Heaviness in metal is a means to an end, not the end in itself (unless the band is absolutely terrible). The idea of picking a "most brutal" band is pointless because (a) sonic extremity is only one facet of metal music and (b) sonic extremity is subjective to the individual listener and two different people will have somewhat different ideas of what "heavy" or "brutal" is. I think the harsh, breathy snarl of David Vincent on Altars of Madness is nastier and more evil-sounding than the ultra-low grunts of early Chris Barnes or the pig noises of a goregrind vocalist, but many would disagree with me. The idea that more extreme = better is one of the most annoying ideas in the metal underground. The level of extremity is chosen to suit the music, not the other way around. I could buy a bunch of firecrackers and other explosives and record them all going off in the woods. It would be loud and "extreme" but it wouldn't be music or anything worth listening to.

Ha ha ha,that was awesome!

I thought that said Enter The Grave for a minute there.

As for me, I'd have to say anything by Decapitation.

Hands down, the most brutal album in death metal is Onward to Golgotha. Twisted, "wall of sound" riffs as I like to call them, brooding, punishing doom sections, and some pretty sinister vocals. Oh yes

I'd say a tie between Torsofuck and LDoH

I'm going to take a different route and call Paramaecium's Exhumed of the Earth one of the most brutal albums ever. Yes, you can always talk about how brutal X underground grindcore/death metal hybrid is, but for me nothing beats the simple-yet-effective brutality of a slow, monolithic, crushing doom metal riff. Listing to tracks off Exhumed of the Earth like The Killing is like bathing in ink. Almost unbearably slow in tempo, but the guitar tone, vocals, and production are all bred for the single purpose of brutality.

Brutality? INSECT FUCKING WARFARE!!!!!

Try General Surgery or Disharmonic Orchestra.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InZNBcJTmWs

The answer is Bert and Ernie.

What exactly makes Torsofuck so much more brutal than any other typical slam death band?

The most brutal stuff isn't even metal. Try some speedcore techno like M1DY or power electronics like Sutcliffe Jugand. Power electronics is officially the most brutal genre ever since it's the ear rape of noise but the focus on texture has been replaced with an emphasis on sheer ear-splitting volume and aggression.

None of that is brutal, TheMancubus. It's just annoying.

Because their slams are the most crushing I've heard, the vocals are fucking insane, mostly Mikko just does his awesome gutturals but at times he does these crazy "pig" vocals, but they are nothing close to pig squeal. Listen to the song "Pussy Mutilation" and skip the 2 minute sample and keep listening for the piggys.

You might as well start throwing Waking the Cadaver around. Simply having thick slams and retarded vocals doesn't make something brutal. And Torsofuck isn't anywhere near the same level of noisy incoherent brutality as LDoH.

I like WTC, 60% of their fan base sucks dick though. Too many damn scenes, not a lot of wiggers, just a lot of lame ass scenes.

I agree. m1dy and Speedcore Dandy pissed the fuck out of me because of those square wave beats they play at 10000 bpm.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Suffocation. Shame.
Suffocation is usually considered to have invented the "brutal death metal style," and I usually consider them to be the most brutal band.

The "brutality" of the music has something to do with a focus on percussion or a rythmic focus, as a previous poster stated. Listen to Suffocation is brutal because it is like the audial equivalent of getting beaten down. When you listen to their early albums or see them live, you feel like you are being yelled at by an angry football coach or barked at by a junkyard dog.

As far as black metal being brutal, I think Battles in the North by Immortal is the most brutal black metal I have heard. It's because of the drums (which are said to have been sped up on the album).

So Effigy of the Forgotten and Battles in the North are the best examples for my definition of what brutal metal sounds like.

Yes yes and yes. Mortician are kings of there style. I remember my first time listening to them. So much bass it blew my speakers. I was so used to listening to Black Metal and really thrashy/old school death metal, i wasn't expecting it to be that brutal. But yea. deffinately mortician.

Not to bash Suffocation, because I love them. But they sort of went downhill in terms of brutality after Human Waste. Human Waste was absolutely visceral, but after that they sort of just became plain ol death metal, nothing outstandingly sick

I always go with Anaal Nathrakh's Pandemonic Hyperblast or Castigation and Betrayal as the most brutal songs. Submission is a good choice as well.

Last Days of Humanity is a good runner up, but unlike Anaal Nathrakh they suck musically and can't write songs.

Panzer division is slow as fuck, worst fucking drummer on the planet, I hate that guy so much.

While SadEx are quite brutal, they're far too melodic to be the most brutal band in existence. Same deal with Anaal Nathrakh, chaotic band, brutal band, but there are far more brutal ones.

This thread has a serious lack of D666.

You must have gone back in time and copied my post, because I completely missed this on my way through.

The most brutal band I've heard is Violation (Ger). Brutality requires a certain tempo. It can't be too fast, or too slow. It has to be relentless. And it needs a full heavy sound for all instruments.

Because they're obscenely non-brutal. They're epic and brilliant and I worship the ground they walk on, but they are so far away from the most brutal band in existence it's not funny.

As far as brutality goes, I woudl say Infernal War which is ridiculously brutal and savage black metal, or Last Days of Humanity (don't know if they count as metal, they do to me even though I don't like them much)

I guess I have a broader definition of "brutal" than you. If you're just talking about Suffocation-style typical death metal brutality, then, no. But shit like "I Am The Wargod" makes me want to whimper in a corner muttering "don't hurt me!"

http://www.myspace.com/denialmex

A CHALLENGER APPEARS!

i find most brutal death not actually brutal but relentless.

Actually brutal death would be stuff like Fornjotr which also happens to be the only brutal death i like :B

Other than that there is plenty of brutality in other genres like demolition hammer for thrash

Are you serious? Human Waste is hardly more brutal or sick than Effigy Of The Forgotten. It was a great debut EP, and very extreme, but not in the same way that Effigy was. That album really defines the brutal death metal subgenre - and does so without the slam idiocy.

I mean, listen to this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqvN2xra ... re=channel

That is true brutality.

Now this is Infecting The Crypts, the Human Waste version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyvulC4k ... re=related

Compare with the Effigy Of The Forgotten version of Infecting The Crypts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BY2mr8ewLg

Do you honestly find the latter more generic?

Anyway, Suffocation, Nile, Behemoth, and Old Cryptopsy are probably the most brutal bands I've heard. And call me generic if you like but also Cannibal Corpse - who, while brutal, are admittedly not the most brutal.

You gotta be kidding me man, Last days of Humanity is prolly the most horrible band i've ever heard. Nothing is original just boring pitch-shifted noise. If that's the definiation of brutality than you can drag a brick on the road it will definitely produce more brutal sound than LDOH.
The most brutal band i ever heard are Devourment. They truely are the kings of brutality.

Whether you like them or not, it's still brutal, and definitely more brutal than Devourment, even though I'm a big Devourment fan.

You sure you heard "Putrefaction in Progress" and not one of their earlier works?
PiP is the most ridiculous beatdown I ever heard.

I've always felt like the guitar tone on that album was one of the heaviest things ever recorded. It's so thick, chunky, and bassy that nothing else I've heard since then has been nearly as heavy sounding. Of course, you can de-tune to kingdom come, but I think that specific combination of heaviness, chunkiness, bassiness, and overall atmosphere makes "Exhumed of the Earth" one of the heaviest records in existence. The crushing intro riff to the first track is a fine example of this.

I do see the vast difference between the bands mentioned here - some go for the ultra-fast goregrind type of brutality, whereas others go for a sheer intense death metal sound as brutality. I personally think it's totally subjective, but I see where most everyone is coming from, except for Sadistic Exekution - can't see that as "most brutal ever", at least based on what I've heard. Sounds a lot like latter day Vomitorial Corpulence, which is great noisegrind, but not the most brutal thing they ever recorded, nor the most brutal in existence, at least from an intensity, sonic, or overall atmosphere perspective.

The first song I heard by Anaal Nakhrath made my jaw drop: "Pandemonic Hyperblast".

Again, many definitions of 'brutal', but AN's Codex Necro is probably on the top of my list.

I will always say MORTICIAN then DEICIDE

Certainly one of the most brutal in their respect. Their music is pummeling, but a lot of the time it also lacks any groove at all and ends up having no direction at all. They're a cool band, and certainly very brutal at times, but they're not always hitting their hardest.



I completely agree on Suffocation, but I don't really consider the term "brutal" with black metal, I think it is better described as harsh, grinding, and aggressive.
Suffocation were a heavy and aggressive death metal band, and they brought a form of breakdowns into their music as well as making the music very percussive at times. They had all the brutality of fast death metal of the early 90s, and they had heavier breakdown than 99% of hardcore bands do a long time later.

Considering the use of the guitar percussively and the rhythm of the music, The Acacia Strain deserve a mention, especially their most recent album, Continent. The guitar parts aren't written to include much prominent melody, rather they are heavy riffs that are used percussively and fit tightly with the drums, and the drums add a lot to the heaviness too. Rather than playing at blazing speeds or following the guitar, the drumming is extremely dynamic - sometimes hitting the kick and snare along with a low power chord or tritone chord in a very percussive manner, often providing a complement to a very heavy riff rather than simply providing a rhythm, and almost working like a rhythm guitar sometimes does in brutal music. The way the rhythm of the music works may be the most brutal aspect of all, a great example being the intro to the song "Skynet" - the rhythm is a violent swagger, swinging with a brutal and percussive guitar riff, and the drumming emphasizing this with variation under the same riff. Everything about the music is brutal, and the nuances really make it, as well as the lack of nuance breaking all of the shitty bands who copy them. The technical prowess of the band helps separate them from the bland genres they are often lumped in with - their guitarist's favorite band is Meshuggah, something you might not expect.