Melodic Death Metal

Primary Stylistic Influences:

• Death Metal, New Wave of British Heavy Metal

Secondary Stylistic Influences:

• Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Power Metal, Speed Metal, Progressive Metal, Hardcore Punk, Hard Rock, Post-Rock, Metalcore (in later bands)

Melodic death metal, occasionally called "Melodeath", is a notable subgenre of Death Metal that is characterised by harmonized, Iron Maiden-styled guitar melodies and a generally higher-pitched growl, though low-pitched ones are occasionally used. Depending on the band, they may even incorporate clean singing into the mix.

From one perspective, melodeath was created by the British band Carcass; however, it's unclear whether they were truly the first. Whatever your stance, everyone can agree that the style was popularised by three bands from Gothenburg, Sweden: In Flames, At the Gates, and Dark Tranquillity. The success of these three bands resulted in a number of mainly Scandinavian bands that took on the style, while several bands from Finland (Children of Bodom, Norther, and Kalmah) created a flashier, more bombastic style that borrowed heavily from power metal and helped influence both that genre and a host of other, newer melodic death acts.

Melodeath is seen as a less underground style than standard Death Metal (can even be thought as a Gateway Series to the latter); its lyrics generally do not focus on gore, although there are exceptions (Dismember is one of them). Melodeath was also a huge influence on many Metalcore bands. When fused together, they become Melodic Metalcore

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Bands classified as melodic death metal include:

• The Absence
• Abysmal Dawn (From Ashes only)
• Act Of Defiance (very heavy overlap with thrash)
• Aeternam (Fuses melodic death with Middle Eastern folk)
• Aether Realm (also power metal and folk metal)
• The Agonist (A female-fronted example like Arch Enemy, though they tend to mix it up with clean vocals. Crosses over with deathcore and Progressive Metal.)
• Allegaeon (Mixed with Tech Death)
• All That Remains (Behind Silence and Solitude; they later mixed this with metalcore and eventually turned into modern rock)
• Alterbeast (also tech)
• Amaranthe
• Amniote
• Amon Amarth
• Amorphis (They have gradually morphed into some form of "Progressive Folk Metal", although melodeath elements can still be heard from time to time. One of the early users of clean vocals that made it work, along with Dark Tranquillity. Possible Ur-Example, as a few songs from their debut could certainly fit in with the genre and predate Heartwork by a year)
• Anata (along with tech death, also a Trope Codifier for technical melodeath)
• Arch-Enemy (Notable for - eventually - having a female singer doing growling vocals.)
• Arsis (Also qualifies as Tech Death)
• At the Gates (Trope Codifier)
• Avatar (early material, the bulk of their material is nu metal)
• Barren Earth (Formed from members of several other Melodeath bands. Fuses Melodeath with Progressive Metal. The first track off of their first full-length release includes a flute solo.)
• Battlecross
• Before The Dawn (Melodeath with Goth Metal influences)
• Belakor
• Beyond The Embrace
• The Black Dahlia Murder (They are often considered a deathcore band due to their fanbase and a couple of their very early releases, but even though they have proven highly influential to deathcore they have little in common music-wise with the genre and are a lot closer to At the Gates than they are to Suicide Silence; as of Everblack, they've begun including elements of brutal death into their sound.)
• Black Fast (Terms of Surrender, though they are a roughly 50/50 split between this and thrash)
• Bleed From Within (mixed with Metalcore and Groove Metal)
• Bloodshot Dawn (also tech on self-titled, moved towards a more traditional melodic death sound on Demons)
• Blood Stain Child (Fused melodeath with Electronic Music, in particular, Trance and J-pop.)
• Carcass (Later; possibly the Trope Makers.)
• Centinex (sometimes, most prominently from Hellbrigade through World Declension, which was when Scar Symmetry founder Jonas Kjellgren was in the band)
• Children of Bodom (Fused melodeath with Power Metal.)
• Chthonic (Combined with Black Metal and Taiwanese folk music)
• Cormorant (Their debut EP and album fused with countless different genres)
• Cypecore (Also Industrial Metal, although they started leaning more to the latter on Identity onwards)
• Dark Lunacy (Heavy Symphonic influences. Early releases feature violins prominently.)
• Dark Tranquillity (Trope Codifier)
• Darkest Hour (later material verges on melodic metalcore, though Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora is a return to their old style)
• Daylight Dies (Fuses melodeath with Doom Metal)
• Dead By April (Possibly the only metal band that fuses melodeath (or any metal for that matter) with Boy Band styled pop)
• DEADLOCK
• Dethklok
• Devil Driver (as of The Fury of Our Maker's Hand, though their debut has hints of it, also Groove Metal; depending on the album, they might lean more heavily towards melodeath or groove, though The Last Kind Words is the closest they've come to a straight melodic death album)
• Disarmonia Mundi (featured Speed of Soilwork as a session vocalist on some songs)
• Dismember (not always, but many of their later albums heavily borrow from this)
• Dissection (On Reinkaos).
• The Duskfall
• Edge of Sanity (also Progressive Metal / Progressive Death Metal, especially on the Crimson albums)
• Eluveitie (Fused melodeath with Celtic metal.)
• Enfold Darkness (mixed with melodic black metal)
• Ensiferum (Mixed with Power Metal, Folk Metal and Viking Metal.)
• Eternal Tears Of Sorrow (another melodeath/gothic fusion)
• Eucharist
• Ex Deo (Side project of Maurizio Iacono from Kataklysm, with themes based on Roman history. Later releases mixed with Symphonic Black Metal.)
• Exhumed (On Necrocracy, though they've flirted with this before)
• exist†trace (mostly their earlier releases)
• Exmortus (a case of Genre-Busting, but this is probably the best label for their sound at this point)
• Eyeconoclast
• Falchion
• Fleshgod Apocalypse (Agony onward) Also Technical Death Metal
• Garden Of Shadows (notable in that they were Sean Beasley's band prior to his joining Dying Fetus)
• Gates Of Ishtar
• Ghost Brigade (mixed with doom metal)
• God Dethroned (later albums; earlier material was Blackened Death Metal)
• God Forbid (A melodeath/metalcore crossover, with a strong thrash influence to boot.)
• Gorod (along with tech and prog)
• GYZE (with a strong Power Metal and Neoclassical Metal influence)
• The Halo Effect (a collaboration between former and current members of In Flames and Dark Tranquillity)
• The Haunted (With a strong influence from both Thrash Metal and Groove Metal.)
• Heaven Shall Burn (Mixed with Metalcore and, to a much lesser extent, Grindcore)
• Horrendous (Anareta, also had elements of this on Ecdysis)
• Hypocrisy (Since 1994; arguably the weirdest of the lot, and also one of the heavier bands in the genre.)
• Illdisposed (introduced elements of this starting on There's Something Rotten... before diving headfirst into it on 1-800 Vindication and sticking with it for a while - returned to straight death metal on With the Lost Souls on Our Side)
• In Flames (Trope Codifier) (they leaned toward Alternative Metal/Nu Metal in their later albums, but still kept many elements of this genre)
• Inferi (mixed with tech)
• Insomnium (Also contains strong influence from Progressive Death Metal and Doom Metal.)
• Intestine Baalism
• Into Eternity (Mixed with Progressive Death Metal)
• Kalmah (Early works had a strong Power Metal influence. Later works also fall under death/thrash)
• Kataklysm (In the Arms of Devastation onward; prior material is brutal death, though they've always had melodeath elements - also a fairly heavy example)
• Kokuyasou (mixed with Symphonic Metal and Black Metal)
• Medeia (a Genre-Busting band mixing Death Metal, Alternative Metal, and Groove Metal, therefore most easily labeled as this)
• Mercenary (Mixed with Power Metal and, to a certain degree, Progressive Metal.)
• MaYaN (Mixed with Symphonic Metal; Mark Jansen's side project)
• Miseration (first album only - shifted to old-school/brutal death afterwards)
• Moonspell (The Antidote onward, fused with Gothic Metal)
• Mors Principium Est
• myGRAIN (Later works involve elements of Power Metal and metalcore)
• Nekrogoblikon (mixed with Folk Metal, Symphonic Metal and a whole lot of kayfabe)
• Neuraxis (along with Technical Death Metal, also a Trope Codifier for technical melodeath and probably an Ur-Example as well)
• Nightkin (notable for featuring several former members of The Black Dahlia Murder)
• Nightrage
• Norther
• Nothgard
• Noumena
• Novembers Doom (later material, mixed with Death/Doom)
• Oathean (Mixed with Melodic Black Metal and Korean Folk music.)
• Omnium Gatherum (Latest release experiments with Progressive influences. Very strong ties with Insomnium (including one of their current guitarists joining Insomnium after the departure of a longtime member), to the point both sharing a considerable portion of their fan bases and being known as Insomnium Gatherum.)
• Once Human (some definite Progressive Metal influences, especially on their second album Evolution. Notable for having a female vocalist with an astonishing death growl.)
• Orbit Culture (mixed with Groove Metal)
• Parasite Inc.
• Paths Of Possession (notable for featuring George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher from Cannibal Corpse.)
• Persefone (Earlier works were Progressive Metal done in melodeath form. Their 2013 album Spiritual Migration expands to Progressive Death Metal.)
• Quo Vadis (Mixed with Tech Death)
• Raintime (Mixes Melodeath with Power Metal.)
• Revocation (Along with Tech Death, Death/Thrash, and far too many other genres to list)
• Saturnus (Mixed with Doom Metal)
• Scar Symmetry (Another melodeath/power metal fusion. There's a bit of Progressive Metal, too)
• Sentenced (the albums North From Here and Amok specifically. Much like Amorphis, they're potential Ur-Example)
• Skeletonwitch (also thrash metal, became melodic black metal on Devouring Radiant Light)
• Shadow Of Intent (Melancholy onward, earlier material is deathcore)
• Shadows Fall (Somber Eyes to the Sky, also still had elements of this on Of One Blood, which was otherwise the start of their more famous melodic metalcore style.)
• The Showdown (Mixes with Metalcore, Groove Metal, and Southern Rock)
• Silent Descent (Another trance-fusion melodeath band alongside Blood Stain Child.)
• Skyfire (A very experimental example)
• Soilwork (mixed with Alternative Metal, though their first few albums were straight melodeath)
• Solium Fatalis (The Undying Season only, also a particularly heavy example)
• Solution .45 (Another group formed by members of other bands, includes ex-Scar Symmetry vocalist Christian Älvestam. Some progressive elements.)
• Sonic Syndicate (Though it's sometimes debated whether SS is melodic death metal or metalcore. Or both.)
• Soul Embraced
• Soul Remnants
• Starkill (also power metal)
• Stortregn (also melodic black metal)
• Suidakra (Originally Black Metal; Mixed with Celtic Metal)
• Swallow The Sun (Mixed with Doom Metal)
• Sybreed (Mixed with Industrial and Groove Metal)
• Sylosis
• Symbolik (also tech and Symphonic Metal)
• System Divide
• This Ending
• The Unguided
• Unleash the Archers (also power metal)
• Vale of Pnath (Mixed with Tech Death)
• Venom Prison (Erebos only)
• Vile (Metamorphosis only, mixed with brutal death)
• When Darkness Falls (Mixed with Metalcore)
• Alissa White-Gluz
• Wings In Motion
• Wintersun (also Progressive Metal / Progressive Death Metal)
• Wolfheart
• World Under Blood (side project of Deron Miller)
• The Year Of Our Lord

This genre exhibits the following trope examples:

• An Aesop: Melodic Death seems to have lyrics of this, more often than not.
• Darker and Edgier: Hypocrisy, Arsis, DevilDriver, Eyeconoclast, Heaven Shall Burn, Fleshgod Apocalypse (as of Agony), Kataklysm (on later albums), At the Gates, Revocation, Carcass (Heartwork onward), Johan Liiva-era Arch-Enemy, and The Black Dahlia Murder are this to other bands in the genre thanks to a greater death metal slant.
• Genre-Busting: It's not uncommon for a Melodeath band to invent their own sound by drawing inspiration from a wide array of stylistic influences, ranging from other extreme metal subgenres such as Thrash Metal and Black Metal, to more musically varied styles such as Progressive Metal or Power Metal and even non-metal genres, such as Classical Music, Folk Music, Electronic Music and even Country Music.
• Harsh Vocals: It varies from band to band. The most popular kinds are a high-pitched raspy shout (popularized by Tomas Lindberg of At The Gates), and a higher-pitched variant of the "cookie monster" growl usually associated with Death Metal.
• Lighter and Softer: This to Death Metal. But not always...
• Lyrical Dissonance: Gorn lyrics are rarer than in standard Death Metal, or even Tech Death. The lyrics often range from society/political stances (e.g. Soilwork, Carcass) to fantasy (e.g. In Flames, Dark Tranquillity) and classic horror (e.g. Dismember, The Black Dahlia Murder).
• Metal Scream: Mostly Type 3 or Type 2, though Type 1 shows up occasionally.
• Soprano and Gravel: The Agonist, DEADLOCK, System Divide, and Fleshgod Apocalypse are a few known bands that make fair use of clean vocals. Bands without any cleans frequently exhibit another variant of the trope, alternating between low growls and high screams.
• Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: Quite possibly the most romantic form of music since the 1800's.
• Trope Codifier: In Flames for melodic, lead-driven melodeath, At the Gates and Carcass for thrashy, aggressive melodeath, Dark Tranquillity for gothic/electronic-inflected melodeath, Soilwork for poppy, rock-influenced melodeath, Neuraxis and Anata for technical melodeath, Children of Bodom for power metal-inflected melodeath, and Ensiferum for the folk-tinged variant.
• Trope Makers: Some would say Carcass, others would cite one of the three Scandinavian Trope Codifiers, but it's not exactly known. Eucharist is another common name that gets thrown around when the "who came first" question is posed, as well as Sentenced. Children of Bodom, Norther, and Kalmah all share roughly equal responsibility for the more bombastic and power metal-tinged variant that came along later.

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Melodic death metal songs:

• The Absence - Riders of the Plague
• At the Gates - Under a Serpent Sun
• Amorphis - The Bee
• The Black Dahlia Murder - I Will Return
• Bleed From Within - Into Nothing
• Blood Stain Child - Sirius VI
• Carcass - Buried Dreams
• Children of Bodom - Kissing the Shadows
• Dark Tranquillity - Punish My Heaven
• DevilDriver - Clouds over California
• Exhumed - Coins Upon the Eyes
• Heaven Shall Burn - Übermacht
• Horrendous - Ozymandias
• Hypocrisy - Alive
• In Flames - December Flower
• Insomnium - Valediction
• Kalmah - They Will Return
• Nightrage - Shed the Blood
• Neuraxis - Darkness Prevails
• Sentenced - Nepenthe
• Scar Symmetry - Mind Machine
• Shadow of Intent - Gravesinger
• Skeletonwitch - Baptized in Flames
• Soilwork - Bulletbeast
• Soul Remnants - Cult Destroyer
• Vehemence - The Last Fantasy of Christ

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