TheSpirit: Big 4 of Modern Death Metal

TheSpirit 04.28.22	let's fight
DungeonBoy 04.28.22	oh wow, this is gonna stir up some controversy, cause like where is Horrendous bro?
2CHAINAL 04.28.22	I love all these bands a lot but damn I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree with this one lol
TheSpirit 04.28.22	dungeon, i gotta add some honorable mentions/subs bark bark bark i'll add a bit more context of my choices: not necessarily the best bands in terms of quality (although i do personally think all these bands are great) but probably 4 bands with the most social currency within the scene right now
Demon of the Fall 04.28.22	this is bait, not falling for it I haven't even heard 2 yet, is it really that good?
TheSpirit 04.28.22	this is not bait, i really like all of these bands and think they're doing a lot for the popularity of death metal currently also 2 is fucking awesome. no frills, just fun as hell death metal
Demon of the Fall 04.28.22	not disputing that you like them, just the whole 'big 4' thing... thought it was potentially a little joke
TheSpirit 04.28.22	i've never joked a day in my LIFE
DungeonBoy 04.28.22	it's a bold move, it's tough because bands like Artificial Brain and Ulcerate are absolutely on top of their game, but look at Gatecreeper who's touring with legendary bands at this point. Gatecreeper is putting in the work.
TheSpirit 04.28.22	i don't think i would necessarily consider ulcerate modern death metal in the same way I would these bands. their style is no question has become the contemporary iteration of the style, but they themselves are a 20 yr old band. artificial brain would definitely qualify though
Demon of the Fall 04.28.22	the fact Ulcerate don't qualify (???) improves this list by a substantial amount, their omission was hurting me. my fave DM albums from last year were Hypedontia, Vertabra Atlantis and Suffering Hour along with the obvious (Ad Nauseam), although honestly that would be 4/4 Blood Incantation, Horrendous and Artificial Brain are obviously amongst the most significant bands though, whatever your preferences may be (I love them all, for the record).
CottonSalad 04.28.22	Artificial Brain >
CottonSalad 04.28.22	Ulthar being on my “to watch” list
TheSpirit 04.28.22	Hyperdontia's album last year was fantastic, definitely one of my favorites of the year for sure. I did also really like the Vertabra Atlantis album. Suffering Hour and Ad Nauseam were both good for me, but I don't think I got attached the them the same way the community here did. I can get behind Blood Incantation and Horrendous being among the most significant (I honestly must have had the biggest brain fart to exclude Horrendous initially), but I feel like it's less so for Artificial Brain. Not saying they aren't good enough from a quality perspective or that they don't have a large following, but they (to me) are a tier below the other two.
TheSpirit 04.28.22	Ulthar is very good but I think I prefer almost every other band Stephen Peacock is in over them.
Hyperion1001 04.28.22	if we’re just going in popularity (which is what big 4 always meant to me) it’s probably 1. Blood incantation 2. Frozen Soul 3. Gatecreeper 4. Undeath Those 4 seem to have the biggest followings of active bands in the scene right now.
TheSpirit 04.28.22	Hmmmm, Frozen Soul is an interesting choice, I don't feel like I hear as much about them. Still will add them to the list.
el_newg 04.28.22	Horrendous and Obliteration for sure
el_newg 04.28.22	I mean I guess Oblit are just doing what Autopsy did so its not new but god its good
Thor 04.28.22	Defeated Sanity has entered the chat
Demon of the Fall 04.28.22	Obliteration surely count Defeated Sanity have probably been ‘around too long’ to be truly modern or whatever (for Spirit anyway, haha).
Demon of the Fall 04.28.22	Obliteration have actually been around longer than I thought. Whoops.
garas 04.28.22	Black Curse! (Noone?!) I wholeheartedly support 200 Stab Wounds and Gatecreeper to be there. BI is a bit overhyped imo, but hey, still far-far-far-far better than Horrendous, for example.
Hyperion1001 04.28.22	damn dude that’s a really bad opinion lmao. to be clear, I only made those picks based on popularity. i think Gatecreeper sucks and frozen soul is just average.
TheSpirit 04.28.22	I agree Frozen Soul is average, and tbh Gatecreeper is just okay to me EXCEPT their last EP which I think is amazing. Horrendous >>>> BI, easily
CottonSalad 04.28.22	Modern death metal sucks :[
TheSpirit 04.28.22	wrongo :[
JokineAugustus 04.28.22	Lmao modern death metal is fantastic if you know where to look.
Emim 04.28.22	Is Ulcerate still active? I don't listen to much newer DM (or much at all, really) these days but I always liked them.
CottonSalad 04.28.22	I’m a pasta bird
CottonSalad 04.28.22	Real thread: Modern black >
pjquinones747 04.28.22	I'm here cause someone said Ulcerate
TheSpirit 04.28.22	as far as i know ulcerate is still active
pjquinones747 04.28.22	put out an album in 2020 and they average 2-3 years between albums so id say so
Emim 04.28.22	Nice
canczar 04.28.22	Really really fuck w this list
evilford 04.28.22	Ulcerate Defeated Sanity Ad Nauseam Artificial Brain
ThyCrossAwaits 04.29.22	Sanguisugabogg?
GhandhiLion 04.29.22	Define modern
Demon of the Fall 04.29.22	'Is Ulcerate still active? I don't listen to much newer DM (or much at all, really) these days but I always liked them.' They put out the best album of their career and one of the absolute GOATs (probably - guessing it'll stand the test of time) a couple of years back, so I'd say so :-)
Pon 04.29.22	If we're talking popularity, it's probably something like Obscura, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Archspire and Allegaeon. Worth remembering that the bands topping the charts here and RYM aren't the same ones your average metalhead is listening to lol
Morningrise767 04.29.22	Blood Incantation for sure! Ulcerate as well!
Demon of the Fall 04.29.22	are Archspire that popular Jac? not disputing it (no idea), I'd just assumed they were another online / niche communities type deal and probably weren't well-known otherwise interesting I guess
evilford 04.29.22	I was with cotton on almost every opinion til he said modern dm sucks : /
Morningrise767 04.29.22	can't beat old school, but modern dm definitely does not suck
evilford 04.29.22	I think you can beat old school. Like, there's obviously a lot of historical significance that albums like Altars of Madness, Effigy of the Forgotten, Like an Everflowing Stream etc have because of what they meant for the development and evolution of the genre. But that's not to say that it's wrong to prefer something more recent just because it's done so damn well or what have you. I'd say at this point in my life, dm is easily my favorite music genre ever, and I respect the hell out of the classics but some of my absolute favorite dm ever is still being made.
TheSpirit 04.29.22	i think the classics of true osdm are probably, in general, better than the peaks being released today, but as a whole the death metal scene is MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH stronger today thanks to everyone not trying to sound like either cannibal corpse or morbid angel
butt. 04.29.22	This is hard because subgenre has its big 3-4 tbh.
Demon of the Fall 04.29.22	I think the eras are comparable quality-wise, ford is spot on
Morningrise767 04.29.22	I'll always prefer old school more, I listen to it more than modern dm lol
Flugmorph 04.29.22	ive never heard of 2 out of your 4 so these hardly can be the big 4 lol try again spirit.
Pon 04.29.22	Modern DM is also way more diversified just because it's had time for different styles to branch off, in contrast with DM in the late-80s which was all firmly rooted in thrash. Even if you hate everything that takes after Necrophagist stylistically, you'll still never run out of good shit to hear elsewhere in the genre.
Demon of the Fall 04.29.22	exactly so it isn't a fair comparison to directly face them off against one another, but the consumer has a lot more variety / choice when it comes to modern DM.
Morningrise767 04.29.22	so whos big 4 of Old School?
Demon of the Fall 04.29.22	Death, Gorguts, Autopsy, Morbid Angel? idk what the criteria is here
Pon 04.29.22	Death, Morbid Angel, Deicide and Obituary I suppose.
Morningrise767 04.29.22	I'd say Morbid Angel, Death, Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse
evilford 04.29.22	Probably immolation, incantation, death and morbid angel or something like that?
evilford 04.29.22	Lol
Morningrise767 04.29.22	love seeing we all picked Death and Morbid Angel : )
CottonSalad 04.29.22	“ I was with cotton on almost every opinion til he said modern dm sucks” Hahah, it was a ruse! Sorry I hurt you ford
evilford 04.29.22	Oh damn u got me good!
Pon 04.29.22	Let's be honest, "big 4" discussions can be fun but they aren't to be taken seriously. Even the big 4 of thrash which these all stem from is like "here's 3 great bands and also Anthrax"
Morningrise767 04.29.22	"3 great bands and also Anthrax" LMAO
Demon of the Fall 04.29.22	oh yeah Deicide and Obituary were big, just not as good! I was going to say Immolation, tough one. are / were Incantation that well-known? Depends if you're taking it from back then, as some bands get 'bigger' over time. I realise this whole debate is kind of silly, lol
Morningrise767 04.29.22	Incantation are up there I'd say, even though they didn't get as big as the other bands. Their first 3 albums are so fucking good
evilford 04.29.22	Lol jac, so true
Flugmorph 04.29.22	cannibal corpse, death, deicide and morbid angel were pretty much the most popular us dm bands in the classic days if i remember correctly.
Flugmorph 04.29.22	maybe swap out deicide for obituary, idk
Pon 04.29.22	You remember?! Flug you crusty ol fart.
Morningrise767 04.29.22	yeah Obituary are one of the top selling DM bands right
Flugmorph 04.29.22	yeah I'm old what of it
el_newg 04.29.22	exodus were fucking robbed of being in the big 4 the whole thing is kinda bs
dachstheangry 04.29.22	No Hath? No Ulcerate?
TheSpirit 04.29.22	i've already explained why ulcerate is not on the list :] hath is not nearly popular enough
pjquinones747 04.29.22	Yeah it's crazy to think how long Ulcerate has been a band considering how late they're really catching on. How late they're catching on is wild too considering how consistent they've been too.
Flugmorph 04.29.22	It's wild how consistent they've been considering how late they've been catching on.
evilford 04.30.22	Considering it's late it's wild been catching on they've consistent
el_newg 04.30.22	if you consider how wild they've been it's consistently late catching considering on too.
GhandhiLion 04.30.22	Consistent they've been catching on too late. Is wild been on