Melodic death metal

Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs and solos, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal, combined with

Characteristics#

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. Alternative Press Magazine describes the style as “incorporat ing stylistically ‘pretty’ and epic sounds” into the death metal formula, augmented by “blazing” guitar solos and “buzz-saw”-like guitar tones. The vocal style typically features harsh screams or low-pitched growling (similar to traditional death metal) but often features clean sung vocals as well. Melodic death metal is said to be more musically diverse than traditional death metal. According to Vlad Nichols of Ultimate Guitar, the boundaries of melodic death metal " grant much more artistic freedom" to artists as opposed to traditional death metal, and enables enjoyment of death metal sounds by a wider audience. He assessed, “the heaviness was still there, but it was now made all the more enjoyable by the diversity of musical and thematic expression it provided.” Some melodic death metal bands fuse the style with other styles of heavy metal and extreme metal. For example, Finnish band Children of Bodom is known for incorporating strong elements of power metal into their style.

Origins (early–mid 1990s)#

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) are widely considered to have defined the genre and laid the foundation for the Gothenburg metal scene. According to Vlad Nichols of Ultimate Guitar, “At the Gates, Dark Tranquility, and In Flames eschewed the traditional trappings of death metal, and began experimenting with leading melody, more conventional riffing and lyrics exploring topics not only related to gruesome violence - and everybody loved it. Following their initial success, Gothenburg became the Mecca of this new direction in death metal, and many more bands joined the fray.” 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). Death’s 1995 album Symbolic is also considered to be influential in the development of the genre. Ceremonial Oath and Eucharist also are early melodic death metal bands; however, they never gained much attention outside of their own scene. 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. 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. 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.

Expansion (Late 1990s and early 2000s)#

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. Additionally, other genres would begin using melodic death metal as an influence, including melodic metalcore 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. 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.

Popularity and emergence of melodic metalcore (2000s)#

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. 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. 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, 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. Melodic metalcore combined melodic death metal elements like melodic guitar riffs and screaming with elements of the original style of metalcore like breakdowns.

Subgenres#

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, 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. 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.