THE ULTIMATE DEATH METAL STARTER KIT 

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"I've been listening to death metal longer than most of you posers have been alive, so you can jam it". Greatest quote ever.

Great video. Imagine writing music like Cynic’s Focus when you’re 19 in 1991. The amount of talent going around in death metal between like 1987 and 2004 is unbelievable

I really like how Finn accurately called out how condescending and difficult death metal fans can be to others trying to get into the genre, then follows suite with every single trope: only liking their earliest dogshit quality recordings, shit on half the bands you mention, call out hispter death metal bands/fans, make fun of ppl who were younger and got into the genre later, rattle off years to prove how early he got into it, etc. I love the idea behind these, but this was peak pot meeting kettle lmao.

Really good job with this video, I'm an old guy who loved death metal since the 80's. You got it right... Morbid Angel, Deicide, Death, Cannibal Corpse and Obituary were giants early on, but there was one more that you neglected -- Entombed. "Left Hand Path" and (especially) "Clandestine" were absolutely punishing albums, and still are.

I would just like to say I appreciate that your videos drop relatively early in the morning.

I know you mentioned hardcore kids getting into Obituary, but I also hear a lot of Entombed in modern hardcore. I'm guessing it's because of that "death n roll" sound they had with a lot of two-stepping sprinkled in. Fun stuff

Man I love that old school Death and Obituary sound, definitely my faves of the OG death metal bands.

This channel has become part of my morning routine.

Nice. 30 years ago my nose got crushed in an Obituary moshpit in the first 5 seconds. I had to have surgery years later. 80% deviation of my septum. Death metal Rinoplasty.

Great video. The reason as to why death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse came to Tampa was because of Morrisound Studios. Most places probably wouldn't have put time or effort into the recording of death metal but the guys at Morrisound cared and liked the music and it shows in the albums they recorded.

I think a band like The Black Dahlia Murder got a lot of people into death metal, they were part of a generation that brought back the genre and helped a new generation to discover that style while renewing it at the same time.

I think we know Six Feet Under is the pinnacle of all music and transcends genre

Saw Obituary open for Slayer on their last UK tour. They were excellent live!

Fantastic list dude! I'd also add the early Swedish bands like Dismember and Entombed, as well as the Earache bands like Napalm Death, Carcass and Bolt Thrower. I'll also throw in Immolation too but this list is a great place to start

The one line from this entire 40 minute video that made me smile inside the most was when you said “Steve Digiorgio from Sadus.” Only a true old school non-poseur would refer to him that way in 2022. Cuz that’s how we referred to him in ‘93.

The Dying Fetus disrespect. Their last 3 albums are so good, groovy, with great breakdowns.

My entry into death metal was Pestilence's "Out of the Body." That into riff is haunting even now, all these years later.

Finn, you shine every time you talk about slam. I hope the fans let you talk about it more!

So happy that there's more crossover between death metal and hardcore now! Gatecreeper are definitely on top of that scene right now

Bill was a great guy. The best. Thanks for the kind words.

You should make a shirt that says "I actually think their first album was the best"

Man, Focus had such an impact on my music taste back when I first heard it. I worshipped that album and it was all I listened to. To this day, it's still in my Top 50 albums of all time.

you forgot the swedish kings: entombed, dismember, grave

European Death Metal bands like Entombed, Dismember, Bolt Thrower, Benediction, Morgoth, Carcass, Napalm Death, Gorefest etc. are the soundtrack of my youth.

Great video, was not expecting to see bands I didn’t know about on a starter kit. Its great you’re showing veterans, newcomers and people like me who have listened for years but are just casual fans new stuff. Awesome video Finn thanks! But here are some bands you missed…

I really loved that you added Gatecreeper, also I recommended Symbolic and The Sound of Perseverance. Everyone always mentions Human when referring to Death but if you like the more progressive sound, those two albums definitely would be masterpieces to you.

This is what my parents heard when I was listening to Bullet For My Valentine.

I love Obituary. That groove sound is something you hear as much in death metal anymore.

Death metal has to be one of my favorite subgenres. There is just something about it that hits a sweet spot for me - from the harsh vocals and guitar tone to the fast blast beats. I love it all! Thanks for all the recommendations Finn, I'll have to check them all out.

Obituary slaps hard. Got introduced to Death Metal via MTV's headbangers ball back in the day. There was also a big thriving death metal scene in my hometown, so if you wanted to see live music, death metal was the thing you would get.

Even though I barely even listen to metal anymore and only agree with about half your takes, I still watch without fail every time you upload on this channel. I like your second channel even more than your main channel!

i really want a playlist of all of these songs you used in the video. some of these i’ve never heard and they’re KILLER

Sanguisugabogg is a good example of modern death metal popping off. They share tours with a ton of HC bands too

Keep the starter kits coming!!!

Saw origin a few years back. Loudest show I've ever been to. The drummer did a sound check and the whole place shook, he then just looked at the sound tech and said louder. Couldn't hear for a week, loved every second of that show

I could not agree more about how amazing Opeth is and Ghost Reveries is such an amazing album. I discovered Opeth late and once they hooked me at their live show I dove into every thing they had put out. It's probably the band I have listened to most since discovering them. Mikael has an insane ear for melody and writes some of the catchiest yet unorthodox riffs. Their bass player Martin Mendez is 100 percent not talked about enough when it comes to talking about why Opeth is so good. He does so much for that band with his style and ability.

The Stockholm scene with Entombed, Dismember and Unleashed is also quite important in the history of dm

Gatecreeper was SUCH a wonderful surprise when they opened for Knocked Loose somewhat recently. I thought they stole the show, and I love Knocked Loose. That HM-2 tone is undefeated and will always make my privates tingle with joy

I still remember the first time I heard Slaughter of the Soul. I’m younger, I wasn’t alive when this shit came out, but when I heard Slaughter of the Soul I got the same feeling I had when my dad showed me Reign in Blood when I was 8. Pretty short album, rips your face off, kicks you in the nuts, and leaves. Still holds up 30 years later

This was a great video. I didn't expect to but I ended up watching the whole thing. I surprised to see Demilich on there. I loved that record way back in the day, but it didn't seem like anybody else had even heard of it.

Sipping coffee getting work done in a Friday morning listening to Finn dissect some sick death metal 🤘

Oh, I never thought I'd see Opeth getting a shoutout on this channel! And yeah, Ghost Reveries is awesome. They had an incredible run with the former, Watershed and Heritage imo. Although Heritage gets shit on a lot, I just love this album. It's so incredibly good, the epitomy of autumn music

This was awesome to watch. Love how knowledgeable you are on death metal. Definitely one of my favorite genre that’s taking over my late 20s. Wish I didn’t sleep on these bands as a teenager.

I'm happy to see I'm not the only one calling "Death Metal" to anything from Black Metal to Grindcore going through melodic, doom, slam, etc...

Entombed and Obituary were so heavy!!! And Finn, I think I have you beat in age and I've been listening to metal since 1982 or 83! I was big into the hardcore scene in the late 80's thru the 90's though, it was a blast while it lasted!! Glad you're teaching the new kids their metal history 😄

I would suggest starting with "TNT" by Six Feet Under, which I downloaded on Kazaa back in 8th grade. If you survive that and are undeterred, everything else in the genre sounds great by comparison.

I was in a death metal band in high school that turned into a doom metal band. Really glad you are doing this episode. I think death metal is one of those things where its good for people to keep an open mind about other peoples opinions and experiences (I think we all had very different first encounters with it, and different impressions of the landscape depending on where we lived). I remember liking Morbid Angel a lot. My introduction to them was Blessed are the Sick (and I appreciated that they knew how to do a ballad instrumental: as a guitar player, I always like when heavy bands can provide more acoustic sounds from time to time: still play Desolate Ways on the guitar to relax). I also love Death's Scream Bloody Gore. I think I came into Death Metal around 1990-91 (I wasn't strictly a pure death metal fan, I liked Iron Maiden, lots of Doom Metal, and stuff from the 60s and 70s like Black Sabbath). For me the big attraction to Death Metal was that guitar sound (especially the bands who knew how to make it big). One song that got that for me was Bolt Thrower's Unleashed Upon Mankind (not sure how you'd classify them: only 13 minutes into the video so far). I thought Obituary had the best sound. I like good production and I remember them capturing that real heaviness, and it was one of the few Death Metal bands, perhaps next to Death, who for me I could distinguish the vocals from song to song (I think the singer had a cool timbre and he also did a good job of mixing up the rhythm). It was interesting being around as this stuff was just coming out to because you got a sense of the genre just being formed, and it felt like things were just progressing towards heavier and heavier sounds (we used to wonder where the cap was for that). Ultimately I went more in the direction of Solitude Aeturnus, Candlemass and Cathedral, maybe that Iron Maiden background for me created a strong interest in those kinds of melodies. But Death was pretty formative for me. You make a great point about how different the bands sounded from one another. I remember going to the store and finding all kinds of random death metal bands with unique sounds.Around the time these bands were all exploding, next to Obituary and Deicide I remember finding album's like Revenant's Prophecies of a Dying World and Asphyx's Last One on Earth (Not a Florida death metal band but these bands all sounded quite different from each other). Also something that maybe is hard to appreciate now, because it can sound and look corny to modern listeners, is just how scary some of this stuff was at the time. If I recall Morbid Angel and other bands would thank strange gods in their liner notes (might be wrong on which band exactly but I seem to recall this), the subject matter was increasingly dark and getting well passed Number of the Beast Territory (which was about satanism but not an endorsement of it). As a listener, there was no internet so you could only go by what you heard from other fans, what you read in zines, and what the band said in interviews or in their lyrics. And then Black Metal came along and cranked that to 11

Best episode so far man. Lived this entire era in my early teens in the early 90’s.

I was lucky enough to see a lot of these bands in there infancy, such great time to be into death metal.

Can you make a list of the best compilations video? Drive thru records had some great ones that I scored back in the day. My first time hearing RX bandits (analog boy), Finch (letters to you), and New Found Glory (you’ve always got a friend in Pensilvania). Although I was much more into Gorilla Biscuits, Sick of it All, and No Warning at the time, I loved this comp. Got it from a show in Columbus. Would love to hear of others’ free comps that became their gateways into more bands!

Wow! Did not expect to learn something but I did! You´re eventually the one coming with obscure bands ;-D I was kind of turning round with death metal and your video might be my reboot. Thanks!

got into DM in '89-90 so this was a trip down memory lane. Super stoked on the Gatecreeper showcase at the end. Eric's chainsaw tone rips.

My mom listened to a lot of melodeath stuff like children of bodom and amon amarth so going from that to old school death metal was a big change. Love that people got mad at Carcass for 'selling out' with heartwork

I knew about most of these, but was happy to find some new stuff. Even the bands I knew I haven't thought of in awhile, so thanks! Fun video as always.

I think it was your mentioning of Cynic that got me into them years ago and got me totally obsessed with them. Perfect band

Entombed should be in the starter kit. As you mentioned Morbid Angel, Deicide, Obituary, Death , Suffocation and CC having unique sound, Entombed did exactly that ....they added new sound to DM genre. Also those bands represent DM genre (I would also give benefit of the doubt to At the Gates). Opeth and band alike, I would classify as progresive heavy metal bands. Bands mentioned above is the reason why we call Death Metal death metal.

I love Deicide. I saw them live in August. So good. Love them.

A few years back John Longstreth was making bagels for his day job lol

i cant imagine how insanely hot it was down in florida in those early days working on those riffs and that excellent intense drumming.

Australia's diSEMBOWELMENT were a great one-album-and-done death metal band. Transendence into the Peripheral is still one of the darkest, heaviest things I've heard. Deserves more recognition.

I have been forever searching for a death metal album that sounds as good to me as Legion. I bought the cassette in like 1993 at a Meijer store.

I love the rugged recording quality of the early primitive stuff, so scooped and washy you can hardly decipher the notes being played.

Great video. I love death metal and enjoyed your take on it and the few suggestions I hadn’t heard of. Thanks

Gatecreeper is so rad. Possessed, Morbid Angel, Death, and Suffocation are pretty much the only old school death metal I've kept on listening to. I took a listen to Deeds of Flesh and I really prefer their later sci-fi themed stuff by far, but their early stuff is fun.

Good stuff, who have added a nod to the Brits (Bolt Thrower, Cancer and benedictio at least) and the early Swede stuff as well. Entombed, Grave and Dismember! Still a really good starter. Oh and I'm from the hay day of the Death scene too! 🤘🏼

Your video on slam was the first thing of yours I ever watched. Could tell even from that you were an OG. Even when I disagree with a few points you make here, your passion is evident through this whole video. And I think all these picks are perfect for someone first getting into DM. Much appreciated!

bro demilich is one of my fav bands and im so glad it got featured on here, not expected.

Finally! One of the more underrated sub-genres of metal.

I'll probably get crucified by the other Opeth fans for not really liking this album but Orchid is super interesting, just from a historical view. Recorded in '94 and released in '95, I find it pretty cool that people were already mixing death metal with acoustic guitars and soft/clean vocals, even back then. Sounds very different to what bands like Cynic and Atheist were doing, which I guess is what makes it actually progressive. They truly helped pioneer something that so many others would go on to emulate.

One of your best videos between both channels. A tome in the annals of death metal history.

That Morbid Angel album was unreal at the time ! Blessed are the Sick ruled too ! I was an Obituary guy ! Something about that mid tempo eerie sound with Tardys vocals just hit me in the gut ! It wasnt for everybody but it was for me !

As a kid in the early-mid 00s who got into metalcore/deathcore largely via thrash and NWOBHM bands, I (inadvertently) side-stepped most death metal, but Necrophagist's heavy use of neoclassical lines made them really accessible. It was the first band I would recommend to my friends back in the mid 2000s. Huge respect for their (and especially Muhammad's) talent.

What do you think of Bloodbath? They're some of the catchiest Death metal ever IMO, and don't take themselves too seriously which I like.

was not expecting the love for Opeth in this one! ghost reveries is absolutely a 10/10 no skips masterpiece, I agree!

Damn, I love my old school Death Metal. Top video with a lot of the bands I cut my teeth on back in the day (nearly 30 years for me too haha). Cheers for this! 🤘

Recently at the record store I bought a couple of death and incantation vinyl but when I was in the metal section browsing I was getting smug looks from 2 long haired neck beards. I purposely grabbed Asking Alexandria’s stand up and scream and told my Girlfriend this was the greatest metal record ever made 😂

"My android phone I bought at 7/11" 😂😂😂 every time I watch your videos on my android phone while playing Xbox, i question all my life decisions.

Ken's Death Metal Crypt features a lot of good stuff from bands that put out just a few releases, usually on vinyl.

Loved this video! Hope you make more videos on Death Metal.

We'll behave if you give us more death metal videos 🥺🙏

Mid 90’s Chris Barnes are the best vocals ever for death metal

Loving your list. I grew up listening to death metal since my dad was and still is a metal head. We went and moshed together at an obituary concert about 4 years ago!!

I was not aware of Illdisposed. Im currently going through their entire discography. Awesome stuff! Thanks

No mention of the Swedish, English and Dutch death metal scenes whatsoever... dude you had one job.

"Human" is by far the best album by Death! "Lack of Comprehension" is my favorite track on that record!

I actually worked with the vocalist of devourment. Dude is hilarious and genuinely a nice guy.

Your "starter kit" includes slam/brutal death but not death/doom? No mention of Autopsy and early Paradise Lost? Dude, you are a massive disappointment.

Finn "God I love that snare tone" McKenty

Possessed is underrated. When I was in high school I used to see them and they were of high school age too (this is back when 16 year old kids played clubs). So badass in 1985. It's hard to imagine now.

I really wish I watched this stream live because I’ve been a death metal fan since ‘89 and saw almost every OG band. Carcass was the only one I never got a chance to see.

yoooo LMAOOO. Being from NYC in Brooklyn, i have played many shows in Long Island. SHared the stage with Suffocation and Internel Bleeding a couple of times. Even more recently too!!! and when you did the whole accent with the "keep it brutal" ......i almost choked and fell off my chair!! lmaooo fucking SPOT ON!!!!

Good starting point, appreciate this

Everybody I knew that got grindcrusher: hooked for life

Cause of Death is one of those CDs you can throw in the CD player and drive for 2 or 3 states without skipping any songs also, Cannabis Corpse slays. Old school as hell.

Effigy is fucking timeless start to finish. Production was prime, songs are catchy at with pitch still barely distinguishable. It’s a masterpiece

3 minutes and 48 seconds in and I think this is already gonna be my all time favorite PRMBA stream video. Death Metal is my all time fav genre but I’d NEVER tell that to a death metal dude and this video is prolly about to explain why 😂

Another banger Finn, once again you have out done yourself and the scene thanks you for your service. I miss the days of when you talked about death metal more. I am from NJ so my local bias always will keep Mortal Decay near and dear to my heart. The demos they released in the 90s and the full lengths Forensic and Sickening Erotic both have tons of bangers. I am the physical embodiment of the death metal band so new and obscure that no one has ever heard of it. I record live demos on a OnePlus Android in Pine Barrens of NJ (The Tampa of the NorthEast) and edit them on YouCut. So when you finish your starter pack, and wanna be 2trve4skool then like my band but don't share it because the best metal is always a secret🦖🤪

Finn “ I have a tattoo” Mckenty

That was great, I love the term "polka beat", lolol.