History of Heavy Metal (9781472241467) by O'Neill Andrew

Author:O'Neill, Andrew [O’NEILL, ANDREW]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472241467
Publisher: Hachette Book Group USA
Published: 2017-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

In style they crossed death metal with a hardcore sensibility and aesthetic, playing punk shows and destroying people’s ears. Although their first incarnation lasted only a short while, they were prolific recorders of demos and these were a huge influence on what became grindcore, so much so that Carcass started up their own label in order to release the demos as the album Horrified.

After the comically brief dalliance with Repulsion, Chuck’s next move was to thrash hotbed San Francisco to play with Eric Brecht, drummer in the crossover band DRI. With a horrible inevitability this collaboration was short-lived, and like a galactic yo-yo he returned home when that didn’t work out. Then he moved to Canada to play with the incredible Slaughter. Then, when that didn’t work out11 . . . he moved back to Florida for a bit, then back to San Francisco to play with drummer Chris Reifert (who would later form the very Death-like Autopsy). Finally, with this line-up, Death recorded their debut album, Scream Bloody Gore. Released in 1987, it is considerably heavier than Possessed’s Seven Churches, with production lending it considerably more weight and the vocals being more extreme – more aggressive. In that sense, it vies with Seven Churches as the first death metal album.

What was it about Florida that bred such an influential death metal scene? Possibly the influence of Chuck Shuldiner, possibly the effect on the brain of that level of sticky heat. Maybe it’s the right-wing, gun-toting, racist, Cuba-invading culture? Maybe it’s the fault of the Golden Girls. Possibly it’s the malign occult influence caused by the presence in the state of the Walt Disney Corporation and NASA.

The Florida-based band Obituary claimed many times to be the heaviest in the world. Their debut album, Slowly We Rot, is certainly a perfect template for the traditional approach to death metal. Their tempos are slower, and then there are those vocals . . .

Two things are notable about Obituary’s vocalist, John Tardy. One is that he has long curly blond hair which makes him look like a nineties Sarah Jessica Parker off Sex and the City.12 The other is that his vocals were the most extreme thing heard on record at that time. Not so much screaming or shouting as VOMITING out the words, they are so indecipherable that on their debut he didn’t even bother writing lyrics for a bunch of the songs! He just went ‘BE-BLEEEERRRRRG!’13

This was a distinct change from the high-register screams of Scream Bloody Gore.

That guttural vocal style is the single defining feature of death metal.14 It’s variously called death grunts, dethvox, vokills and ‘Cookie Monster’ vocals . . .

I didn’t like the first wave of what everyone called death metal. The Cookie Monster vocals turned me away. If I can’t get into a singer, it’s hard for me to get into the music. You’ve got fifty bands out there right now who sound exactly the same. – Kerry King, Slayer

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