Subgenre of heavy metal music
Melodic death metal
(also referred to as
melodeath
) is a subgenre of
death metal
that employs highly melodic guitar
riffs
, often borrowing from traditional
heavy metal
(including
New Wave of British Heavy Metal
). The genre features the heaviness of death metal but with highly melodic or harmonized guitar riffs and solos, and often features high-pitched shrieked vocals (differing from traditional death metal) alongside the low-pitched growls commonly featured in traditional death metal. Pioneered by the English heavy metal band
Carcass
with their 1993 album
Heartwork
, melodic death metal developed further in Sweden (developed by bands like
At the Gates
,
Dark Tranquillity
, and
In Flames
) in the mid-1990s. The
Swedish death metal
scene did much to popularise the style, soon centering in the "
Gothenburg metal
" scene. At the Gates'
Slaughter of the Soul
, Dark Tranquillity's
The Gallery
, and In Flames'
The Jester Race
, all released in the mid-1990s, were highly influential albums in melodic death metal, with At the Gates and In Flames being the two most common influences on North American 2000s heavy metal bands. Many American heavy metal bands emulated At the Gates' sound, resulting in the usage of the phrase "At the Gates worship".
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, many melodic death metal bands emerged, including
Children of Bodom
,
Arch Enemy
,
Amon Amarth
,
The Black Dahlia Murder
,
Insomnium
, and
Soilwork
. In the 2000s decade, melodic death metal achieved popularity among heavy metal fans, starting with the release of In Flames' 2002 album
Reroute to Remain
, which showed a change to a more eclectic sound while retaining the band's melodic death metal sound. Many other melodic death metal bands quickly had chart success.
In the mid-2000s,
melodic metalcore
, a subgenre of
metalcore
that combines the genre with melodic death metal, achieved popularity with the chart success and sales success of bands like
Killswitch Engage
,
All That Remains
, and
As I Lay Dying
.
Deathcore
bands during this time period like
Bring Me the Horizon
and
Through the Eyes of the Dead
also were influenced by melodic death metal and achieved popularity.
Musical characteristics
[
edit
]
Melodic death metal combines
death metal
with elements of traditional
heavy metal
ranging as far as the
New Wave of British Heavy Metal
, especially melodic or harmonized guitar riffs, with the heavily
distorted
guitars, fast
double-bass drum
patterns and occasional
blast beats
of
death metal
.
[1]
[2]
The vocal style typically features either high-pitched shrieks
screaming
(differing from traditional death metal) or
low-pitched growling
(similar to traditional death metal) and can feature clean sung vocals.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
Origins (early?mid 1990s)
[
edit
]
Carcass
helped develop the melodic death metal genre with their 1993 album
Heartwork
.
[3]
Much of the origin and popularity of melodic death metal can be attributed to the bands
At the Gates
,
In Flames
, and
Dark Tranquillity
, whose mid 1990s music releases (namely
Slaughter of the Soul
,
The Jester Race
, and
The Gallery
, respectively) defined the genre and laid the foundation for the
Gothenburg
metal scene.
[1]
Writer Gary Sharpe-Young considered the Gothenburg scene the commercial salvation of death metal: "Gothenburg became the new
Tampa
and the genre received a new lease on life."
[4]
The titular melodic elements can be traced to traditional Scandinavian musical motifs. Another pioneer was the English band
Carcass
, which performed
grindcore
on its first two releases but morphed into death metal and an increasingly melodic style on the
Necroticism ? Descanting the Insalubrious
(1991) and
Heartwork
(1993).
[3]
[5]
[6]
Death
's 1995 album
Symbolic
is also considered to be influential in the development of the genre.
[7]
Ceremonial Oath
and
Eucharist
also are early melodic death metal bands; however, they never gained much attention outside of their own scene.
[8]
At the Gates live at
Summer Breeze Open Air
in 2016
In Flames'
The Jester Race
combined death metal with guitar riffs heavily influenced by bands like
Iron Maiden
and
Judas Priest
. The album's sound heavily contrasted with traditional death metal, and made
Swedish death metal
more accessible to more people compared to other Swedish death metal albums that pioneered a new sound, including the
death 'n' roll
of
Entombed
's
Wolverine Blues
.
[9]
At the Gates'
Slaughter of the Soul
influenced many American metal bands, especially metalcore bands who used guitar riffs and vocals emulating At the Gates' music. The vocals also were noted by
AllMusic
for being more decipherable than other death metal vocals, resembling high-pitched shrieks that foreshadowed 2000s American
screamo
bands.
[10]
The album brought At the Gates underground popularity, including rotation on
MTV
's
Headbanger's Ball
, a nomination at the Swedish Grammys, and American tours with
Morbid Angel
and
Napalm Death
.
[11]
Expansion (Late 1990s and early 2000s)
[
edit
]
Children of Bodom combined melodic death metal with
power metal
influences.
[12]
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, melodic death metal quickly expanded with many bands emerging, including
Amon Amarth
,
The Black Dahlia Murder
,
Arch Enemy
,
Soilwork
,
Insomnium
, and
Children of Bodom
.
[13]
Additionally, other genres would begin using melodic death metal as an influence, including
melodic metalcore
[14]
and melodic black/death.
[15]
[16]
Stewart Mason claims that melodic metalcore has become very popular in the United States, using the term "Swedecore" to describe Scandinavian-style metal as played by non-
Nordic
bands.
[17]
Many melodic death metal and metalcore bands (especially after
melodic metalcore
band
Killswitch Engage
rose in popularity) were heavily influenced by
Slaughter of the Soul
by At the Gates and had an influence of them in their music.
[13]
Many heavy metal bands in the mid-2000s, in turn, were labeled "At the Gates worship".
[18]
Popularity and emergence of melodic metalcore (2000s)
[
edit
]
Melodic metalcore band All That Remains performing at
Ozzfest
2006
In the 2000s, melodic death metal became popular among heavy metal fans. In 2002, In Flames' album
Reroute to Remain
peaked at number 10 on the
Top Heatseekers
chart.
[19]
The album, retaining the band's melodic death metal sound, showed a diverse mix of different musical genres, including occasional
electronica
and
hip hop
synthesizers and occasional clean singing. This helped gain the band a new amount of fans while alienating fans of In Flames' early work.
[20]
In Flames' next two albums,
Soundtrack to Your Escape
(2004) and
Come Clarity
(2006), peaked at numbers 145 and 58 on the
Billboard
200
, respectively,
[19]
with the latter album giving In Flames a Swedish Grammy Award.
[21]
The Black Dahlia Murder, Arch Enemy, Children of Bodom, and Amon Amarth also enter the
Billboard
200 during the 2000s decade. In the mid?late 2000s, melodic metalcore became one of the most popular heavy metal genres, with bands like
Killswitch Engage
,
Unearth
,
Bullet for My Valentine
,
All That Remains
,
Shadows Fall
and
Atreyu
achieving success, headlining major festivals and selling a lot of records.
[22]
Melodic metalcore combined melodic death metal elements like melodic guitar riffs and screaming with elements of the original style of
metalcore
like
breakdowns
.
[22]
At the Gates and In Flames were major influences on these bands.
[21]
[13]
Killswitch Engage are often credited as the band that brought melodic metalcore into the mainstream among heavy metal fans.
[13]
Some
deathcore
bands during this time, such as
Through the Eyes of the Dead
and
Bring Me the Horizon
, combined deathcore with melodic death metal.
[23]
Subgenres
[
edit
]
Many melodic death metal bands began being inspired by
black metal
and European
romanticism
. This style has been referred to as
blackened melodic death metal
,
[15]
melodic blackened death metal
[15]
and
melodic black-death
.
[16]
However, unlike most other black metal, this take on the genre would incorporate an increased sense of melody and narrative.
[15]
Melodic metalcore
is a fusion genre, incorporating elements of
metalcore
and melodic death metal, with a heavy emphasis on melodic instrumentation,
blast beats
, metalcore-stylized
breakdowns
and clean
singing
.
[14]
These bands often take influence from the
guitar
riffs
and writing styles of Swedish melodic death metal bands, especially
At the Gates
,
In Flames
,
Arch Enemy
and
Soilwork
.
[14]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Bowar, Chad.
"What Is Melodic Death Metal?"
.
About.com
. Archived from
the original
on 2 February 2017
. Retrieved
29 January
2017
.
- ^
Purcell, N.
Death Metal music: the passion and politics of a subculture
, at 9, McFarland, 2003 (retrieved 3 June 2011)
- ^
a
b
Bowar, Chad.
"Carcass"
.
About.com
. Archived from
the original
on 7 July 2011
. Retrieved
27 February
2011
.
- ^
Sharpe-Young, Garry (2007).
Metal: The Definitive Guide
. Jawbone Press. p. 162.
ISBN
9781906002015
.
- ^
"Can You Feel The Forceps: Carcass, Surgical Steel And Heartwork Revisited"
.
The Quietus
. Retrieved
27 October
2015
.
- ^
McIver, Joel (15 December 2008).
The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists
. Jawbone Press. p. 122.
ISBN
9781906002206
.
- ^
"10 Best Songs by the Band Death"
.
Loudwire
. 18 July 2013
. Retrieved
7 December
2020
.
'Symbolic" saw a massive shift towards melody and a bit of a departure from the death metal that most bands were playing at the time. Along with Carcass and At the Gates, Death helped pave the way for infectious melodies and hooks to enter the genre.
- ^
Ekeroth, Daniel.
Swedish Death Metal
.
- ^
Huey, Steve (5 April 2022).
"The Jester Race - In Flames"
. AllMusic.
- ^
Huey, Steve.
"Slaughter of the Soul - At the Gates"
. AllMusic
. Retrieved
5 April
2022
.
- ^
Birchmeier, Jason.
"At the Gates"
. AllMusic
. Retrieved
5 April
2022
.
- ^
Ewing, Jerry (22 November 2006).
"Children Of Bodom: Metal Detector"
.
Metal Hammer
. Retrieved
5 April
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Lawson, Dom.
"The 10 essential melodeath albums"
.
Metal Hammer
. Retrieved
25 July
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
Giffin, Brian (2015).
Encyclopaedia of Australian Heavy Metal
. Australia: DarkStar.
ISBN
9780994320612
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
ANDREW, J (19 February 2015).
"Blackened Melodic Death Metal: A History Lesson"
.
Metal Injection
. Retrieved
25 July
2018
.
- ^
a
b
D, Chris.
"Top 5 Dissection Clones"
.
Decibel
. Archived from
the original
on 25 March 2016
. Retrieved
25 July
2018
.
- ^
Mason, Stewart.
"Glass Casket"
.
AllMusic
.
Rovi Corporation
. Retrieved
31 March
2011
.
- ^
Deneau, Matt (13 January 2009).
"Architect Ghost of the Saltwater Machines"
.
Exclaim!
. Retrieved
5 April
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"In Flames"
.
Billboard
. Retrieved
5 April
2022
.
- ^
Sheaks, Matthias.
"Reroute to Remain - In Flames"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
5 April
2022
.
- ^
a
b
DaRonco, Mike.
"In Flames"
. AllMusic
. Retrieved
5 April
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Bowar, Chad.
"What Is Metalcore?"
. LiveAbout
. Retrieved
5 April
2022
.
- ^
Smith-Engelhardt, Joe (8 January 2021).
"Best 2000s deathcore albums"
.
Alternative Press
. Retrieved
5 April
2022
.
|
---|
Genres
| |
---|
Fusion genres
| |
---|
Derivative forms
| |
---|
Notable scenes
| |
---|
Other topics
| |
---|
|