From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Subgenre of death metal
Technical death metal
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Other names
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Stylistic origins
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Cultural origins
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Technical death metal
(also referred to as
tech-death
) is a musical subgenre of
death metal
with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Experimentation in death metal began in the late 1980s and early 1990s by four bands that are often grouped together as "technical death metal's Big Four" ?
Death
,
Pestilence
,
Atheist
, and
Cynic
? as well as
Nocturnus
; all but Pestilence being part of the
Florida death metal
scene.
[2]
[3]
Distinct features of the subgenre include dynamic song structures, complex and atypical rhythmic structures, abundant use of diminished
chords
and
arpeggios
, frequent employment of
odd time
chord progressions
, and consistent use of techniques such as
string skipping
in the guitar work.
Bass lines
are usually complex, and
drumming
is complex including techniques such as
blast beats
, odd time signatures and
double kicks
. The technical death metal genre has also been influenced by mostly
jazz fusion
,
[1]
as well as
thrash metal
and
progressive/technical
-inspired heavy metal bands like Death,
[4]
[5]
Megadeth
,
[6]
Slayer
,
[4]
[7]
Voivod
,
[8]
Kreator
,
[5]
Dark Angel
,
[6]
Coroner
,
[5]
Sadus
,
[9]
and
Watchtower
, the latter of whose second album
Control and Resistance
(1989) is often considered to be one of the sources of inspiration for the genre.
[10]
[11]
The 1990 album
The Key
by
Nocturnus
has been cited as the first progressive death metal album.
[12]
One of the key works that cemented the subgenre was
Atheist
's debut album
Piece of Time
, also released in 1990, which took death metal into a more intricate level while incorporating influences ranging from
jazz fusion
to
progressive metal
. In 1991, New York death metal group
Suffocation
released their debut album
Effigy of the Forgotten
, which focused on pairing speed and brutality with a "sophisticated" sense of songwriting. Atheist's second album
Unquestionable Presence
,
Pestilence
's third album
Testimony of the Ancients
, and Death's fourth album
Human
were all released the same year, forging a path for more intricate and refined releases within the death metal genre.
[3]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"100 Greatest Technical Death Metal Bands And Technical Thrash Metal Bands"
. May 8, 2015
. Retrieved
March 19,
2018
.
- ^
Freeman, Phil.
"
Resurrection Macabre
review"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
August 15,
2009
.
- ^
a
b
Freeman, Phil.
"
The Man-Machine Will Rock You: The Existential Paradox of Technical Death Metal
"
. The High Hat. Archived from
the original
on June 21, 2012
. Retrieved
August 15,
2009
.
- ^
a
b
"Pestilence: Patrick Mameli makes no compromise"
.
radiometal.com
. Retrieved
March 22,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
"GORY BLISTER ? Battle Helm"
.
battlehelm.com
. Retrieved
March 22,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"Revocation interview"
.
Lords of Metal
. November 2009. Archived from
the original
on March 11, 2016
. Retrieved
March 22,
2021
.
- ^
"The Metal Crypt - Jeff Hanneman Tribute Interview"
.
metalcrypt.com
. Retrieved
March 22,
2021
.
- ^
"Iconic metal band Voivod get postapocalyptic on The Wake"
.
Chicago Reader
. March 14, 2019
. Retrieved
March 22,
2021
.
- ^
"An Abridged Guide to Technical Thrash Metal (1984-Present): 50 Key Full-Lengths"
.
grizzlybutts.com
. January 26, 2018
. Retrieved
March 22,
2021
.
- ^
"Watchtower - Concepts Of Math : Book One EP - Album Review 2016"
.
powerofprog.com
. October 14, 2016
. Retrieved
March 22,
2021
.
- ^
"
"Control was just the natural progression for us"
"
.
metalindex.hu
. November 15, 2019
. Retrieved
March 22,
2021
.
- ^
BadWolf (July 13, 2012).
"Effigies of the Forgotten"
.
NoCleanSinging
. Retrieved
June 26,
2021
.
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Genres
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Fusion genres
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Derivative forms
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Notable scenes
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Other topics
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