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Forums > All other metal related talk..

who in your opinion are the big four of death metal

no karate in pitMon, 11/12/2023 - 17:34

read the title folks

gorestar on Mon, 11/12/2023 - 18:42

I personally think that the big 4 for death metal is: Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, and Autopsy as all 4 have been there early on and have made a lot of impact while not changing their sound too drastically throughout the years/staying consistent (except for MA’s Illud lol). And of course they are all widely popular, if someone were to be getting into death metal and were to google or youtube the genre, those bands would likely be the first ones they see first and listen to.

no karate in pit on Mon, 11/12/2023 - 19:25

id say death would replace autopsy but yeah most of that i agree

gorestar on Mon, 11/12/2023 - 19:39

I didn’t put Death in mine just because they became more and more progressive while constantly changing their formula. If Death had kept the sound of their first 2 to 3 albums and left it at that, I would say they would have a better chance of being in the top 4 of death metal in my books. Don’t get me wrong, I do like later Death too but they actively made more than half their discography progressive death metal and I don’t see that as a good qualifying point to be in the top 4. If there was a top 4 for progressive death metal, I would put them in there along with Atheist and Cynic along with whatever else could fit that fourth spot.

bad_american1992 on Mon, 11/12/2023 - 19:43

MegaDEATH
DEATH in June
DEATH Angel
and...
DEATH Cab for Cutie

no karate in pit on Mon, 11/12/2023 - 21:16

haha but um achtually it is spelled deth not death your a poser

bad_american1992 on Mon, 11/12/2023 - 21:19

Curses, I've been found out

Matthew Hopkins on Mon, 11/12/2023 - 20:08

Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, and Death are probably the big four.
But mine is different. Deicide, Autopsy, Asphyx, and Gorefest

FOAD on Mon, 11/12/2023 - 20:30

Bolt Thrower, Autopsy, Obituary, Dismember...
Really very difficult to limit something like this to just four bands.
In a top ten I would add Possessed, Grave, Asphyx, Morbid Angel, Death and Entombed.

Insecurity on Tue, 12/12/2023 - 01:51

Death, cannibal corpse, obituary, and morbid angel.

no karate in pit on Tue, 12/12/2023 - 04:07

this is what i would say

program_control on Tue, 12/12/2023 - 03:32

I just don't think the big four idea translates very well to death metal. With the thrash big four it is a good balance between bands that were foundational, influential, and sold a lot of albums. In death metal, you're either going to be leaving out a bunch of the early bands that are death metal and just didn't make it "big" but influenced every band that did. Or be loading in a bunch of bands that just happened to be in the right place in the right time, without having a lot to do with the founding of the genre.

To me Possessed, Morbid Angel, Obituary, and Entombed gets closest to fully encapsulating the Big 4 of death metal. But it's still leaving out so much. Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Suffocation, Death, Pestilence, Bolt Thrower etc etc etc

no karate in pit on Tue, 12/12/2023 - 04:08

damn right

FOAD on Tue, 12/12/2023 - 06:39

You can make lists like this, but it doesn't really make sense to me in any genre. The more bands you get to know, the more you get to love, the more you find unknown bands that are still on the same musical level as the big ones, the more you broaden your horizons over the years, the less such lists make sense. But they have their appeal and you try, then when you think about it more carefully, you think of more and more bands that make it onto the shortlist. That was never a big problem for me in the past, but there are no fewer bands in life that you learn to appreciate and it's never been as easy as it used to be to decide. At least that's how I feel.

Jonathan666 on Wed, 27/12/2023 - 01:31

100 % best answer! I couldn't have said it better myself!

MetalNDN on Tue, 12/12/2023 - 18:01

Possessed, Cannibal Corpse, Death, Entombed.

sandmanforce

on Tue, 12/12/2023 - 20:18

,Death, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Morbid Angel, but more to comes...US, UK and european bands...

sandmanforce

on Tue, 12/12/2023 - 20:24

I think there will be make category for these: Big Four Of US Death Metal, Big Four Of UK Death Metal, Big Four Of Swedish Death Metal, and Big Four Of European Death Metal...

andermatten on Thu, 14/12/2023 - 23:28

it depends on whether you think in terms of the 90's or now. in terms of the 90's I'd say

obituary
suffocation
entombed
bolt thrower

oldmate

on Fri, 15/12/2023 - 00:04

I think this needs to be broken up just like the big four of Thrash

USA
Deicide, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel

Europe
Carcass, Entombed, Dismember, napalm death

no karate in pit on Fri, 15/12/2023 - 03:12

agreed

nameless_rites on Fri, 15/12/2023 - 16:41

Morbid Angel, At The Gates, Suffocation, Immolation

no karate in pit on Fri, 15/12/2023 - 17:04

well i think pierce the veil, Metallica,disturbed and Judas priest im just kidding my honest picks are cannibal corpse,morbid angel,death,and obituary

judas priest is not death metal judas priest is not death metal judas priest is not death metal judas priest is not death metal judas priest is not death metal judas priest is not death metal judas priest is not death metal judas priest is not death metal judas priest is not death metal judas priest is not death metal

Djsodomizer on Sat, 16/12/2023 - 13:27

Immolation, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Vader.

ThatBillyGuy on Sun, 17/12/2023 - 21:51

Cannibal Corpse, Death, Morbid Angel, and Deicide for me. Still very hard to pick a big four cause i can see obituary, possessed and other bands being part of the big 4 as well.