Retroview: New York Death Metal

Before there was slam metal as we know it today, there was NYDM. When I discovered NYDM, I was listening to Morbid Angel, Obituary, Napalm Death, and all the other classics. I loved those bands, but it wasn't quite scratching the itch. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew I wanted to hear something more... When I first heard the slamming slamz of the NYDM sound, it was like someone reached into my brain and pulled out the sounds I had in my head and put them onto, er, cassette. It was as though I had found my musical soulmate! On that note, this is far from a comprehensive study of NYDM, but here is an overview of the bands that I liked the most.



Pyrexia
I will start with my favorite NYDM band. They don't get nearly as much press as Suffocation or Internal Bleeding, despite sharing some members, but in my opinion they are better than either. That's right, better than Suffo!! They aren't as accessible as Suffo because they don't really use melody as much, they just fuckin' slam, slam, and slam some more. "Sermon of Mockery" is their best release, although I like all of their records. After "Sermon" they changed their style up, and followed it up with the "Hatredangeranddisgust" EP and "System of the Animal" LP. Unlike "Sermon," which is just pure death metal, those two records pretty much sound like hardcore, or more specifically like Hatebreed playing death metal covers. They're good for sure, but nothing like "Sermon." I recommend that you download all of them, but definitely don't sleep on "Sermon."



Baphomet
Buffalo's Baphomet get no love! OK, they're definitely not the best band of all time, but they don't have to be, they just have to slam- and slam they do. Baphomet is one of those bands that are sort of like Kraft singles: you know they're a shitty, half-assed imitation of the real thing, but you can't help but binge on them every now and then anyway. With that said, I would say this record is for genre enthusiasts only... but still awesome! It's meat-and-potatoes NYDM with no frills or fancy shit, but for some of us, that's just what the doctor ordered.



Internal Bleeding
If you were into this shit in the 90s, you remember how controversial Internal Bleeding were. Lots of people hated on them for their Long Island guido steez, but "Voracious Contempt" struck a chord with all kinds of douchebags and meatheads such as myself. Years later, I was at a Suffocation show in Poughkeepsie, and the fat guy who was singing for them at the time was sweating my girlfriend at the time super hard because she was a skinny indie girl with good hair. In her words, "he wanted it bad." Malamor also played that show, who almost warrant a paragraph in this post... but not quite. They will be featured in the upcoming post entitled "Bands who are named after marshmallows." Anyway, Internal Bleeding didn't invent the "slamz for slamz' sake" style, but they definitely popularized it. For those about the slam, we salute you!



Suffocation
I'm not going to write about Suffocation because I hope everybody reading this is more than familiar with them. All I'm going to say is this: do you remember the Spazz song "The Egg On The Hirax Cover"? They should have written one called "The Killer Robot On The Effigy Of The Forgotten Cover." If you'd like to read more about our thoughts on Suffocation, please read this article which goes into extensive detail on Frank Mullen's Trump Plaza shirt from the "Effigy" photo shoot.



Dehumanized
These guys were B-level for sure, and not that great. Their record was pretty much just OK, except for the song "Prophecies Foretold" which was fucking siiiiiiiiiiiiiiick! I was equal parts bummed and surprised that I couldn't find the studio version of the song on Youtube, but you can at least catch a live version above. Watching them bounce to the slam parts is worth a LOL or two when you're not busy moshing your balls off.


Disfigured
I am extremely disappointed that I couldn't find any of their songs on Youtube! It's 2009, shouldn't every song by every obscure Long Island slam metal band be available within like four mouse clicks?! Where's Al Gore, I would like to lodge a complaint. In any case, Disfigured were like thinking man's NYDM. Their song structures were more interesting and nuanced than other B-level bands like, say, Dehumanized, and they could definitely play their instruments a lot better. The drummer, whose name I forget, was particularly good. I know it was something French-sounding, we'll just call him George St. Pierre for now. Anyway, these guys were/are highly underrated, and if there is any justice in the world they will attain legendary kvlt status like Ripping Corpse and Havohej. If you want to impress the Guttural Slamming Brutality Crew with how down you are with NYDM, do yourself a favor and download their EP, "Prelude to Dimentia."



Repudilation / Entorturement / 420
I am lumping all three of these bands together because they shared many of the same members, and were similar in sound and spirit. I could go on forever about them, but for now I'll just say that all you need to know is that these guys were the first geniuses to combine rap and slam metal! Also, the drummer for Repudilation used an ice bell for a ride, which is kind of hilarious and awesome at the same time. And let's talk about how amazingly awful these kids were at naming bands. I mean, it just went from bad to worse! Repudilation is at least a real word, but Entorturement is one of the worst names ever. It was a big source of inspiration for Lucho and I when we named our band Disengorgmentification. But then they managed to one-up themselves by calling their next band fucking 420! It's like the best part of ICP, Internal Bleeding, and Cypress Hill all wrapped up into one. Needless to say I love all three of these bands a lot! If anyone has the full version of the 420 album in the video above, please link it in the comments!!



Morpheus Descends
I'll conclude with one of the godfathers of NYDM. They're really more of the Demolition Hammer style of half-thrash, half-death metal in that they never blast and never really slam, but if you listen closely like the RCA dog, you can def hear the roots of slam in there. Because they were on JL America, the only label shittier than Wild Rags, it was kind of hard to get into Morpheus Descends back in the day. If you were really down with NYDM, though, you tracked that shit down because you saw the dudes in Suffocation rocking Morpheus Descends shirts all the time. And you knew that if it was good enough for Terrence Hobbes, it was fucking good enough for you!! Anyway, if you're into Incantation or that style of sludgy, proto-NYDM, make sure you track this shit down. CORPSE UNDER GLASS!

In a summer, a young man's fancy turns to wigger slam

With more and more wigger slam bands cropping up every day, it can be hard to keep up. That's what I am here for: to make sure that no guttural slamming brutality slips through the cracks for our readers! Our data indicates that most Metal Inquisition readers are primarily into dinosaur metal, so I know that most of you hate this stuff, but you should challenge yourself to man up and join the guttural slamming brutality crew!

If you don't feel you are ready for being a slam metal fan, you should stop reading immediately. Instead, pick up the Relapse catalog, put on some Mastodon or Braindrill, and enjoy the safety of fossil metal.

Cephalotripsy
http://www.myspace.com/cephalotripsy
Let's begin with what I feel is probably the best slam metal band in the history of guttural slamming brutality. I know that's a pretty bold statement, but after you give them a listen I think you will agree. Cephalotripsy is the best of Internal Bleeding combined with the crushing pit riffment necrotic embludgeonmenting of Devourment. Put this record on and you will be slamming around your room before you know it.

Gorevent
http://www.myspace.com/gorevent
I am not sure how to say the name of this band, but they are a great Japanese wigger slam band featuring ex-Rest In Gore members with some hot chick playing bass. They basically sound exactly like Rest In Gore, which is a really good thing. Just from this photo you can tell they will be sweet because it's a bunch of normal looking Japanese dudes wearing illegible death metal shirts, camo shorts and baseball hats. But getting back to the chick, look how good her hair is. I'm jealous of Asians because they have such naturally shiny, dark, straight hair, and it's so easy for them to have cool, piecey ends.


NJDOTS
http://www.myspace.com/njdots
NJDOTS is basically what New Yorkment would be if they weren't a joke band. If you don't know about some dirty Jer-Z shit now, you will after jamming their demo. NJDOTS stands for "New Jersey Department of Transportation Suicide," after the way that people kill themselves by throwing themselves in front of NJ Transit trains. They don't have any hardcore influences, but I would like to think that Rick Ta Life and ANT$ would be down with them anyway. It's all Jer-Z.

Abort Mastication
http://www.myspace.com/abortmastication
Here is another Japanese band that describes themself as "Brutaldeathmetal Goregrind Moshgore Grindcore Chaotic." To me it sounds like brutal death metal with a generous helping of slams, but you can be the judge. Mostly I just love their Engrish.

Liturgy
http://www.myspace.com/liturgychicago
Now technically this might not be wigger slam, and it's definitely not new, but I just came across this band and wanted to share. I was a big Cinerary fan, and this band has 2 or 3 guys from Cinerary, so you pretty much know what to expect: brutal as fuck death metal in the California style with Disgorge's Matti Way on vocals. How could you go wrong?!


Rest In Gore
http://www.myspace.com/restingoreofficial
Along with Disconformity and Glossectomy, Rest In Gore are leading the pack in terms of Japanese wigger slam. I know it's incredibly trite for internet metal nerds to worship obscure Japanese sub-subgenres, but the truth is that the Japs just know how to fucking slam like nobody else. Anyway this band sounds like all the other JPDM bands that I like but there is something special about them. Much like the Toyota production system has perfected the delivery of an automobile at the greatest possible efficiency, Rest In Gore deliver the maximum possible slams per second with ruthless Japanese efficiency.


Condemned
http://www.myspace.com/condemnedmetal
This album came out last year and in my opinion was extremely underrated. It is 3/4 of Cephalotripsy, and basically sounds the same except that they play mostly blasts instead of slamz. So it really wouldn't fit into a purist's orthodox definition of slam metal, but I am willing to bend the rules for you, our readers. I thought this album was one of the finest death metal albums I've ever heard, it's just wall-to-wall brutality with absolutely no melody or compromises. Dinosaur metal fans will probably be put off because there aren't any parts where they play Iron Maiden harmonies and none of the songs are about being a fucking Viking or whatever bullshit you people are into, but if you want guttural slamming brutality, you came to the right band. For fans of Disgorge, Deeds of Flesh, and other brutal California death metal, but unlike a lot of those other bands it never gets boring because they don't play too many tremolo riffs.

Everything you need to know about WIGGER SLAM METAL

We talk about wigger slam metal a lot here on Metal Inquisition, but there is still a lot of confusion as to what exactly the genre means. In this post, I will attempt to explain the basics. Unlike a lot of what we write about on here, I take wigger slam metal very seriously and I honestly love this stuff.

What's wigger slam?
Slam metal is just death metal that focuses on the mosh parts instead of the thrash parts. It's very straightforward. They key elements are a very ringy snare, guttural cricket vocals, and of course tons of slam riffs. Wigger slam metal is simple slam metal played by wiggers. And there is no shortage of this stuff, as you will see.

The early years: Long Island guido slam metal
In the beginning, there was Internal Bleeding. And before that, there was Pyrexia and Suffocation. But it wasn't until Internal Bleeding that the guido and wigger elements crept into the slam sound. They had lots of slam riffs and acted like tough guys. It makes a lot of sense when you think about how stupid people from Long Island are.

Waking The Cadaver: Jersey Shore slamming sickness!!

Then you had bands like Repudilation and Entorturement that took it to the next level of wiggerdom by actually rapping over slam riffs. It was equal parts totally ridiculous and totally fucking awesome. I still listen to the Repudilation demo all the time. Rounding out this scene were bands like Dehumanized and Disfigured that slammed like crazy but lacked the wigger overtones. They're still worth listening to, though, even though you'll miss the wig.

The next generation: Devourment and Texas slam metal
However, it was really Devourment that created the genre we know today as wigger slam metal (although they were mostly Mexicans... but whatever). They introduced some of the common elements such as TR-808 bass drops, gravity blasts, and post-Internal Bleeding cricket vocals. I mean Frank Rini had some deep-ass vocals but in a totally different way from Devourment. Most wigger slam bands these days are essentially just refining the Devourment formula, ever so slightly improving on it every time. It's almost as though Devourment was put through the Toyota kaizen process a thousand times, getting a little more refined each time. I think Jack Welch would be proud. Other notable bands of this generation include Sect of Execration, Prophecy (keepin' it fuckin sick!), and a zillion other bands I can't think of right now. Viral Load or something I guess.

Japanese wigger slam metallers Vomit Remnants

The new wave: Wigger slam goes international
New school wigger slam metal just might be my favorite kind of music in the whole world. These days most of the wigger slam metal happens in places like Russia, Japan, and Scandanavia. I think this is because their malformed third world minds don't quite understand how absurd and uniquely American it is to wear camo shorts, basketball jerseys and play slam riffs with cricket vocals. But whatever, because those Japanese really know how to fuckin slam, I'll tell you what. The Russians are developing a really distinctive style as well. But the Americans are still holding it down. You definitely need to check out Cephalotripsy- they sound just like Voracious Contempt but with even more machine-like slams, an even ringier snare sound, and even deeper vocals.

Yes, they even have wiggers in Sweden

America/Canada
Cephalotripsy (probably the very best wigger slam band ever)
Guttural Secrete
Waking The Cadaver
Orchidectomy

Japan
Vomit Remnants
Glossectomy
Rest In Gore
Disconformity

Check out the cornrows on the left and how the bassist is playing like Fieldy from Korn (this is Rest In Gore)

Russia & Scandanavia
Katalepsy
Abominable Putridity
Soils of Fate

Please visit the Guttural Slamming Brutality Crew

Here is a song by Rest In Gore that's maybe the very best example of the latest wigger slam stylings from Japan.



And here is a video by the Japanese wigger slam metal band Glossectomy. Please note the MC Hammer-like beanies and wiggerish arm movements.



Budget Wigger Slam
There is a small but important sub-genre of combines the lo-fi production and sloppiness of grindcore with the traditional wigger slam style. We call this budget wigger slam, and it is typically found in the wilds of MySpace. There are zillions of these bands, and like noisecore, you either like all of them or none of them. I like lots of these bands, with Artery Eruption and Grymer being excellent examples. But fucking Malignant Rupture are the kings of budget wigger slam! They're like 15 years old and slam like there is no tomorrow. I hope they put out a demo or something, I can't stop listening to their MySpace song.

I wish I could slam like this slam wiglet from Malignant Rupture when I was in 10th grade

Big Chocolate
This 17 year old kid, who goes by Big Chocolate on the interweb, really deserves his own entry in the annals of slam history. In my opinion he is the finest wigger slam metal musician in the history of the genre, and I'm not even fucking kidding a tiny bit. I'm totally on this kid's balls. He is in the bands Disfiguring the Goddess and Malodorous. Please note his Wu-Tang shirt.