All life ends

As you surely know, there are many, many types of metal in the world today. Every type of metal has lots of subgenres broken up by style and scene and vintage and lyrical stance and what have you. Investigating each, you can find innovators, workmanlike practitioners, hacks, turncoats, gods and liars. Death metal is no exception. It isn't my absolute favorite type of music, but over the years I've found a lot to enjoy.

The key to death metal for anyone who grew up listening to the radio is getting used to the vocal style, traditionally a harsh, tuneless sort of roaring or yelling. For me, this came pretty late, after I learned to sort of listen past the vocals and into the music, which could be astoundingly complex or rocking along hungrily, driving or lethargic, zippily catchy or simply pulverizing. Then you come back to appreciating the rough vocals' place in the mix as a crucial element of the sound. A great death metal vocalist transcends being merely another percussive noise and complements the other instruments with raw human emotion - rage, resilience, disgust, desolation, defiance.

Of course, it also took being in a certain negative emotional state for me to properly "get" it. Even if I'm no longer the angrier younger man I was at that time, I have thankfully never "grown out of" it. Death metal is not by any means inherently "happy" music, but it's not all sulky nihilism, either. There is an energy and a passion and a demonstrative power in death metal that cannot be found in any other sort of rock music, and for someone who can appreciate its diversity and development, it's not by any means stale. For instance, I've been having a pretty decent year on just about all fronts. I'm not feeling chronically lonely or miserable or stressed, and although I've been busy as hell, I am in very good spirits. Yet, I've been on a total death metal kick lately. Go figure.

The latest batch of songs streaming in the mp3 player are all what I consider to be great works of the death metal variety. Spanning nearly two decades, these choices are by no means exhaustive among bona fide classics or personal taste, but are intended as a cross-section of what the genre has offered and continues to offer. No, this is not a thinly-veiled commercial for Earache, Metal Blade or Peaceville Records; just consider some of those labels' essentials that I left off this list (Carcass, Autopsy, Terrorizer, Amon Amarth, Bolt Thrower, Paradise Lost, Nocturnus, My Dying Bride, Hate Eternal, Massacre, Six Feet Under... just kidding about that last one). Yes, Sweden is perhaps overrepresented, but that is merely to illustrate my belief in that country's overall metallic superiority. Here's a run-down of what I find special about each. Hope you listen, read, enjoy and possibly learn something. And I swear, if no one gives me any suggestions for the next playlist, I may just spend many more fruitless hours concocting a second installment of death metal highlights. So, let's have some feedback, please.

1. Vader, "ShadowFear" (Impressions in Blood, Regain, 2006) - I chose to lead off with these Polish veterans because not only are they one of today's most skilled death metal acts, they have been one of the most consistent. These guys have an astounding number of releases under their belts, and you really can't go wrong by sampling any era. A long time ago, before I ever heard them, I remember a friend describing their music to me as "majestic." She was correct, and that word always comes to mind when I hear them. Vader casts an especially imposing shadow with the typical tools: precision steamroller percussion, sharp guitars, thick bass, ominous but punishing atmosphere. Vocalist/guitarist Piotr Wiwczarek doesn't do the standard gut-growl, opting for a harsh, powerful and clearly enunciated bellow. Even when the band is tearing ass on "ShadowFear," the leadoff track from their most recent album, everything is meticulously clear and agreeably heavy. Regal death metal from the longest-running band which most deserves to be called its current kings.

2. Death, "Altering the Future" (Spiritual Healing, Combat, 1990) - The first death metal album I ever bought was Death's third LP, Spiritual Healing, and I bought it as a young headbanger without having heard it. I liked the album cover - especially the intricate haunted house logo. I knew it was something more extreme than what I was listening to (at the time, probably lots of Metallica, Helloween, Iron Maiden, Anthrax, etc.), but decided to be adventurous. I probably crapped my stone washed jeans the first time Chuck Schuldiner's famous growl tore from my speakers... I was not prepared. The record kind of scared me, gave me the old Catholic schoolboy willies, like I was inviting the devil into the house or something. But in time, I heard the songs underneath, as Death was actually one of most musical of the early death metal bands. Due to tracks such as "Altering the Future," I was eventually able to appreciate the off-kilter rhythmic shifts and thrashy minor key melodies. (Its chorus is a fairly good slice of death metal philosophy: "Abortion, when it is needed/Execution, for those who deserve it/The giving and taking of life will always be/Altering the future.") Of course, Chuck's exploratory nature expanded on these tendencies as he led the band through the rest of its run. The myriad now-legendary lineups explored progressive and power metal influences, becoming more intricate and melodic as Death persevered. Sadly, Schuldiner passed away in 2001 after a brutal battle with brain cancer, and his memory has been slightly marred by legal squabblings over unreleased - and shadily released - recordings. His musical gifts to the world, however, will never be tarnished.

3. Entombed, "Chaos Breed" (Clandestine, Earache, 1992) - My first taste of Swedish death metal came from a cassette of Dismember's Pieces EP that my buddy J.T. loaned me. The guitars were what stuck out, a flurry of harmonized, hummable diddlies that made me think of a darker, speedier Iron Maiden. Eventually, I got around to checking out brethren like Grave, Unleashed and our subject Entombed, who were descended from a seminal group of Stockholm kids called Nihilist. As much as I loved Dismember's pure adrenaline rush, it was Entombed who first opened my eyes to the greatness of the old Swedish scene. These guys were as much a rock n' roll act as a death metal one, something which became more evident later as they pioneered what came to be known as "death n' roll." But you can hear it even here, on the choppy barnburner "Chaos Breed" from their second LP. Clandestine is the only Entombed LP on which L-G Petrov does not provide vocals; that's drummer Nicke Andersson doing double duty on the mic. The CD booklet infamously miscredits Johnny Dordevic as the vocalist, who I believe did the subsequent tour. Subsequently, it is Andersson's greatest death metal statement, his loose, rolling percussion hinting at his eventual transformation into a garage rock revivalist in The Hellacopters. After the aforementioned "death n' roll" years, Entombed went through a bit of an identity crisis (my review of the nadir can be found here) before snapping back into shape in Y2K. Their new disc just came out, and I can't wait to hear it.

4. Anathema, "They Die" (Crestfallen, Peaceville, 1992) - Doom/death has long been one of my favorite styles of death metal, and this EP has a lot to do with that. Along with Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, Anathema completed the triumvirate of romantic British doom/death masters who set the pace for hundreds of acolytes by slowing down to sub-Sabbath tempos, letting the riffs echo and the anguished growls seep into the long spaces between beats. The roots of Anathema's genius, then as it is today, spring from the the Cavanagh family, brothers Daniel and Vincent building their legend via tragic guitars and the power of well-timed feedback. While thoroughly a metal band on the version of their often-recorded classic "They Die" from their debut EP, you get hints of the gothic and psychedelic tangents that would increasingly creep into Anathema's music, as well as evidence of their skill at manipulating emotions without saying a word. Vocalist Darren White cannot be overlooked, however; although he was only a member for a few years after this, his tortured moan is distinctive among his peers and adds a lot to the general misery of the formative Anathema material. Today's Anathema (with Vincent singing and Cavanagh brother Jamie on bass) is much mellower, a sort of Pink Floyd/Radiohead hybrid that I still love to death but that clearly doesn't jibe with this list's focus. The fact that they are currently unsigned is my primary reason for believing that most record companies are run by idiots.

5. The Chasm, "Reaching the Veil of Death" Reaching the Veil of Death, Lux Inframundis, 2001) - Speaking of criminally unsigned acts, here's something from a particularly dark period of The Chasm. While I acknowledge Chicago's long and storied death metal history, my favorite Chicago death metal band - my favorite Chicago metal band, period - originated in Mexico City. They moved to the Windy City in the late 90s, seeking a better chance for themselves and their music, but reality soon set in harshly. Screwed by Dwell Records, getting no serious bites from conservative metal labels, struggling to go on... I interviewed frontman Daniel Corchado around the time the band self-released this EP, and his resilience in the face of the scene's depressing indifference was an inspirational tale. What makes this band so great to me, and apparently so off-putting to most, is the singular identity their cultural and musical heritage imparts. These guys grew up on bootlegs of classic '80s shit, and they absolutely devoured the obscure stuff while learning their craft in an unhospitable environment. Thus, The Chasm has both a traditional vein (classic/thrash riffs, studded leather outfits, synchronized swinging guitars) and a cult one (eerily atonal riffs, strange transitions, weird production). In calling their music "True Metal of Death," they pay tribute to Aztec notions of the afterlife as not something to be feared or avoided, but a natural progression, another road on the journey of the soul. Thus, the EP's title track, one of my personal favorites, is a tale of transcendence, its brilliant headbanging fury making it all the more riveting.

6. Cryptopsy, "Slit Your Guts" (None So Vile, Wrong Again, 1996) - In the insanely technical end of the death metal pool, Cryptopsy's None So Vile is a damn masterpiece, considered by most to be the Montreal band's best. It's unique in that it doesn't constantly ease up on the aggression so you can hear how clean and jazzy everyone can play, yet never becomes an overbearing assault of twiddling noise. Just look at that cover... you know it's not going to be pretty. Although he usually gets singled out by those praising the album's eccentric brilliance, barely-intelligible vocalist Lord Worm isn't the only one getting his crazy on. While everything sounds professional, the stench of bloody chaos permeates every track. Take the opening flurry of live favorite "Slit Your Guts," which sounds like a freaking siren is going off. Guitarist Jon Levasseur (now departed) gets to do more than hammer and hum, actually firing out a couple of wailing solos, and even bassist Eric Langlois gets a few bars to show off his chops. Flo Mounier manages to expand on the "hyperblast" of Kataklysm, holders of the previous title for most insane Canadian death metal percussion attack. Only Lord Worm sounds more unhinged than Mounier, and while the latter exudes proficience within savagery, the rabid vocalist goes for broke at every juncture - you can picture his eyeballs popping out, spit running down his arms as he gurgles and screeches his charming tale of evisceration. Really, all he could do to follow up this insane performance was quit and become an English teacher (which he did, only to rejoin for 2005's Once Was Not and leave again after the subsequent tour). To this day, Cryptopsy is among the tech-death elite, but they have yet to top this opus.

7. Hypocrisy, "Until the End" (Hypocrisy Destroys Wacken, Nuclear Blast, 1999) - After rather typical beginnings, Hypocrisy has carved out a peculiar niche within the cellars of Swedish melodic death metal. Frontman Peter Tägtgren is also known as one of the most prolific metal producers of the late '90s, and as a bona fide pop star in Sweden with his industrial dance-rock band Pain. Tägtgren had actually broken up Hypocrisy for a bit before this live CD was released, intending to focus on his other projects, but that turned aound quickly. The disc included four studio tracks, apparently intended for an EP, one of which, "Until the End," kind of bugged me upon first listen. Hypocrisy had done some slower, moodier tunes in the past, and those numbers were always album highlights. To me, this one was almost a pop song with its sensible pace, clean vocal layering and seemingly romantic "I won't stay forever/Just 'til the end of time" chorus. Of course, it was catchy as hell, atmospheric and sumptuous, and when I finally saw the lyrics and realized they're from the Grim Reaper's point of view, my problems disappeared. Although this type of dismally trippy tune is where Hypocrisy steps away from the typical Swedish death metal pack, they also do speedy melodic stuff and groovy midpaced stuff like champs. The average Hypocrisy album is a varied and engaging affair, and thus always welcomed by yours truly.

8. Atheist, "And the Psychic Saw" (Unquestionable Presence, Active/Metal Blade, 1991) - Florida's Atheist, one of the world's earliest technical death bands, met the same fate as Cynic, Nocturnus, Believer and most other aggressive metal acts that thrived on instrumental prowess. In the early '90s, the metal world at large was not ready for tunes this complex, and these dudes really only found an appreciative audience once they had split. I wasn't really into death metal when Atheist was active, but I did find them more interesting and ear-pleasing than a lot of the more popular stuff at the time, and when I finally started picking up some death a few years later, I found all the Atheist albums pretty cheap as cut-outs. Aside from the astoundingly nimble work by bassist Tony Choy and drummer Steve Flynn, one of Atheist's calling cards was vocalist Kelly Shaefer, whose rabid, high-pitched rasp was distinctly at odds with the deeper, more imposing growl all the then-young and trendy upstart New York bands (Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, Immolation, etc.) were using. Unquestionable Presence is the second of the band's three albums, and stands at the midway point between their debut's relatively more straightforward death/thrash headbanging and their swansong's full-blown jazz/funk/flamenco inflections. "And the Psychic Saw" remains one of the best examples of what Atheist could do - and still can, given their awesome performance of it a few months ago at Chicago Powerfest.

9. Immolation, "Whispering Death" (Shadows in the Light, Century Media, 2007) - I chose something brand new from this wizened NYC crew because my aforementioned death metal bender was actually kicked off by receiving this album a little while ago. These dudes are not one of the more accessible big names, and I used to be pretty unenthused about them because they just didn't grab me. I think it was due to the muddy recordings the band prefers, as can be heard on towering album closer "Whispering Death." However, like the at-first-impenetrable treasures than can be found in a really necro black metal album, Immolation rewards a patient listener with an intoxicating feast of heaving riffs undulating like ancient serpents in a lava flow of roiling rhythms. I have come to love Bob Vigna's weirdly stacked guitars, a literal storm of off-kilter sawing, ominous death knells and mesmerizing, at times piercing solos. Immolation's signature style incorporates groove, complexity, lethargy and barbarity into a decidedly dense maelstrom that could never cross over to a mainstream audience. Once you "get it," though, look out: it's pretty addictive and immersive stuff.

10. Dissection, "Son of the Mourning" (Into Infinite Obscurity, Corpsegrinder, 1991) - My feelings about Dissection mainman Jon Nödtveidt's criminal activity, incarceration, comeback and suicide have been covered extensively on this blog and elsewhere, but I haven't written enough about his great old music. Even early on, there was a ferocious grace to the man's songwriting and guitar skills, the fluid and infectious melodies dripping with malice. "Son of the Mourning" is my favorite of the pre-album Dissection tracks, from an EP reissued as part of 1998's The Past is Alive (The Early Mischief) - a cash-in demo compilation rushed out by the legendarily shady, now-defunct Necropolis Records after Nödtveit’s arrest. Just listen to the riffing that starts about 42 seconds in. That combination of blinding speed, tremolo-picked melody and technique became more polished and "black metal" in delivery over the next several years, as clearly evidenced by the re-recording of this track for the Where Dead Angels Lie EP, but I love the raw Swedish death metal sound here, the guitars like buzzsaws and the vocals unadorned with superfluous effects. Yes, the music is why I still love '90s Dissection, even as its creator went on to become a subject of disappointment, disgust and pity to me. Whether Nödtveit was a despicable scumfuck or simply a lonely, extremely troubled human being, his old music was among the finest I've ever heard.

11. Napalm Death, "The World Keeps Turning" (Utopia Banished, Earache, 1992) - Napalm Death is the only band I can think of that contains none of its founding members, yet is not lacking in integrity for it. Originally a very punk collection of young British noisemakers (their first LP had a different line-up on each side), Napalm Death founded what we know as grindcore today: a blunt and simplistic sequence of pissed-off punk/metal hammering, divided into brief "songs" in a no-bullshit statement of intense intent. The Napalm Death lineup that concerns us here is the one that completely fell in with the death metal crowd due to a more resolutely "metal" slant to the material. "The World Keeps Turning," a single from the underrated Utopia Banished album, is a fine example of why these guys are legends in the scene, gradually increasing in tempo throughout until the band is a blurry blast behind Mark "Barney" Greenaway's characteristic growl before settling back into a thrash lumber. Still, it's the violent middle that sticks with you. Napalm Death fell off into boring groove-thrash for a while, but their last few records have found them reinvigorated, naturally returning to the winning formula of their classic era.

12. Morbid Angel, "Rapture" (Covenant, Earache/Giant, 1993) - The first death metal album released by a major label, Morbid Angel's mighty Covenant found the Floridians opening for Black Sabbath and Motörhead in sizeable halls. By 1993, death metal had built enough of an audience to be included alongside its grand old masters. It was the most sophisticated record the band had delivered to date, much of it (like opening salvo "Rapture") containing their hallmarks such as surging, lurching rhythms helmed by the steel-limbed Pete Sandoval, blasphemous growling by the vehement David Vincent and wild, abstract guitar solos by Trey Azagthoth, the Joe Satriani of death metal. Covenant also featured what might be considered a death metal "power ballad": the doomy, semi-clean-voiced dirge "God of Emptiness," its video famously and riotously mocked on "Beavis and Butt-Head." Morbid Angel remain gods of the scene, although their recent records in the absence of Vincent have been artsy, new agey things influenced by Sumerian mythology and Deepak Chopra. That oddness is endearing to me, though; they're one of the first death metal bands I got into, and I still love them. Now that Vincent is back in the band, Morbid Angel is poised for a return to form... we'll see what happens when the next record surfaces.

13. Sepultura, "Infected Voice" (Arise, Roadrunner, 1991) - Making waves on the international metal scene used to be the sole province of European and American bands, but the rumblings from South America could not be ignored once Sepultura showed up. Led by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, these guys hunkered down in the jungle and perfected a vicious brand of Satan-centered, Slayer-inflected death/thrash. Creating this violent-sounding shit helped exorcise the pain of growing up surrounded by truly harsh social conditions, which began to reflect very strongly in their gruffly accented lyrics by the time Arise battered the world's eardrums. This was really the last Sepultura album that maintained the group's underground outlook, packed with blazing neck-wreckers like "Infected Voice," spiced with tasty grooves that didn't feel very mainstream in context. Of course, the boys from Brazil went on to greater commercial heights by playing up their Brazilian identity while simultaneously incorporating contemporary American nü-metal and hardcore trends, abandoning death and thrash metal for good. Today's Sepultura is a pale shadow of their former glory, while Max Cavalera flails away with middling artistic success in dusty old Soulfly. The brothers are finally making another metal album together, but it's not a Sepultura disc, which begs the question: what the fuck?

14. At the Gates, "The Swarm" (Terminal Spirit Disease, Peaceville, 1994) - The fabled outpouring of bands from the island city of Gothenburg, Sweden produced a number of the finest moments in '90s metal, and there's nothing that their myriad modern imitators can take away from their achievements. Take At the Gates, who began as a more technical act before giving in to brilliantly hummable single-note guitar melodies and relentlessly lockstep thrashing. While their final platter, Slaughter of the Soul, was and is one of the purest examples of the "Gothenburg sound," it was actually in full force on their preceding disc. The gauzier sound on Terminal Spirit Disease lacks Slaughter's honed edges and gleaming malice, but it retains a ghost of their more eccentric past work along with providing a taste of what was to come. For evidence, see the somewhat awkward but wholly memorable chorus of opening track "The Swarm." The song also contains one of my favorite death metal lyrics ever: "What is evil, but good/Tortured by its own hunger and thirst?" This band broke up at the height of their power and popularity, so while all of its members have gone on to other bands (the house recommends the Björler brothers' fierce guitar and bass work in The Haunted and acid-throated vocalist Tomas Lindberg's overlooked artcore project The Great Deceiver), those of us who only got in at the end are allowed to dream of a reunion.

15. Withered, "Among Sorrow" (Memento Mori, Lifeforce, 2005) - Here's a fine newcomer from Georgia, the state that gave us the original Incubus. Their label is known for hosting a number of notable metalcore acts and founding members Chris Freeman and Mike Thompson are also in the grindcore act Social Infestation with Mastodon's Troy Sanders, but Withered is not too 'core. Their base is definitely death metal, but with elements of doom, grind, sludge and black metal all coming into play. Recombination, in my opinion, is why metal has always been able to adapt and thrive, and this outfit is a good example of that. This closing number from Withered's debut stretches out to nearly nine minutes, displaying their full range of vehement and morose moods. "Among Sorrow" is a hypnotizing tune, steeped in melodic drama but never cloyingly catchy, and it engenders hopes that they will continue to develop on such well-integrated eclecticism. Withered is actually playing next week with the awesomely-named Skeletonwitch at the Empty Bottle, a Chicago hipster haven that increasingly (and surprisingly) hosts good underground metal tours these days. I will be busy seeing The Decemberists playing with the Grant Park Orchestra that night, but you should go out and support a quality new death metal band.

16. Cannibal Corpse, "Perverse Suffering" (Vile, Metal Blade, 1996) - Most of the really famous American death metal bands don't do much for me. I think Deicide is mighty cheesy, and Obituary has always seemed middle-of-the-pack, with some good shit and some real turds. This brings me to Cannibal Corpse, who you surely remember from "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." Their representation here is token, but admittedly necessary. On one hand they're a bit more technical than many of their peers, bassist Alex Webster being a true master of his instrument. Check out the twists and turns on "Perverse Suffering," my favorite of the band's canon, and imagine their palpably physical impact in a live setting. On the other hand, theirs is a bog-standard sort of groovy, choppy death metal which nonetheless spawned a gazillion ditchweed-puffing, knuckle-dragging soundalikes, all laced with varying degrees of misogyny and linked via an unwavering, juvenile obsession with gore. I mean, Cannibal Corpse literally made a record a few years ago entitled Gore Obsessed. Don't get me wrong, y'all know I'm a gorehound. Yes, the band's frequently-censored album cover art generally rules, as do evocative song titles like "Sanded Faceless," "Devoured By Vermin," "Force Fed Broken Glass" or "Fucked With a Knife." As lyrical fodder, though, piles of steaming entrails are as played-out as Satan or copulation. Furthermore, I can do without original vocalist Chris Barnes and prefer his replacement, ex-Monstrosity growler George "Corpsegringer" Fisher, who debuted on Vile. This is actually my favorite of the three Cannibal Corpse albums I own, and the only one I pull out when I'm in the mood for some average U.S. death metal. Which isn't too often.

17. God Dethroned, "2014" (The Toxic Touch, Metal Blade, 2006) - Despite a healthy history that includes such names as Pestilence, Gorefest, Sinister, Asphyx, Occult, Phlebotomized, Nembrionic, Centurian, Severe Torture and God Dethroned, Dutch death metal often gets forgotten as a vital scene. To help promote Dutch metal of various types, for a while God Dethroned mainman Henri Sattler ran his own label, Cold Blood Industries, but that was a failed prospect. Yet the band soldiers on, crafting album after solid album of melodic, groovy death metal. God Dethroned excels at balancing death/thrash energy with classic metal hooks, resulting in infectiously venomous tunes such as their most recent album's "2014." Not being one of the songs that play into the disc's Typhoid Mary theme, its lyrics are still pretty typical Sattler oddness, describing some sort of future menace so vague he actually says "We don't know who they are/But they'll come, that's for sure." I find the similar bluntness in a lot of Sattler's lyrics particularly hilarious, but his songs are such convincing chunks of well-oiled metal that it seems churlish to criticize the words. Besides, there are much dumber bands with a much bigger audience in the death metal scene, and these veterans deserve greater status.

18. Krisiun, "Evil Mastermind" (Black Force Domain, Dynamo, 1995) - The first time I ever saw Brazil's Krisiun live was at Milwaukee Metalfest 1999. I stumbled over to see them after watching The Gathering, who, for the uninitiated, are a sublime Dutch atmospheric/psychedelic/gothic hard rock band with a bewitching, crimson-tressed siren on vocals. Imagine going from that to this diabolical racket, created by three hairy, sweaty, leather-bound brothers at tempos too insane, sustained and overpowering to be human. Krisiun's reputation preceded them, which is why I checked them out in the first place, but I remember looking around the room and seeing a mass of stunned mugs, most jaws resting squarely on the floor. Forget Sepultura, this was the most insane South American band I'd ever heard. Check out Max Kolesne's drum assault at the beginning of their debut LP's "Evil Mastermind," or his brother Moyses' surreal Slayer-style solo squeals. A few years later, Krisiun was on just about every U.S. tour imaginable, and their fast-fast-FASTER schtick had become a bit of a cliché, so I gradually lost interest. However, their less produced earlier stuff still has its charm as a deadly record of tightly-reined extreme metal, and I have to admit that they were still very commanding when I saw them open for Unleashed earlier this year.

19. All Shall Perish, "Never Ending War" (Hate.Malice.Revenge, Amputated Vein, 2003) - Another newer band who deserves a bigger audience, All Shall Perish from Oakland, California is an exemplary source of what they call "deathcore." Bolting such modern American metalcore tropes as stomping staccato breakdowns, Swedish-style guitar harmonies and high/low extreme vocals to a burly death metal frame, it's a perfect synthesis of the forms. There are no soft edges or emo tangents to be found on their debut, a small Japanese(!) release which was reissued by Nuclear Blast in 2005. "Never Ending War" is one of the best, featuring a characteristically devastating breakdown during which the album title is prominently chanted by former screamer Craig Betit in such an authoritatative manner that you instantly picture a crowd of kids jabbing their fists skyward and shouting their faces red in response. Ranging from sluggish to thuggish to downright elegant, All Shall Perish throws enough elbows to make skeptics like myself forget the implications of trend and just hold up the horns in appreciation.

20. Nile, "Unas Slayer of the Gods" (In Their Darkened Shrines, Relapse, 2002) - We conclude with an epic by another of today's undisputed death metal giants. Nile's elaborate brutality comes with a fully-integrated Egyptian theme, from including authentic instruments as accoutrements to basing the majority of lyrics on historical or mythological subjects. This is why a band based in South Carolina chooses such catchy song titles as "Chapter for Transforming Into a Snake," "Chapter of Obeisance Before Giving Breath to the Inert One in the Presence of the Crescent Shaped Horns" and "Papyrus Containing the Spell to Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks From He Who Is in the Water." Their music is just as ostentatious, but very intense - I have a story about my first Nile show similar to that of seeing Krisiun the first time. I've always been partial to Nile's doom-tinged numbers, as well as those that utilize prominent Middle Eastern-sounding riffs, and "Unas Slayer of the Gods" fits both bills. Even when the songs aren't as long as this one, they've always got plenty of movement among parts, employing several vocalists within the band for different growls, chants and narration. They are, conceptually and compositionally, one of today's elite American metal acts of any subgenre, and it's about time that the Ozzfest folks wised up and booked them. If you already have your free tickets, be sure to get there early enough to see Nile, and then, like me, you'll wonder how Behemoth got billing over them.