Melodic Death Metal
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Melodic Death Metal
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| Development phase: | The early 1990s years |
| Place of origin: | Gothenburg |
| Stylistic precursors | |
| Death Metal , NWoBHM , some elements of Black Metal | |
| Pioneers | |
| At the Gates - Dark Tranquility - Amon Amarth - In Flames | |
| Instruments typical of the genre | |
| Electric guitar - electric bass - drums - keyboard | |
Melodic Death Metal is a sub-genre of Death Metal . The term New Wave of Swedish Death Metal (alluding to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal ) also appears frequently and is a synonym for this genre. Likewise, the term Gothenburg Metal or Gothenburg School is not uncommon, as the style originally emerged from the Gothenburg underground .
history
The first successful band of this style was At the Gates with their 1995 album Slaughter of the Soul , which came from Gothenburg, just like today's most famous bands of Dark Tranquility and In Flames . The band broke up in 1996, however, and in the course of the later popularization of Melodic Death Metal, the founding status of the genre was often awarded to the other two bands, especially In Flames, as they were able to achieve the trio's greatest commercial successes. Soilwork and The Haunted are other well-known bands from Gothenburg who have coined the term Gothenburg School through their music. The latter have also used Thrash Metal elements in their music .
Stylistic features
For this subgenre alongside the usual stylistic characteristics of Death Metal, like the deep, rattling and aggressive vocals, the down-tuned, highly distorted guitars or lack optimistic choruses, especially two-part guitar duels, violins, harps and occasionally also influences of Swedish folk with characteristic of their unusual offbeat- oriented rhythms. However, longer passages with clean, undistorted guitars are not uncommon .
The vocals in Melodic Death Metal vary between deep grunts ( growls ), roars, screams ( screams ) and clear vocals. For example, At the Gates B. many Black Metal influences, so from 1993 the vocals no longer contain just the style of growling, but also the so-called "high-pitched screams" in a high pitch . The adjective melodic, however, was formed by the fact that the protagonists of this style predominantly use melodies from minor scales in their two-part riffs , solos and also in the vocal lines .
In contrast to Florida Death Metal , for example , whose melodies are often based on complex scales , Melodic Death Metal songs are classically harmonic and tonal. The dominant use of keyboards, which is controversial in the metal scene, is also very well received by many bands in this genre such as Children of Bodom or Dark Tranquility and, in addition to the greater commercial successes that many representatives of this genre have achieved, has in some cases provoked rejection within the scene. Women are very rare in this genre, the "female fronted" bands Arch Enemy and Amaranthe are an exception .
Well-known representatives
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