What is Melodic Death Metal?

[@whatsinameme5258]

Songs used in order: Moonshield by In Flames. Six by All That Remains. Sworn to the Dark by Watain. When Satan Rules His World by Deicide. Slowly We Rot by Obituary. South of Heaven by Slayer. Supposed to Rot by Entombed. Bleed for Me and I Saw Them Die by Dismember. Goliaths Disarm their Davids by In Flames. Edenspring by Dark Tranquility. Slaughter of the Soul by At the Gates. Towards the Twilight by Night in Gales. Twelve: Vals for the Legions by Allegaeon. Hammer Smashed Face by Cannibal Corpse. Taking Back My Soul by Arch Enemy. The Venomous by Nightrage. The Trooper by Iron Maiden. This Mortal Coil by Carcass. Meet the Enemy and Call of the Mountains by Eluveitie. Going Under by Evanescence. Nocturnal by The Black Dahlia Murder. Bleak by Opeth.

[@megawd2145]

It's hard to find metalcore songs with a solo guitar. Can you recommend some band like black veil brides? I don't know why most of metalcore doesn't have a solo guitar on it.

[@Jackadiah]

You know what I love about this series? You play examples of the genres that you’re discussing The amount of videos discussing genres but not actually showing what they sound like is surprisingly high

[@LookjaklooK]

Cuz copyright strikes are real

[@VARVIS_]

Melodeath is my favourite genre. It just hits.

[@dimadurasov1160]

😢 VARVINKUS

[@anime-cu7sq]

the jester race and colony are masterpieces

[@Kancerru]

For sure

[@valejack]

You forgot Whoracle between those

[@greggharmston8992]

Some of the best guitars out of all the metals imo 👌 My favourite metalcoreish bands Unearth and Darkest Hour have a huge influence from this sound and many people call them “Gothenburgcore”

[@atvena]

Darkest hour are almost a melodic death metal band well at least in the American sense alongside the black dahlia murder

[@hansf.6463]

⁠@@atvenaEven wikipedia editors had a hard time classifying them so they just put melodic death metal/metalcore before settling with metal. But to be fair, up until Deliver Us, Darkest Hour is churning out bona fide melodic death metal.

[@milkman2266]

Slaughter of the soul is STILL one of the greatest metal albums of all time of any genre or subgenre. Truly an iconic album for the ages

[@archetype4566]

Bruh it's not even the best album in AtG discography

[@milkman2266]

Disagree but that’s my opinion. Which do you think are better out of curiosity?

[@vecxio8070]

For anyone who loves melodeath, I recommend you check out Mors Principum Est - The Unborn, it's a flawless album, and very overlooked.

[@nothing-else-m23]

I personally prefer Dawn of The 5th Era, but The Unborn is so good too

[@graysonparks2775]

@@nothing-else-m23 "Dawn of The 5th Era" is so great! I still love "Seven" the most though...

[@mbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmb]

Seconded. Riff city.

[@loweffortproductions1985]

I find it interesting how Death seems to take more inspiration from Melodic Death Metal than classic Death Metal, considering that they were a part of the Florida scene Everything from the guitar harmonies, the acoustic bits, and the introspective lyrics really makes me think about this perceived "divide" in the subgenre

[@whatsinameme5258]

I consider Death (at least from Human onwards) to be more Prog Death Metal. Not necessarily Melodeath, but I suppose I can see why people could hear that. Its still very OSDM in riffage.

[@mxjosh2000]

While they most definitely ended up veering to the more Melodic Death Style than their American Contemporaries, their earlier work, Scream Bloody Gore in particular, was pure Swampy Floridian Death Metal, so much so that it became the Blueprint for the whole genre. Chuck was always evolving Death's sound from album to album, that by the time they released their final record The Sound of Perserverance, they sounded like a completely different band (One I absolutely adored btw) I agree with@@whatsinameme5258, Progressive Death Metal is probably a more suitable term for their later works, with a hint of the Melodic Black Metal style that the likes of Dimmu Borgir, Fleshgod Apocalypse & Epica would be performing later on. In fact, Epica do a wonderful cover of Crystal Mountain that was a part of the Special Edition of their 2005 Album Consign to Oblivion.

[@henrywalton5967]

Death does have a lot of melody, especially from Human onwards. Symbolic & TSOP basically are melodic/progressive death they're just done in such a unique style they don't fit in to the rest of the other melodic death metal bands imo.

[@mxjosh2000]

@@henrywalton5967100% correct when stressing how melodic Death ended up being. In fact it would be a disservice to Chuck’s memory if you didn’t. In fact I’m pretty sure he kind of Resented his “Godfather of Death Metal” moniker, that by the end of the bands run, Death barely sounded like any of their Contemporaries OR the following generation of Death Metal bands that claimed him as their biggest influence. It’s the reason he formed Control Denied in the mid 90s, as he wanted to create music without having the Death Metal expectations hanging around his Neck. I’m not sure if this Is 100% true but I’m pretty sure I heard somewhere that The Sound of Perseverance was written with the intention of it being a Control Denied Album, but Contractual Obligation’s forced him re-tool it and release it under the Death name

[@henrywalton5967]

@@mxjosh2000 I know a bit about this, even on Symbolic Chuck wanted to use clean singing but he didn't mainly because it wouldn't sound lke Death but I don't think he was satisfied with his clean vocals either. With TSOP I know that Bite the pain, Story to tell & A moment of Clarity were all originally (Possibly To forgive is to suffer too can't remember) Control Denied songs, but like you said Chuck owed his label one more album so they ended up using those as Death songs. In the documentary Death by Metal I remember Gene & Shannon talking about all of this.

[@babisv652]

My fav metal genre for sure!!The mix of badass thrasy riffs, melodic parts and solos and harsh vocals really hits the spot for me.And putting keyboard to the mix makes it even better

[@Beastlango]

In my mind the switch between the fast and slow is what makes death metal, at least originally. I also always thought it was a big 4 with soilwork included.

[@crimsonier9279]

You definetly should talk about Edge of Sanity sometime. My fav band of all times.

[@StonyBlazestation]

Oh hell yeah, this genre is what got me into all the more extreme stuff.

[@tigerthiefA3]

Love your music breakdowns man, thank you! Look forward to seeing more content from u🤙🏻

[@signal_rr]

Just want to say thanks for doing these videos. Been into metal most of my life,and these videos have been very insightful and entertaining.

[@j.m.1928]

He's back!

[@arrebarre900]

I do think Arghoslent is worth a mention despite their themes. They’re super original and many bands have drawn a loooot of inspiration from them.

[@DeathMetalHead69]

Completely agree. It's unfortunate that they're shitty people since all of the guys in Arghoslent are so talented.

[@SeanS1995]

Was wondering who would bring them up. You are right, you can hate the themes and still see that the music is absolutely extraordinary

[@ericv7720]

It seems like they're wasting their talent. The purpose of a band is to reach as many people as possible, and given the popularity of metal in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East (especially Israel), and with a strong scene in southern Africa, it seems that being all about "we're white, and f*ck you!" would limit a band's appeal.

[@ericv7720]

They're trash

[@shmusht1530]

I love your channel it makes me more informed about metal

[@XandieFireman]

Finally, my favorite metal subgenre

[@Lycanthroperage95]

It seems the older I get and the more my Music taste “matures” the more I appreciate melodic death metal and how the dynamism of beauty and chaos just creates such an intense listening experience and it seems that some immature death metal elitists don’t seem to pick up on the true genius of this sub genre

[@VARVIS_]

He is back 🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@krystofbrichta4214]

Yes! finally a new vid. Great work

[@Kriegter]

Exmortus is extremely underrated with this sound

[@Eichro]

favorite genre CHECK

[@PapaMetal47]

I've grown to love melodic death metal but never could get into "standard" death metal, or whatever you want to call it. This genre of music is where you can really hear the strong song writing along with the great musicianship. I don't like terms like "beginners metal". Metal fans can be very elitist. The melody is what breaks up the song. It's for any metal fan, but particularly for those of us who love metal but need something to hook us in and reel us back as we listen to the song. I love Darkest Hour. Wish they were mentioned. But I feel like your video really captured what I love about MDM so much. Nice work.

[@whatsinameme5258]

People tend to call "Standard Death Metal" Old School Death Metal. I prefer Melodeath myself, but if you want to try old school stuff, The Swedish stuff like Dismember and Entombed is a bit more melodic than the American stuff. Also Symbolic by Death is bordering on Melodic Death, for a better American example.

[@ericv7720]

I got into melodic death metal in the mid-90s, and for me, it was a revelation. Death metal at that time seemed like it was on its way out, and along came these bands out of Sweden combining the heaviness of that genre with classic metal licks. Honestly, I didn't know such a thing was possible at the time! By the way, my favorite new band is Dead Sun, combining the HM-2 grind of OS Swedish DM with the melodies of old Dark Tranquillity and Sacrilege.

[@mbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmb]

The most underrated melodeath record of all time is One Kill Wonder by the Haunted. Some folks prefer the earlier Haunted records, but OKW is like Slaughter of the Soul with a violent twist. It cant be understated how many good riffs come from that record. I urge you to listen to it if you haven’t, and if you have, spin it again. Unmatchable riffage.

[@whatsinameme5258]

Yes its really good. Adds a bit of Groove Metal influence. Its like a better version of Lamb of God.

[@KrommFarenborn]

Melodic Death Metal has always been my favorite genre.

[@kingthorgrim1591]

hahahahahaha, the evanescence clip after talking about heluveitie was spot on man and funny as hell too

[@epslonx]

I think I found my fav music style. Glad I have Spotify to explore everything

[@smez]

Dismember also has a lot of melodic death metal songs though, like Where No Ghost is Holy, Collection By Blood, Misanthropic, Dreaming in Red, Of Fire, Patrol 17, Shadowlands, Enslaved to Bitterness, etc, etc. They're not strictly an "old school death metal" band, they are that too, but IMO they have made some of Sweden's best melodic death metal as well!

[@jason2841]

For those wondering, that distinct sound that old school Swedish Death Metal bands have is owed to the HM-2 pedal by Boss. Prior to the rerelease of the pedal a couple of years ago, they were highly sought after for decades. I know not all Swedish death metal bands use them, like many of the bands listed in the video, but the overall sound of the old school ones are practically defined by that HM-2 sound. So much so, that I would actually consider it a subgenre. Just a little FYI to those interested. And killer video! Melodeath was definitely my gateway genre into metal. Hopefully Kalmah gets a mention in one of the other videos. I feel like they've been the most consistent of the early 2000's bands.

[@Flugmorph]

downvoted for not mentioning soilwork (jk good video really like the incorporation of sound snippers everywhere)

[@psychosis8429]

Yes lets go!, this is my favorite genre of metal, only being beaten by melodic metalcore. I will definitely look forward to your melodic metalcore video with great interest.

[@nescaudrummer]

MDM is amazing, it's my favorite metal genre

[@bakon180]

I think when talking about melodeath genre fusion it’s important to mention Children of Bodom, they’re primary melodeath but they mix it with power metal, neoclassical metal, symphonic metal, and even black metal earlier on without sounding gimmicky at all (even if they do sound corny sometimes)

[@riveracollazo]

great vid ❤

[@Owlr4ider]

Sorely missing from this video is Soilwork, one of the giants of Melodic Death Metal. In fact, rather than the top 3 of In Flames, Dark Tranquility and At the Gates it should really be a top 5, with Arch Enemy and Soilwork being the other 2. Also it needs to be said that for In Flames specifically it's only their older material, as their new material has strayed so far away that it's no longer melo-death at all.

[@Kriegter]

I'm half certain ABBA and Yngwie were partially responsible as Melodeath influences

[@perlundgren7797]

Obviously in the case of for example CoB, but if we're talking about the typical Gothenburg sound I wouldn't say there's that much of a neoclassical influence.

[@PrzemyslawSzulc-i7l]

good job ;) you've missed Kalmah ;)

[@failuretolaunchdrums]

W he’s back!

[@PainxPiss]

Great video as always, always appreciate your insight and overall grasp of genres like these, I’d much rather show a metal newbie your content rather than some of the more popular “Metal” focused KZbinrs out there. Off the topic of praise and on to a general comment/thought, but to this day I still struggle to hear the “Deathcore” in Black Dahlia’s music. I know there’s like one or two breakdowns on their very first demo but by the time of their actual first album that was all gone. I really don’t hear them getting any more chuggy or 2-steppy than a lot of other Death Metal acts. I honestly feel like they unfortunately got stuck with the Deathcore tag because they came up during the same era that that style got popular and were on so many tours with legitimate Deathcore bands.

[@whatsinameme5258]

Thats fair. Keep in mind, I'm only saying they are about a third Deathcore. Not a lot of breakdowns. Its mostly the vocals. The layering of high screams and low growls and pig squeals is very Deathcore.

[@PainxPiss]

@@whatsinameme5258 I can agree to that being very unorthodox in the tried and true Death Metal scene, which really makes you wonder if that was again a result of the culture they came up in at the time, a lot of the mix engineers and producers at the time were working with Deathcore bands so they probably used their skill sets while working with other bands on their records, it’s no secret that the guys in Dahlia grew up listening to Hardcore and Metal in the 90s, so it could have definitely been more of a conscious choice. Either way, super cool to see how the heavy music landscape of the 2000s was defined by stuff like that and how it’s influenced a lot of the newer death metal that’s coming out today. Cheers.

[@candideggplant1575]

Their first album was honestly a tribute album to the whole gothenburg scene, they really started finding their own sound after that.

[@ashtonstired]

ive been obsessed with melodeath for almost 2 years now trying to listen to all the top albums and bands, its a darn shame how dead the genre is currently. i dont see a revival coming but majesties - vast reaches unclaimed definitely shows theres plenty of untapped potential musically and demand for more in the genre

[@PiranhaWhale1]

Sick video, love melodeath

[@wizardofglass686]

Dad came back with some milk

[@yeetyeet486]

the best melodic metal for me is Intestine Baalism´s Ultimate Instinct

[@EncoreASMR]

The best music genre ever

[@antona.1327]

''What is Melodic Death Metal?'' Easy: it's death metal made by people who went to music school.

[@SwordQuake2]

Bro left out "Insomnium" and "Amon Amarth"...

[@nquerosaber]

melodic death suits both beginners and hardcore fans, because its less edgy, meaning lower entry barrier, and also very progressive, portnoy is a huge opeth fan for exemple, and also lots of "modern metalcore" bands such as periphery and jinjer are heavily influenced by opeth

[@maksymkharchenko248]

Caliban - parelyzed Amorhis - sky is mine Before the dawn is a band that make own melodic metal, from oldest to new albums. I am the Abyss - shylmagoghnar Every body has own mdm playlist im sure.

[@festafunerea]

American Death Metal took inspiration from Slayer, and European Death Metal from Celtic Frost. And lots of european death metal bands followed Celtic Frost's example in experimentation and change (different from many american bands, that didn't had much changes to their sound, of course I'm not saying that this is bad). In Sweden, Entombed and Dismember became death n roll, Katatonia and Tiamat were death/doom and became gothic rock, Therion was death metal and became symphonic and, of course, there's Opeth too, that became more and more progressive. I could even give examples from UK (Carcass, Paradise Lost, Anathema - also, UK being were both grindcore and goregrind were born) and Netherlands (The Gathering, Pestilence, Gorefest).

[@thevarietychannelofyoutube4769]

I found a really good playlist on Spotify called "the sound of melodic death metal" made to introduce people to the genre and it looks like there's a lot of very uplifting sounding songs with motivational lyrics and major chords that are considered melodic death metal. The name does not fit the sound at all

[@gepic922]

I almost thought you missed my favorite band 😂👌

[@whatsinameme5258]

Is it In Flames by chance? Haha

[@gepic922]

@@whatsinameme5258 Nop, Bodom hahahah. IF is very close tho in 2nd place

[@molekyyli]

Haha, I guess I finally grasp why I don't like old school/typical DM since I've never ever liked thrash either. I don't care for being brutalized from beginning to the end, I love being smashed and comforted and then smashed again. 🤣 Melodeath and some other heavier stuff are perfect for that. The more pronounced the contrast is, the better, in general. 😄 I haven't found my way to metalcore yet, tbh. I will admit I haven't really tried but the few examples I've heard had the formula of screamed verses and choruses with pop-ish/whiny vocals and that just turns me off really bad. 🤷‍♀😄 Some of my fav melodeath bands also decided to add cleans at some point and I slowly grew to like them but overall I prefer cleans being used just sparingly/growling being the main vocals. At the moment, I think the only two core-related bands I really enjoy are Shadow of Intent and Cattle Decap but neither is metalcore. And well, good take on the topic. :)

[@ArcheanTiger]

deathcore video when

[@domdom12-w6k]

What about soilwork?

[@jackko21]

In my opinion the only melo death band i like is intestine baalism because they use melody in a creepy way while still being heavy where as the rest of the melodeath bands seem more commercial sounding

[@megawd2145]

It's hard to find metalcore songs with a solo guitar. Can you recommend some band like black veil brides? I don't know why most of metalcore doesn't have a solo guitar on it

[@whatsinameme5258]

I'm no guitar expert, but have you looked into Melodic Metalcore? All That Remains, Killswitch Engage, Trivium, stuff like that. Other Metalcore offshoots are primarily about pure guitar chugging.

[@megawd2145]

@@whatsinameme5258 I do listen to melodic metalcore. But still doesn't have solo guitar🤣

[@whatsinameme5258]

@@megawd2145 Ok, as I said I know nothing about guitar, but that does explain why BVB sounds a tad different from the rest. Based on that alone though, I can see maybe why. Metalcore emphasizes breakdowns, and BVBs breakdowns sound a bit weak at times, imo. Maybe rhythm guitar just fits Metalcore better typically

[@autumnsphere7581]

Tbdm has strong core influences thats right, not pure melodic death metal as many people like to think

[@milkman2266]

I remember in a documentary Trevor even says “we basically just stole riffs from the Swedish scene and it’s funny when we tour in Sweden like “hey we stole these riffs and now we’re bringing them back” TBDM is probably my favorite band of all time, sad Trevor is no longer with us

[@candideggplant1575]

Death metal usually is meant to be as brutal and unforgiving as possible, and while there is nothing wrong with that, sometimes you want something a little heavier than regular heavy metal, that definitely borrows from those heavy and chunky riffs, with a little more emphasis on sounding nice without straight up being pop, it is a nice blend really. Melodic death metal gets its inspiration from death metal with its vocals and attitude sometimes, but it really takes a lot from heavy metal, like sabbath and maiden, but then again, which metal band hasn't?

[@Zrinko_Maloseja]

The gallery.

[@borzydar1196]

My favorite band INFERI is melodic tech death. And they are godlike.

[@morgothbauglir906]

I really like melodeath because its contrast gives it substance. The lows hit you harder when you know what a high feels like. Though, to be honest if I really think about it, almost every subgenre of death metal has at least one band with some teeth. That is every subgenre except american OSDM. I have never heard an american OSDM song that didn't either have me yawning or laughing.

[@zacharyseibert4526]

Early In Flames is some of the best metal ever created, PERIOD

[@nihil137]

are you the guy from great measures

[@LongLiveRockAnRoll]

No love for Carcass Heartwork as an early melodeath influence? British and Swedish combined 😄 Edit, you just mentioned it after i typed this. But it was still a really early example.

[@C4nis-Lupis]

Do melodic hardcore

[@nukkleargarlicbread]

Ok but unironically, melodic crust punk, aka neocrust slaps tho.

[@Essentrion]

This generation has it tough.. Hear me out, how do kids piss off our generation of parents who grew up on extreme metal genres tho. 😅

[@Jerrid_86]

TBDM 🤘🤘

[@JoaoPereira-dc1vi]

Isn't Opeth often aggregated with the Melodic Death Metal genre?

[@whatsinameme5258]

I hear most just call them Prog Metal, but they definitely have Melodic Death Metal in their sound as well.

[@mmmmm4986]

YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS

[@bloodscribecreations]

Melodeath is my faaaaaaaaaaav

[@DeathMetalHead69]

Bro is probably not gonna mention Intestine Baalism. It's ok, though. I do really recommend all of their albums. Especially An Anatomy of the Beast.

[@CitizenSnips]

Isn't melodeath simply souped up NWOBHM?

[@whatsinameme5258]

Sometimes, yes

[@CitizenSnips]

@@whatsinameme5258 Gothenburg metal certainly seems to be

[@ATEN_DNAR]

Yo!

[@DaveElectric]

All metal is inherently melody driven. Riffs and musical sections are defined by their melody content and not so much by their chordal harmonic content. What is called "melodic death metal" really ought to be called "harmonic death metal".

[@monsterwatchtruecrime]

Amon Amarth doesn’t even get an honorable mention?! What heresy is this

[@archetype4566]

Wait, you like Falling in Reverse?

[@whatsinameme5258]

I like a couple of songs by them. I know they are bit cringe, but they can be fun.

[@DerpsterIV]

Meloblack

[@JudgementalGoat]

Damn bro speaks about Death Metal melodic and doesn't mention Soilwork 😢

[@lebarak69]

I Cant pick up a guitar and not 5-7-8 😂

[@clownpiece5992]

You forgot melodic doom/death metal.

[@Micke_K]

What a stupid question when the genre itself is the answer.

[@CountGremlin]

According to my "normie" cousin- it's work out music 😂

[@archetype4566]

Best mdm is Intestine Baalism

[@terriblecertainity]

a genre that always felt like it's a contradiction to me. Death Metal isn't pretty or melodic. Even in its few good moments, Melodeath always feels like i'm listening to old school maiden/Halloween but with completely unfitting vocals. I love both melody and heaviness, but I get neither of them enough in Melodeath. I much rather have actual death metal with guitar harmonies ( Dechristianize by Vital Remains) or Death Metal with cleans, like Opeth

[@whatsinameme5258]

I'd actually consider Vital Remains as a hybrid of OSDM and Melodeath. And as for Opeth, I consider them somewhat Melodeath too. Maybe you just don't like vanilla melodeath, and prefer it blended with other styles. I am the same way with many metal genres.

[@archetype4566]

Bro likes his metalcore emo stuff so much he puts it in video about death subgenre

[@Iser1999]

Melodic death metal is by far the most consistent genre of metal. I enjoy most styles and subgenres of metal, but the thing is that all of them have few good standout bands and the rest are just meh at best or just downright terrible. Melodic death metal in my opinion has the most decent bands cause there's like hundreds of different Swedish bands from the Gothenburg sound, a ton of Finnish bands and almost all of them sound unique and the musicianship is amazing. You can't play stuff like this if you are a shit tier guitarist.

[@whatsinameme5258]

Completely agree

[@hk-4738]

kötbule

[@archetype4566]

Melodic metacore is cringe

[@MrNiceguyofficial]

All this sucks except melodic black metal witch is the ultimate peak od metal if done right

[@mkly0126]

He's back!!