Gruesome

New Wave of OSDM (Old School Death Metal) is a 2010s–present revival movement that resurrects the aesthetics, riffcraft, and production ethos of late-1980s/early-1990s death metal. It favors down‑tuned guitars, chromatic riffing, guttural vocals, and an organic, unpolished sound that feels tactile and oppressive rather than hyper‑edited. Stylistically it triangulates the Floridian school’s technical menace, the Incantation/Autopsy murk and doom-laden crawl, and the Swedish HM‑2 “buzzsaw” bite—often within the same album. Songs pivot between d‑beat churn, mid‑paced stomps, lurching death‑doom passages, and short blasts, with bass prominent in the mix and drums captured with room ambience. Lyrically and visually, the movement leans on cosmic horror, rot, mysticism, war, and underground tape‑trader aesthetics, sustained by DIY labels and a thriving cassette/vinyl culture. Rather than museum‑piece nostalgia, the scene treats classic techniques as living practice: updating arrangement flow, atmosphere, and harmonic color while preserving the genre’s primal heft.

The new wave of speed metal is a 2010s revivalist movement that resurrects the breakneck tempos, razor‑edged riffing, and high‑energy songwriting of classic 1980s speed metal. It favors twin‑guitar harmonies, athletic rhythm sections, and soaring, clean vocals that deliver anthemic hooks. Unlike the harsher edge of thrash, this wave leans into melodicism and precision: galloping rhythms, tightly palm‑muted alternate‑picked riffs, and flamboyant guitar solos. Production tends to be crisp but analog‑minded, evoking vintage warmth while meeting modern loudness and clarity.

Brutal death metal is an especially extreme branch of death metal that emphasizes overwhelming intensity, dense riffing, and relentlessly aggressive rhythm. Hallmarks include very low-tuned, percussive guitars; rapid-fire tremolo picking; slam-oriented breakdowns; constant blast beats and gravity blasts; and ultra-guttural vocals that range from cavernous growls to “pig squeals.” Lyrical themes are typically visceral and graphic, drawing on horror and gore. Production often favors a tight, punchy drum sound (frequently with triggered kicks), thick multi-tracked guitars, and a bass tone that locks to the drums for maximal impact. Compared to traditional death metal, brutal death metal prioritizes extremity, physicality, and riff density over melody, and often integrates grindcore’s speed and brevity with hardcore-influenced breakdown weight.

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal defined by heavily distorted, low‑tuned guitars, rapid and complex riffing, blast beat drumming, and harsh guttural vocals. Its harmonic language favors chromaticism, dissonance, and tremolo-picked lines that create an ominous, abrasive atmosphere. Lyrically, death metal often explores dark or transgressive themes—mortality, mythology, anti-religion, psychological horror, and the macabre—sometimes with philosophical or social commentary. Production ranges from raw and cavernous to hyper-precise and technical, reflecting the genre’s many regional scenes and substyles. From the mid‑1980s Florida scene (Tampa) and parallel developments in the US, UK, and Sweden, death metal evolved into numerous branches including brutal death metal, technical death metal, melodic death metal, and death‑doom, each emphasizing different aspects of speed, complexity, melody, or heaviness.

Grindcore is an extremely fast, abrasive fusion of hardcore punk and extreme metal characterized by blast-beat drumming, highly distorted down-tuned guitars, and a mix of guttural growls and high-pitched screams. Songs are typically very short—often under two minutes and sometimes just seconds—favoring intensity over traditional verse–chorus structures. Lyrically, grindcore spans politically charged and socially conscious themes (war, capitalism, animal rights) as well as gore and body horror (particularly in goregrind). Production ranges from raw, live-in-the-room ferocity to tight, modern clarity. The style is defined by relentless speed, dissonant or chromatic riffing, and sudden start–stop shifts that create a feeling of controlled chaos.

Deathgrind is a fusion of death metal and grindcore that combines the former’s low‑tuned, heavy riffing and guttural vocals with the latter’s ultra‑fast tempos, blast‑beat drumming, and short, abrupt song structures. Typical tracks run one to three minutes, feature rapid chromatic tremolo picking, sudden tempo shifts, and a relentless rhythmic attack. Vocals alternate between deep death‑metal growls and high‑pitched screams, while lyrics range from socio‑political critique to graphic, gore‑themed narratives depending on the band. Production tends to be tight and cutting, often with triggered kicks, aggressive guitar tones, and clear articulation so that riffs remain intelligible at extreme speed.