@@burneracc5397 Just send it!

[@mason3872]

@@burneracc5397 do you have it on KZbin? What’s it called?

[@burneracc5397]

@@mason3872 no unfortunately but we'll soon put it out, thanks my brother

[@summonerovthaguttercypt4205]

The 2 Necrophagist albums (Onset of Putrefecation and Epitaph) definitely opened the floodgates on an era of hyper technical and highly produced death metal.

[@erickmazur807]

Epitaph was really the album that got me into death metal. I used to hate it lol

[@icipher6730]

Epitaph is not really a "highly produced" record though. It was produced by Bob Katz, who is primarily known for working with jazz and classical musicians. It's has a natural and unusually warm sound production with pretty high DR, which is a far cry from a majoriy of modern tech death releases.

[@Nothing-bl7bj]

That ain’t wrong.

[@6idangle]

Agreed I was listening to stabwound the other day and was thinking just how fucking ahead of the curve they were about 20 years ahead of time.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Hey all, Brad here with some clarifications: When I said we are part of the metal media gatekeepers and we need to make a call for a band like Gatecreeper, despite being relatively new, I meant we could (should?) take a stand for what we believe in and declare them as a key band. It also pained me then to disqualify Blood Incantation based on similar criteria. Speaking of Blood Incantation, there have been comments from people asking about why we say they only have one album. This was filmed in September and was actually the first episode filmed for Lock Horns Redux, so thanks for sticking by us as we work out some of the kinks. Also for forgiving us when the edit crossed of their logo when Sam was talking about Bloodbath, haha! People have commented about my face when Rivers of Nihil get in, not Gatecreeper, and I just want to clarify that I have mad love for RON, but it was the application of a rule to disqualify bands (Gatecreeper and Blood Incantation) that didn’t apply to RON. That being said, I do believe Blayne’s comment about how RON had THAT album, which Gatecreeper hasn’t yet, did soften the blow. I do think it’s a bit unfair because Gatecreeper’s first album blew up so big, as did their second (IIRC it broke the Relapse site on pre-orders), so I think despite not having the IT album of a given year, I think they are equally valid as RON. Mad love for both, though. Also my bad on saying Decapitated headlined the first year of Summer Slaughter. I was incorrect. They played directly under Necrophagist there! One of the raddest things is the diversity of what “modern death metal” means to people. When I was first asked to do this, I thought it was going to touch a lot more on the new school of old school death metal, including bands from Maggot Stomp (Sanguisugabogg, Frozen Soul, Vomit Forth, Encoffinized, Unurnment, Abraded, Malignant Altar), 20 Buck Spin (Tomb Mold, Witch Vomit, Acephalix, Scorched, Fetid, Cerebral Rot), Redefining Darkness (Wretched Fate, Sentient Horror, Plague) or Relapse (Outer Heaven, Genocide Pact, Gatecreeper). There were plenty of bands in the live premiere that I wished we had cover. Take, for example, Aborted! Obviously I love that band (have you seen the 2010s episode, in which I say they released my favourite album of that decade?), but I think I had my blinders on with what I thought we were doing, so I didn’t think to go with a band who started more in on the grind side, similar to how someone else brought up Cattle Decapitation! I feel bad I forgot Converge from the three life-changing bands on my graphic, and I guess that’s because I included Sum 41, whom were actually on there as my first CD. Converge is my favourite band of all time. I love Converge! I appreciate you all watching and reading. Much love always.

[@kristiankrastanov5995]

k

[@scottmagrath]

Sum 41 are cooler than Converge

[@fishcultJF]

Watching this, I was waiting for you to bring up Aborted. Definitely a tough call for this episode, too many great fucking bands. Honestly forgot about Disma (good album, dislike the dude though, much like those two Incantation albums)

[@oscarsaucedo7887]

Let me send you some merch fam check you Enterprise Earth new album he’s was the first singer of infant annihilator and was on their first album back in 2012 take notes

[@Gatordad1717]

Aggressive Tendencies hey bud. Did you guys forget about Gojira or leave them out because they aren’t modern death?

[@darklordalone]

Death Metal \m/ suggestions: Death, Immolation, Suffocation, Necrophagist, Morbid Angel, Nile, Autopsy, Deicide, Obituary, Kadavar. 02:00 Introduction 09:14 Origins 15:13 Melodic Death Metal 22:03 Death Metal Sub-genres 28:22 Essential Modern Death Metal part 1 36:15 Behemoth, Black or Death? 42:08 Gatecreeper 46:00 Bands under consideration part 1 51:44 Bands under consideration part 2 57:21 Tech Death 1:01:14 Essential Modern Death Metal Part2

[@alexandergomez7002]

Thank you, straight to the point…

[@Idontknowone1able]

Revocation should totally be on the list of essential. Dave Davidson is one of the best songwriters in metal hands down.

[@Anthony-nk4ky]

Guy has no shortage of killer riffs and solos. Definitely essential

[@durtartworks8220]

I can't imagine debating on modern death metal and like you said, tech death, deathcore, slam death, modern sound... And not at once talking about Dying Fetus wich is probably one of the bands that influenced some bands you talked about.

[@stephenkeddy6849]

Dying fetus is the most essential death metal band I can’t believe wasn’t even mentioned!

[@twelvegaugeslug7840]

Stephen keddy You are sooo right

[@Lord_Raptor]

Maybe as far as influences, but they probably weren't mentioned cuz they're not modern.

[@ridleysomeliana-lauer5814]

This is about modern death metal. DF has been around and releasing music for over 20 years.

[@twelvegaugeslug7840]

Joey Wheeler Amon Amarth have been also been releasing music since the mid 90s

[@ridleysomeliana-lauer5814]

@@twelvegaugeslug7840 fair. I haven't gotten that far into the video, so. But if they're gonna include DF then Amon Amarth absolutely should be there.

[@134josu]

Blood incantation is leading the scene, Gigan, Portal, Chthe’ilist within others

[@shawnsmith8558]

Don't fprget Pyrrhon really underappreciated IMO So happy you mentioned Gigan! and Chthe'ilist are awesome from my city :)

[@shawnsmith8558]

@mooky sure cthe'ilist takes a lot of inspiration from Demilich (who I love btw), but if you look at other genres of metal there is a lot of copying and refining.... this is super abundant in stoner and doom metal, that doesnt devalue the band though I havent seen all that much "evolution of" or massive innovation of DM this past decade, it's a lot of fine tweaking

[@obrerorebelde3579]

Definitely Blood Incantation and Gigan... Excellent suggestions!👌

[@passionateintrovert]

Pretty sure this was filmed before Blood Incantation’s second album was released. Also, just because they are spearheading the underground currently doesn’t make them influential yet. Not saying they can’t be in that position eventually, but as the crew mentioned, they’re simply too new still.

[@lucasbrito8578]

yeah totally. I would put Tomb Mold on this list too

[@pinkmotorazr]

Can’t mention modern death metal without mentioning any/all of the bands signed to Maggot Stomp.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

I definitely mentioned that a few times. I wish I got to talk about it more. When I first heard about this episode, I thought that was the focal point...the new school of old school death metal! I was pumped. Still happy we got to talk about these bands, but godDAMN did I want to highlight the STOMP more.

[@misaeltamayo8702]

Chris Misenti FROZEN SOUL!!

[@Killchain44]

No weak shit!

[@RealAlkey]

Hypocrisy, Kataklysm, Dying Fetus and Nile absolutely got snubbed. I agree with Amon Amarth, The Black Dahlia Murder and even Cattle Decapitation with their newer stuff. But to not even include Nile or Hypocrisy or Kataklysm is just weird to me, and as big as Dying Fetus is its hard to see them not even getting a mention.

[@deadmentellnotales8772]

^^^ This Dying Fetus, Nile, Kataklysm and Hypocrisy! these were some of the bands that came out just after the wave OSDM bands and I think they all kinda picked up the torch in a way

[@RealAlkey]

@@deadmentellnotales8772 Exactly

[@jerk1078]

preach

[@nicklee6422]

Dying Fetus definitely came to mind for me

[@berserker8884]

Especially Nile for me, Anihilation of the Wicked is easilly one of my favorite albums of all time.

[@MuddyRavine]

Slugdge, Hath, Dyscarnate, Gorod, Xoth, Xenobiotic

[@farouqseder9870]

Muddy Ravine slugdge and xoth just made their own amazing sound hope it evolves into something of its own as big as everything else!

[@alexmartin51]

You can tell it killed Brad having Gatecreeper denied for being too new then Rivers of Nihil end up making the cut hahahaha

[@AggressiveTendencies]

I loveeee both of those bands, but I was disappointed that GC got disqualified for that, while RON didn't. Blayne's statement about RON having THAT album, which GC arguably don't, did soften the blow a bit because I do think there's some validity to that, but I also think GC might not have THE album because the respect and demand was SO high off the first album. Hell, I'm pretty sure 'Deserted' crashed the Relapse site on pre-orders, so I think they've earned the position!

[@Max_Pez]

*starts talking about Bloodbath, puts up Blood Incantation logo*

[@isaackmojica8302]

ULCERATE-NECROPHAGIST-PORTAL as the most influencial also most ripped off bands in modern times!!!!

[@HarhanDerMann]

Gruesome, decapitated, Krisiun, Suffocation, Entrails, Sinister, Necrot, Memoriam and ofcourse Fleshgod Apocalypse

[@shawnsmith8558]

Krisiun, Suffocation and Sinister are all too old, they aren't modern death metal bands considering theyve all been dropping albums since the early 90s..

[@TJCombo67]

Suffocation is 100% in the OG category, but they are still relevant and actually have morphed their sound into a much more modern sound.

[@Lord_Raptor]

Glad someone mentioned Gruesome. I'd add Gravebomb and Amputory as well.

[@HarhanDerMann]

@mooky nothing wrong with playing in an old style. They still have sick songwriting

[@HarhanDerMann]

@mooky well define modern then, I think if they put out a first album around the late 90s they are modern

[@malicious_beast8765]

Some of my favorite death metal bands will always be Spawn of Possession, Hour of Penance, Odious mortem, Severed Savior, Deeds of Flesh, Vital Remains, Decrepit Birth, and Necrophagist.

[@kafkavox]

I’m really surprised that the conversation about modern death metal bands didn’t include Job For A Cowboy, The Faceless, Psycroptic, Aborted and Decrepit Birth. All bands that really need to be part of the conversation. Too much emphasis here on old school bands and name dropping as many new/underground bands from the last 3 years as possible. How can Bloodbath, Gatecreeper, Sanguisugabog, Blood Incantation, etc he mentioned multiple times and bands like JFAC never even come up. Was so looking forward to this episode and I’m honestly pretty let down by it.

[@darklordalone]

g0d_0f_w4r JFAC in my opinion is more metalcore than DM at all. The Faceless is pure TechDeath with some electronic sounds.

[@brandonrichardson8681]

Because they weren't that good

[@tysontillotson2275]

The fact that literally NO ONE mentioned Vastum makes me sick.

[@ceannairereibiliunach8133]

bands like that would fly over this channels collective heads cos of shyte like amon amarth lel

[@nickmarshall9982]

I have never even heard of Vastum, just checked them out and I dig it. Thanks!

[@nickymetal666]

Official Purge was so fucking good!

[@mcnuttwhack4377]

Pretty much everything about this episode was nausea-inducing.

[@tenacious_JB]

@@ceannairereibiliunach8133 sarah did should out vastum though in one of her reviews

[@VampiricLight95]

Kinda surprised that nobody talked about Septicflesh at all...or even symphonic death metal as a sub-genre.

[@brandonrichardson8681]

I wouldn't have either

[@FlabbyPigLegs]

Here’s my list as someone who grew up through the 2000s. You could not go to a death metal show without a Deathcore band being on the bill. Later those Deathcore bands were even headlining such as Whitechapel at Summer Slaughter 2011. Death metal as a genre splintered off into 3 directions “core” “technical” and “brutal” with Behemoth really being the only popular “blackened” band. For this reason a list that incapsulates all these styles and fusions is needed to accurately depict what was happening in the scene ie, the record label signings, the shows, the shirts everyone was wearing etc. Of course Death Metal had its underground bands such as Dead Congregation but this didn’t hit big until the OSDM revival 2016-Present. Here’s the list of the bands I would say had the most influence on their respective sub death metal genre: 1. Necrophagist (Technical) 2. Whitechapel or Suicide Silence (Core) 3. Devourment (Brutal) 4. Meshuggah (Groove) 5. Children of Bodom (Melodic) 6. Cattle Decapitation (Grind) 7. Fleshgod Apocalypse (Symphonic) 8. Opeth (Progressive) 9. Behemoth (Blackened) *Notable bands playing more of a extension of Death Metal rather than a subgenre 1. Kataklysm 2. Nile 3. Abysmal Dawn 4. Skinless 5. Dying Fetus 6. Aeon *Although Vital Remains and Bloodbath had a huge influence in the 2000s Bloodbath was more a supergroup dedicated to the Old School Swedish sound, and Vital Remains hit its popularity with Glenn Benton on vocals so both bands are coming from the 90s end of the spectrum. Although they had unique sounds it wasn’t really new blood like say Opeth was.

[@calebneff5777]

48 minutes in and I can’t believe no one has mentioned Aborted, Nile, or Dying Fetus! To me they started what we would call modern death metal! Great production, ridiculous imagery, and a greater focus on songwriting.

[@maideni666]

Aborted are awfully derivative

[@larsrasmussen5690]

Blood Incantation, Contrarian, Horrendous are the best modern death metal.

[@somberlainnn9883]

I think amon amarth is too old to be classed as modern death metal. They formed in '92.

[@6idangle]

Idk but they have kept relevant and still evolved enough to sound like a "modern" band".

[@SheppiTSRodriguez]

@@6idangle Yeah and their first release was in 1998... they are clearly not old school

[@gavdann1]

I don't really get the case for including Amon Amarth just because they're popular. They don't have a modern approach to making DM. They sound very traditional, not much technicality and they've never really pushed any boundaries.

[@erickmazur807]

I always found them boring as hell.

[@doomusrlc]

This is my problem essentially as well. They were around with the other melodic bands in the 1990s just made it big after the others had their success. However I do feel they are an important band, especially when talking about gateway bands. But in the context of what this video was about, hell no.

[@Lord_Raptor]

Even though I'm a huge Amon Amarth fan, I have to agree. They're the ACDC of death metal. They found a sound and stuck with it.

[@deadliestassassin3092]

Here's my main problem we're looking at modern death metal bands but putting Amon Amarth, The Black Dahlia Murder, Decapitated under modern is too weird for me. When i think of modern i'm thinking of current new generation of bands. Decapitated started out sounding like Vader and then went more technical and groove later. They were modern like almost 20 years ago lol. Same with Black Dahlia Murder, they were more into the At The Gates style at the time with a more modern approach. I feel the discussion should of been more into the newer bands with todays modern sound. These bands are not modern at all. The new generation should get more of a chance instead of getting pushed aside.

[@passionateintrovert]

The discussion definitely veered too far into the 2000-2009 territory. I would have preferred this video stuck to the last 10 years as it fits the “modern” tag better. Maybe they’ll redux the redux down the road?

[@ingmarfris8175]

Portal is definitely a band that needs to be recognized.

[@Astral_Wave]

Fucking yes!

[@passionateintrovert]

Very true, but at the same time they’re so singular in their sound that no one else has really been able to sound remotely like them, which kind of fucks up the whole influence factor lol

[@vgmaster9]

@@passionateintrovert Well there are bands that are sorta similar, like Grave Upheaval and Impetuous Ritual.

[@Astral_Wave]

@@passionateintrovert Abyssal the ominous circle

[@karllux-d6g]

and re-categorized, if you please.

[@haroldstaam]

30 minutes in and no mention of suffocation or incantation. early 2000s set the new bar for modern death metal.

[@darklordalone]

Brutal Death Bands like Suffocation or Incantation doesn't deserve to be call "Modern" coff*main*coff*stream, these bands are in "Death Metal Hall of Fame".

[@joshuaschake686]

Misery Index!

[@thisisnotmyscene]

I just saw Misery Index playing with Napalm Death, I was impressed!

[@Holisticbarbarian]

Saw them with Psyopus back in the day, was a face melting evening.

[@taylorr5075]

Gatecreeper! They stick to the roots essential to the genre, but are giving it a modern sound with crisper production than what was available in the 90s.

[@Shrieking_In_the_Void]

Gatecreeper is a snorefest

[@Rattles02]

Love them too! Been digging them since I discovered Sonoran Deprivation a couple years back.

[@lordbelow1311]

Gatecreeper is not a snorefest, Gatecreeper is Hipster Death Metal. Think Deafheaven.

[@saadsaif821]

@Jesus Christ Denton haven't thoroughly heard much from them, but just like in late 90s metalcore plethora bands started ripping off at the gates blueprint at first instance gatecreeper and baest are ripping off bolt thrower / dismember / grave blueprint of sound (so not too overtly unique, I suppose why reinvent a tried and tested formula). I would rather place full of hell, aborted and cattle decapitation, in the category as to me they have unique shifts and travel-cross various boundaries of death metal / grind nuances to give their own modern interpretation of the sub genre.

[@williamblake1666]

I think that one of the most underrated bands in this genre is Hipocrisy, and they absolutely deserve to be mentioned in this discussion. Their tone on albums like Virus and The Arrival is the best representation of how modern death metal should sound. And Peter Tagtgren should be acknowledged for his work as a producer with bands like Amon Amarth, Septicflesh and Belphegor

[@Hegder]

100 per cent Hypocrisy, though they might have formed a bit too long ago (?). Also, Tagtgren's vocals on Bloodbath's Nightmares Made Flesh is one of the best death metal performances ever.

[@mikeycfc4638]

Peter needs to be mentioned a lot more when it comes to a legends of metal conversation. He perfects everything he touches

[@Rattles02]

@@Hegder My favorite Bloodbath!

[@BDeClue18]

williamblake1666 I saw them live one time thankfully and they were amazing. Binge listened to them for at least 2 weeks after that

[@williamblake1666]

@@Hegder yeah you are right, they formed a long time ago, but it's about their evolution and the evolution of their sound

[@johnfadden6690]

Rivers Of Nhil, Gatecreeper, Blood Incantation, Tomb Mold, Gruesome...sooo much great new death out there I can't even keep up 🤘

[@Ms666slayer]

Depending on the color text of why they see as modern Death Metal bands like Tomb Mold and Gatecreeñer could be out, because they played Old School style Death Metal, so in Modern Death Metal we talk about bands that are new to the scen or bands with new modernized sound like Blood Incantation or Decapitated, Black Dahlia Murder etc.

[@JakeFreeman256]

I’m not sure they would qualify as “essential” but if you’re talking about The Black Dahlia Murder, I feel like you also have to at least mention Job for a Cowboy. They were in the same position as TBDM in that they were a band that led a lot of people from deathcore to death metal and vice versa, plus they get lumped into deathcore (like Dahlia) because of the time they were coming up. Obviously they’re a bit different since they played a key role in inventing deathcore in the first place with the Doom EP but they immediately turned into a straight forward death metal band (maybe even tech death?) once they released Genesis. They were pretty big for a few years even after the transition made all the deathcore kids lose interest and they had a pretty big impact on the metal scene as a whole so I think they at least deserve a name drop.

[@mikemindy]

It was crazy to me that there wasn't one mention for JFAC in the whole discussion when they had Whitechapel and Black Dahlia who all came up at the same time.

[@jimbowen8973]

@@mikemindy Totally agree with that comment. Those bands all came up about the same time and JFAC is definitely as influential as TBDM and way more so (IMHO) than Whitechapel.

[@Nothing-bl7bj]

They aren’t death metal. Love em’ one of the few deathcore bands I really like.... but they are not death metal

[@jimbowen8973]

@@Nothing-bl7bj I don't necessarily disagree with that...BUT - all I am saying (and original commentor was) is that if you are going to mention other bands that might walk the line between genres - like TBDM, White Chapel, Cattle Decap, etc. - how do you not even mention JFAC? Not saying they should be one of the 5 bands considered essential to the genre - just saying these guys mentioned a ton of other bands that all came out about the same time as JFAC and they probably should have at least been included with those bands.

[@thesvc2006]

@@Nothing-bl7bj they are post DOOM ep. listen to sun eater and tell me that's not straight up technical death metal. nothing 'core' about it.

[@natewatts8080]

Revocation are a great modern death metal band

[@erickmazur807]

My favorite band of recent years

[@dylandonis4590]

Saw them live last weekend, too bad the venue was terrible and it was just ridiculously too loud. Was looking so forward to it

[@tarmantim3015]

I think Hate Eternal is essential modern death metal

[@nuclearthrasher666]

My top modern death metal bands. Active: Dead Congregation, Grave Miasma, Obliteration, Blood Incantation, Teitanblood, Vassafor, Diocletian, Ulcerate, Venenum, Portal. Inactive/Split up: Kasmos, Repugnant, Morbus Chron, Witchrist, Antediluvian

[@richardgamrat1944]

Ulcerate, Portal, Mithras, Pyrrhon, Gigan, Ad Nauseam, Imperial Triumphant (if you don't count them more as black), Coma Cluster Void, Artificial Brain

[@austerymn]

I’ve not read all the comments but the “Bolt Thrower” picture is actually Benediction 😂

[@BangerTV]

whoops

[@smcordy]

I was immediately looking for Jo Bench and then laughed at myself for being played

[@brunosipavicius7867]

I love cattle decapitation because of its ecological and gore speech I hope you guys talk about them. In new death metal I know just them. From Brazil.

[@MJ-ed7is]

I thought you are from Lithuania :)

[@brunosipavicius7867]

@@MJ-ed7is 😊my father's family is from there. He came to Brazil as baby escaped from communist URSS. My grandgrandfather was exiled in Siberia for 40 years. His name was bronius Sipavicius, like mine but in Lithuanian language.

[@MJ-ed7is]

@@brunosipavicius7867 Yeah, Sipavičius :)

[@wilfridsephiroth9213]

I really think you've underestimated how "derivative" at least two of the three bands you mostly talkes about are. As it was said, there would be no BDM and -- I add -- no AA without Swedish melodic DM. Those are two bands I would call popular and doing the best of that kind of metal, but "modern"? What sounds really modern are bands like Artificial Brain, Portal, Horrendous, Pyrrhon, Cht'elist, Hooded Menace... Also, allow me to be polemic: a whole discussion of modern death metal and not a single mention of Gorguts and Ulcerate??

[@PoryGoon]

dude thank you!!! pyrrhon, portal, etc. push the genre forward, The bands ripping off entombed and obituary are stuck in the 90s

[@richardgamrat1944]

Yeah, it's silly. I would also mention Imperial Triumphant, though they are maybe more black, not sure.

[@peteplayz8058]

Horrendous, Contrarian and Blood Incantation are three wisemen of modem death metal. A true understanding of the old with a new approach. You guys should have a discussion about this.

[@larsrasmussen5690]

Yes, This is a very good observation! @bangertv, all these bands like GateCreeper, Tomb Mold, etc are very REGRESSIVE, it is very dangerous to set these as leaders, especially on a genre built on evolving craft competence!

[@seanconklin5435]

What about Revocation, Dying Fetus, and children of Bodom? Children of Bodom fits perfectly into this era, super influential. Not to mention, Dave Davidson is like the best all around modern guitarist right now.. dudes a beast. Also, Behemoth is way more death metal. Ya’ll haven’t listened to The Apostasy or Evangelion in a minute. Just because they talk about satan and dress up like demons doesn’t mean they’re black metal. C’mon ya’ll. Missed a lot of good ones. Who cares about Amon Amarth. Disappointed in this. Glad ya’ll got Decapitated and Dahlia tho. I’m not even a big Dahlia fan but mad respect. Brandon Ellis shreds dick.👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@pablobarrera7613]

Innovation in Death Metal? The Berzerker!!!

[@The_Lord_Of_Confusion]

summer slaughter 2007 - Mohammad talking about the new album comming out by 2008... yeah, those were the times

[@VBshredder]

Here's your title: "Three Grits on Modern Death Metal"

[@danson1992]

Rivers gets the boot, Obscura is way more influential than rivers

[@doomusrlc]

"Let's be careful not to leapfrog these older bands" *keeps talking about Amon Amarth that have been around since early 1990s*

[@earthrot666]

that was low key bothering the s#$t out of me lol formed in 92, had demos out in 93 and 94. modern in what sense?

[@personavisceration371]

Maybe this should be called 'contemporary death metal' as a movement, 'modern death metal' is a style.

[@PrimateNine]

I'm kind of blown away Gojira didn't get a mention. I consider them death metal. Formed in 2001. Legends.

[@Lord_Raptor]

You're the second person I've seen mention them. I love Gojira, but never thought of them as death metal.

[@gkezele]

yeah I love Gojira too, not really what I would call death metal though...I would call them progressive groove if anything

[@mangogoat4691]

Michael Patterson first albums definitely had a big death metal influence.

[@PrimateNine]

@@mangogoat4691 Yeah, that's what I was thinking. They definitely have a good amount of death metal influence. 100% not a standard death metal band by no means. I do think they have just enough in there throughout their career to warrant at least a mention by one of the guys on the show. They were talking about multiple sub-genres being what defines modern death metal, and I think Gojiras brand of progressive/groove/death is a prime example of the modern evolution of the genre.

[@TheDeathofswing]

Where did this myth that Rivers of Nihil introduced the saxophone into extreme metal come from? Ihsahn did it 9 years earlier on "After", which was a well reviewed and widely received album. There was evil sax all over that album, but Sam just keeps bringing up the appearance of sax on "Owls" like it was some watershed moment (and I like the album!).

[@twelvegaugeslug7840]

prismhead Yakuza and Cephalic Carnage before Ihsahn

[@TheDeathofswing]

@@twelvegaugeslug7840 Good call; forgot about those two.

[@twelvegaugeslug7840]

prismhead "Cancer of Industry", "Repangaea"... I think they try to keep the bands they reference within the most popular group of bands for familiarity among the most viewers, but yeah, Credit should go where it's due. These two are the earliest I'm thinking of...

[@cratagus4602]

Goatwhore and Misery Index should have a mention in the discussion as well. Two diverse and well rounded bands that have significant sound and considerable following= a mention at least. At least by your criteria anyway... Cheerz from Vancouver. DM forever

[@superunknown2812]

I miss the style and production of 90s death metal for sure thats when death metal was at its peak

[@witchfindergeneral5366]

There are still bands like that now, you just have to find it.

[@jessedarko]

1. This was great. 2. I like Rivers of Nihl a lot but it is so so so compressed. I get extreme ear fatigue listening to it.

[@saadsaif821]

Black crown initiate, disentomb, decrepit birth, farmakon, rivers of nihil, obscura, misery index, cattle decapitation, cephalic carnage etc are probably what i'd put in this category.

[@brandonrichardson8681]

Amon is a really good group. Definitely original. I put them on the cusp of old, and modern

[@thery8]

I'm surprised they haven't mentioned Obscura (Gorguts) as the cornerstone of perhaps a new subgenre: Dissonant death metal, with bands like Ulcerate, Deathspell Omega, Imperial Triumphant, etc. Could there be a chapter dedicated to this 'new' sound?

[@richardgamrat1944]

It seems they just don't care about this kind of (tech) death. They are fine with jerking of on Rivers of nihil because omg they used saxophone! Holy shit!

[@liquidzuel2321]

Don't mention Desthspell Omega, you'll make Blayne cry.

[@ConvincingPeople]

DsO aren't really a death metal band. They've had a clear influence on parts of the genre, and definitely take after Gorguts in certain key respects, but they are fundamentally an unusually technical black metal band. Same with Imperial Triumphant. Dissonant black metal and death metal, as they are sometimes called, are totally things that exist and are closely related phenomena, but for the most part they are distinct, with the whole "cavernous death" phenomenon surrounding Portal and their disciples being a point of overlap as well as its own thing in turn.

[@tjcaruthers5593]

First off Blayne was bringing it in this episode. His debates, his opinions, and knowledge shined so my hat is off to you man; awesome. Modern death metal had me thinking Tomb Mold, Blood Incantation, Horendous, and Rivers of Nihl not nessacerily Black Dahlia Murder, Amon Amarth, or Cattle Decapitation. Those older bands are getting close to the 20yr mark. Hard to call any album from a band that came out almost 20yrs ago essential when the word modern is thrown in. Not to say a discussion about those bands shouldnt be continued, but if this episode was called New Millinium Death Metal or post Y2K Death Metal then Cattle Decap, Black Dahlia, and Decapitation would fit into the theme. Mordern Old School Death Metal should be talked about bands that have 5-7 years of existence and thier music. Just my opinion.

[@tradovicka]

WTF is going on here ???!!!! what time line are we talking about?? it's a bit confusing no mention on post '90 influential bands: Fleshgod Apocalypse non-influential: Dawn of Disease Spawn of Possession Anata

[@BasketCase343]

Dawn of disease is sick

[@entertherealmofchaos]

I like my modern production to be as clean as a cat's ass.

[@ericfranklin9332]

COFFINS in my opinion meets all of your parameters while definitely on the slower side are criminally underrated and just there choice of cover songs alone makes them more interesting to me than some of the more popular choices

[@fmainier]

Modern Death Metal is not a genre. It’s just Death Metal released recently. Agree with the comment “stop creating genres”.

[@Nothing-bl7bj]

Fabio B.M. Na

[@SOASwig]

I don't think that's what they are doing here. Just like they did an episode on 'early death metal', this is just a discussion on the most important bands in the modern era

[@shawnsmith8558]

Some bands I love - Obliteration, Pyrrhon, Gigan, Dead Congregation, chapel of disease, blood incantation, Horrendous, Aeternam, Teitanblood, cthe'ilist, etc

[@fishcultJF]

CHAPEL OF DISEASE!!!! Fuck yes dude!

[@shawnsmith8558]

@@fishcultJF it just sounds so unlike everything else death metal!

[@fishcultJF]

@@shawnsmith8558 For sure! Great band, their most recent album is killer!

[@friedca]

I think that this episode presented such an issue with defining the bands because of the name of the genre, Modern Death Metal. The video seems to define it as 2000-present which is a massive amount of time, especially with the speed that sub genres emerge and make an impact now. Dare I say, 2000-2010 could almost be considered the New Wave of Death Metal. Around 93, OSDM metals fell out of favor due to over saturation. Death Metal experienced a level of popularity that extreme music rarely sees, but it was too much, too fast. Alternative/Groove metal also started to emerge as the favorite around that time. Around 96/97 you started seeing people taking the NYDM technicality and the Swedish Melodic DM and combine them. Bands like Opeth and Dying Fetus had the technicality, but also had singers who combined the guttural vocals with cleaner vocals. I would say these are the proto bands to the 2000-2010 tech death (and to a larger extent, deathcore) sound. Then a new resurgence came about in the 2010s. People started to go back to those OSDM bands after tech death and deathcore got over-saturated. In turn, those OSDM bands started increasing their output, with some releasing records as good or better than what they were doing in the late 80s early 90s. Along with that, bands like Blood Incantation, Tomb Mold, Horrendous, etc.started and were influenced by that old school sound. It would have probably made more sense to separate these into two time periods and maybe blanket that as "Modern Death Metal" or split the decades into separate subgenres (i.e NWODM and ODSM Resurgence). Still, love seeing the discussion and love these videos.

[@scosstard3542]

Finally someone who is trying to analyze properly rather than throwing random names.

[@princealigorna7468]

Am I the only one that really loves Creeping Death?

[@hectorvegasduque2234]

Aborted should definitely be there instead of rivers of nihil imo, they've been putting out records since 2001

[@ridleysomeliana-lauer5814]

Why, though? If we’re talking about modern death metal wouldn’t it make more sense to have a band that formed more recently than 20 years ago?

[@CoastalEddieinflames]

Amon Amarth have been releasing albums since the 90s. Cmon guys.

[@passionateintrovert]

They didn’t hit their stride and makes waves until the 2000s though, so I get why they’re talked about in the discussion.

[@sadekx5251]

I have learned that Metal and Music in general is generational. I grew up in the golden age of DM (88-92) and I am still giving new bands A listen but nothing brings me more joy than the OGs.

[@tjcaruthers5593]

I started listening to death metal in 92. Trying to listen to newer bands as well like after watching this episode and listened to Dead Congregation and those guys are definitely old school modern death metal. They are freakin riff machines. Blood Incantation is cool too. For along time the newest thing I would listen to was Nile.

[@arcanonove]

As a long time fan of LHorns, I found this episode disappointing and almost pointless. Probably the goal to select only five bands was naively utopian, maybe 10 bands would have been a more meaningful goal. The result is a sped up chat around personal tastes, that does never get to a point, failing to illuminate and summarize the subgenres of modern deathmetal. Just an example of the pointlessness: from the beginning of the episode it's stated that one of the most important branches of MDM is the New Old School DM, and in the final 5 bands none of them represents this branch. Another example: the inclusion of Rivers Of Nihil seems guided more by a personal taste on ONE album (which is good, but in my opinion overhyped) than by a will to represent the actual state of MDM. My message to the beloved team of Banger: I feel the actual format of LHorns needs some serious tweaking.

[@thewarrior6784]

better yet: bring the old format back!

[@DeathByGeek]

Glad 20 Buck Spin and Maggot Stomp got a bit of attention.

[@davidposadas8802]

Blood Incantation’s November release is Super sick. Definitely recommended for fans of that old-school analogue sound.

[@jyotiwilkinson2617]

Totally agree - if you are going to listen to any recent Death Metal release this is a must

[@NeoSpaceJet]

I'm kinda surprised that gojira wasn't mentioned

[@Lord_Raptor]

Maybe they'll mention them when Gojira becomes death metal. 😆

[@gkezele]

because Gojira are mostly proggy groove metal, maybe with some death metal elements.

[@mycatandiareghosts5230]

There is zero 'death' elements to Gojira. gtfo.

[@terriblecertainity]

Portal, Gigan, Artificial Brain, Archspire, TBDM, Beneath The Massacre, JFAC,Braindrill..that would be my picks for modern death. basically, bands that picked up what Gorguts started on "Obscura"

[@bradbaker4679]

What’s the band on Blayne’s shirt?

[@deftones3138]

I’m a huge fan of Lock Horns and am really pleased with the final band selection (except for one of them) despite the few times during this video when I was perplexed and/or pulling my hair out. Then again, that’s partially what makes Lock Horns great. I’d replace the one bad band selection (Rivers of Nihil for obvious reasons) with Behemoth. BUT- if we are saying Behemoth is black metal (even though they’re totally not) then the 5th band in my opinion needs to be Gojira or Nile. Led led the way for the face melting bands that are brutal, fast, and technical. They’ve also put out all their best stuff after 2000, with only their debut being pre-2000. Gojira (not one of my personal favorites but I respect them) are talented, dedicated artists who consistently put out great albums post-2000 that were well-crafted, dark, beautiful, melodic, and technical. They also reached a very wide audience compared to many of the bands we’ve been mentioning. One tangent I won’t go down but would be a fun one: the bands that aren’t quite old school, not modern, but definitely gave birth to modern death metal (Suffocation, Cryptopsy, Dying Fetus, the melodic Swedish era, Vader, Krisiun, Exhumed, Gorguts). That’s my two(?) cents, anyway. Great vid. I disagree with many of the complainers.

[@turkeyjerkey111]

How did you guys talk for an hour and not mention Kataklysm? When I was into all the rise records/warped tour type bands, they were one of the first death metal bands I started listening to. Also there's a newer band called Creeping Death I think everyone should check out!

[@dakotadennis9541]

Creeping Death,yes sir! tremendous band. Saw them at the Evil Beat show. Creeping Death blew me away. And then THE Power Trip. Goddamn what a night

[@turkeyjerkey111]

@@dakotadennis9541 power trip is thrash

[@TheEleventhLetter]

Gorguts should definitely be of some reference. I could agree that their impact is not directly concerning Death Metal, because DSO took the recipe and expanded upon, but the sheer originality is quite clear. I would also agree that they would tap in some spaces that are more clear, or represented, in the Black Metal realm but the originality they brought to the genre is undeniable. That notion, in some sense, of a meditative death metal was, until then, quite absent.

[@personavisceration371]

I would add Pan.Thy.Monium to that list along with Portal, all 3 bands have a strong gravitational pull on the scene nowadays.

[@Ms666slayer]

I would say modern stuff Gorguts, because their first album where some really good but generic Death Metal from their time Obscura was the album.m tha hinted their new direction and Colored Sands was the kickstarter of thee new progressive wall of sound style, and Pleiades Dust it's their current peak

[@doomusrlc]

@@personavisceration371 Pan Thy Monium: using sax since before Rivers of Nihil made it cool

[@omerta3854]

Obscura should be in the top 5

[@malicious_beast8765]

I feel like if you add Obscura then you have to add Necrophagist

[@piotrb8434]

Gorguts, Obscura, Morbus Chron.

[@LyrsideBand]

Totally agree for Obscura ! They are the best modern death metal band in my humble opinion.

[@Dane3p]

I still miss Necrophagist =(

[@jakefremantle560]

What band is on blayne's shirt?

[@cruel_cosmos]

Death Atlas is the most thunderous, intense, emotional, heavy music I've ever heard. It's my favorite album of all time, and it was a game changer for me.

[@TheCryptCrawler]

More than agree with you on that. Blasting it since it came out. Best album by Cattle Decap, period!

[@cruel_cosmos]

@@TheCryptCrawler I can't even count how many times I've listened to that album. It hits home on a lot of subjects that are important to me, and Travis's lyrics are incredible. There's no one like them 🤘

[@freq9939]

Saw them live in nyc back in December. Killer live band just fantastic!

[@cruel_cosmos]

@@freq9939 That's a huge goal of mine, need to catch them live. I need to see papi Travis and the gang live. Also, seeing Dave Mcgraw drum live would be amazing, he's insane

[@gavdann1]

"Favourite album of all time"? That's a big call for an album which is only a few months old. Personally I thought it was a bit of a let down. IMO Anthropocene is a lot better.

[@marcosbravo2703]

What's the band on their shirts

[@aeksinsang932]

Akercocke are underrated gods

[@jg3685]

Vitriol.

[@rockroll6791]

Not trying to crush your Zen...but I found this episode kinda dreary...perhaps, too much of of the Banger perspective...better when new blood is added into the mix...

[@Holisticbarbarian]

Gonna throw one band in there that I feel should have gotten at least a mention, if not a spot in the top 5. Nile. Annihilation of the Wicked was an absolute masterpiece and is still a relevant album in modern technical death metal.

[@trve_ingvar]

Again, not really modern, they've been around since the late 90s

[@Holisticbarbarian]

@@trve_ingvar by those standards Amon Amarth and Decapitated should be excluded too, they've been around even longer. Their stipulations were basically over the last 20 years. Nile, and especially Annihilation of the Wicked fits that bill perfectly. I don't think the length of being a band has much at all to do with "modern" as long as(in their opinion) it's not too short of a period to make an impact. Nile has exactly what it takes to be included.

[@trve_ingvar]

@@Holisticbarbarian yeah, that is true, I guess Dying Fetus could have been there as well, so many great bands!

[@Holisticbarbarian]

@@trve_ingvar so true, Dying Fetus would have been a great addition to that lineup. I think in their case there were just too many bands to discuss and they got caught up in a smaller segment. Kind of a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees.

[@berserker8884]

Heck yes!

[@NorthernPanzer666]

These dudes are too young to be experts in DM. To repeat Black Dahlia 15+ times is pure overkill of a band , which is semi popular in the US.. They couldnt headline a European Tour.. not even close Why not mention Vader, also from Poland like Decapitated??? Lack of knowledge again. Goddamn they mention Black Dahlia 7th time to compare w. a band not even close to their style... And NO.. HIGH PITCH VOX & GROWL IS NOT GOOD METAL. Dubbing vocal is horrible. Black Dahlia is mentioned 12 times. They talk about Bloodbath, Amon Amarth & Black Dahlia is the 3 main bands... DO YOUR DAMN RESEARCH. They havent told me one fact I didnt know!!!! You are all 3 :"DeathCore fans.. Period.. I neverbwanna follow BangerTV unless they bring a subject I learn about. These 3 have no backstage stories .. booooring

[@eugenen9214]

What the fukk are you talking about?!?! ORIGIN ! Hour of Penance! Nile! Fleshgod Apocalypse!! these are the most essential DM of 00'-20'

[@nisinduperera7130]

"We'll probably wake up next day and feel different" That's so true One day I'm arguing with someone and next day I feel like I'm agreeing with him/her Pretty weird right? Maybe because it's human nature to change/evolve

[@tjcaruthers5593]

Could be the topic. The modern death metal subject is making me LOCK HORNS!!!!!!!!!

[@MurryFBM]

Just saw Cattle Decap supported by Revocation, and honestly to me, Revo sounded better live. CD were so distorted and muffled it was difficult to hear what the guitarist was playing, and worse still it was hard to make out that iconic vocal.

[@dylandonis4590]

M M Same right here, was at the Perth show. I do believe the venue was terrible, small and was seriously way to loud and just resulted in a wall of noise but wasn't sure how much of it was also the band. Cattle Decap sounded better outside the venue than in it, even Revo despite how technical they are it just didn't come through, hella distorted. Was looking forward to the show but was seriously disappointed

[@ConvincingPeople]

It always sucks when venue sound systems ruin the detail in a good band's sound. I'm sorry that happened. :\

[@Juicexlx]

Can't have a full hour of blah, blah on Death Metal without talking about Children of Bodom: Something Wild 1997; Hatebreader 1999; Follow The Reaper 2001; Hate Crew Deathroll 2003; Are You Dead Yet? 2005; Bloodrunk 2008 etc. Countless shows, Tours all over the World...in 2009 they had sold 2 Million albums.

[@oscarsaucedo7887]

Origin? Necrophagist?

[@karllux-d6g]

''Proto-new''...?! Puerile jargon must be avoided whilst categorizing DM. I agree with the other guy, DM is DM. Old or new...

[@bateman2112]

To quote the metal thread from the Awful forums, "Bolt. Thrower."

[@berserker8884]

They were one of the proto modern bands for sure. They definitely defined the new brutality/heavyness that was not present at the time, I mean IVth Crusade speaks for itself as still one of the go to albums when I think brutality.

[@alvarootero5084]

No Vader, Suffocation, Dying Fetus...? What are these guys really talking about? There's tons of great DM bands that still relevant nowadays, and amazing new ones, from Vitriol to Hideous Divinity. It's not about name dropping but seriously, bring more spice to the table.

[@markbare2817]

What about Soulfly? Dude has never comprimised and is still killing it!@###🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@stevesekora]

I despise tech death.. it more a show off metal that is overdone....plus it sounds like they all steal riffs and breakdowns from each other.

[@scotdoolittle476]

Cephalic Carnage

[@drcold8879]

Misery Index ,Man Must Die ,Psycroptic ,Fallujah etc also bands from Unique Leader mostly compromise more modern Death Metal!!

[@The.Struggler1997]

But...Amon Amarth was formed in '92???? And you disqualified Bloodbath? But kept Amon Amarth? Dont get me wrong, i love Amon Amarth, but to disqualify Bloodbath and keep Amon Amarth is kind of dumb. Also i feel like you guys should've mentioned At the Gates more. There was definitely an entire wave of melodicish metal that was released because of them.

[@Grim_reviews]

I'd say the black dahlia murder(someone correct my spelling if it's wrong please) does have some deathcore songs but they're not truly a deathcore band.

[@darknessnight1115]

Good discussion, but I agree with another comment: outside of Black Dahlia Murder and Amon Amarth, a lot of post-2000 melodeath attempts were snubbed. While they are old, Amorphis since Tomi Joutsen has been a reborn band. Dark Tranquillity is another melodeath band that made a lot of bold attempts to standardize Keyboards in death metal and introduce/abandon/reintroduce baritone clean vocals. Also, time old question: is BTBAM more techdeath or progressive metalcore??