Melodic death metal

Melodic death metal
Stylistic origins	Death metal Heavy metal
Cultural origins	Early 1990s, Gothenburg, Sweden
Typical instruments	Electric guitar − Bass guitar − Drums − Keyboard
Fusion genres
Melodic metalcore
Regional scenes
Scandinavia
Other topics
Death growl − Clean vocals

Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal which combines the melody of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with the intensity of death metal. An important subgenre of melodic death metal is Gothenburg metal, a reference to the city in Sweden where it originated. Originally the genre combined the harmony style and groove melodies of heavy metal with the harsh thrashing sound and vocals of death metal. Later the genre evolved due to many different influences, a notable evolution in the genre being the addition of keyboards. Melodic death metal contains more melodic guitar riffs, melodic solos, and acoustic guitar work than death metal. It also contains more comprehensible lyrics with traditional death growl and screaming vocals.

Background

Sentenced has sometimes been credited for making the first melodic death metal album with North from Here in February 1993, closely followed by Carcass' Heartwork in June 1993, but some say it was formed in Gothenburg, Sweden by three bands who at the time, were all associated with one another: In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and At the Gates.

Some melodic death metal bands from the Scandinavian region combine the genre with other metal genres such as progressive metal, power metal (e.g. Children of Bodom), viking metal (e.g. Ensiferum), symphonic metal (e.g. Eternal Tears of Sorrow), thrash metal (e.g. The Haunted and Arch Enemy), doom metal (e.g. Swallow the Sun) and folk metal (e.g. Falchion).

In the late 1990s, many melodic death metal bands changed their style of playing by adding more melodic elements; more melodic choruses and riffs and making more prominent use of keyboards. Also many melodic death metal bands moved away from the lyrical themes of death, gore, and murder common in other death metal groups.

Gothenburg sound

One notable contribution to melodic death metal is the Gothenburg style, named after the city from which it originated. It is not certain what band originally started the Gothenburg sound, however, it is widely accepted that Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates, and In Flames (The Three Kings) are three major pioneers of the style. They are also some of the only widely known bands to practice it, with newer bands such as Arch Enemy and The Haunted being offshoots of Carcass and At the Gates respectively. Some other notable bands in the Gothenburg sound are Soilwork, Nightrage, Gardenian and Dissection's last album Reinkaos .

Regional scenes

Most melodic death metal bands are from the Scandinavian and Northern European regions, especially from Sweden and Finland. Coming out of Finland in the past decade have been four uprising bands in the melodic death metal genre, Kalmah, Mors Principium Est, Norther, and Children of Bodom. In recent years, the genre has gained somewhat of a popularity boost, acquiring an increasing following in North America, especially among North American fans of the Scandinavian bands which still pioneer the genre to this day. Melodic death metal has also spread to Australia with notable bands from the scene including Closed Casket, Switchblade, Daysend, Infernal Method, Red Descending and Pathogen. There are other minor scenes elsewhere including bands; Disarmonia Mundi (Italy), Blood Stain Child (Japan) and Holymarsh (South Korea).

See also

• Scandinavian death metal
• List of melodic death metal bands
• Death metal
• Heavy metal

Bibliography

Ekeroth, Daniel (2008). Swedish Death Metal. Bazillion Points Books. ISBN 978-0-9796163-1-0