Today, although fragmented and more of an umbrella to a host of sub-genres, death metal has never been more alive. Arguably no genre has evolved in a more organic way, with a constantly rejuvenating fanbase and steady increment of bands. Ever since, trends in heavy music have come and gone, but death metal has stayed its course and stood its ground. By then, the rest of the world had caught on and death metal as a phenomenon was a fact.

On the other shore of the North Sea, in Scandinavia, bands such as Entombed, Therion and At the Gates all added their own blend to the mix. At the same time on the opposite continent in the UK, the likes of Carcass, Benediction and Napalm Death advanced with their own breed of death. Then, by the early 1990s, acts like Death, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse and a handful other US bands predominantly from the Florida and East Coast areas started gaining traction. In the mid-to-late ’80s, death metal was a peripheral genre of underground bands. Two drum kits, tailored for modern death metal production of the highest order.

Toontrack death and darkness