My favorite Death Metal album is Immolation - Close To A World Below.
Since it came out, Ulcerate's The Destroyers of All has been in constant rotation.
I haven't managed to find anything that even comes close to these two albums as far as their effect on me.

I'm not rrrrreally that well versed in death metal, but I'm relatively familiar with all the classics, and also really like Incantation, Dead Congregation, Gorguts, Cruciamentum... etc.

What I'm really looking for is any death metal that's heavy on the ATMOSPHERE like CLOSE TO A WORLD BELOW and THE DESTROYERS OF ALL. Those are my main refrence points. The others I listed are some other refrence points if all else fails.

Basically just looking for some really creative, powerful and atmospheric death metal.
What gems am I missing out on?

Thanks a lot.

you know portal right? if not them and another portal related band impetuous ritual also Aethyrvorous i doubt any of the releases i mentioned will quite reach the hights of the new Ulcerate album though

both of mitochondrion's full lengths are heavy on atmosphere and are heaps brutal too. theyre worth a try

I'll second Mitochondrion and add Sonne Adam's Transformation, Darkthrone's Soulside Journey and Depresy's Sighting. Demigod and Slugathor are probably good choices too.

Mithras are very atmospheric and spacey, also you might like The Chasm, "Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm" is a masterpiece!

Thanks for the replies so far. I'm familiar with Portal, but have been meaning to check out Impetuous Ritual for a while so I'll do that now. Also familiar with Darkthrone's Soulside Journey, and I actually started listening to Demigod a few days ago through trying some stuff out on my own. Great stuff, and definitely on the right path! Mitochondrion are from the same area as me, and the newest album is definitely really cool. Seen em' a few times. Thanks guys.

Just going to list replies so far to check out over the next few days when I've got some time:
Impetuous Ritual
Aethyrvorous
Sonne Adam's Transformation
Depresy's Sighting
Slugathor
Mithras
The Chasm, "Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm"

Keep it coming!!

For atmosphere try these.

Here are some other Finnish death metal bands along the lines of Demigod
Funebre
Convulse
Detest
Purtenance

And for modern Finnish bands:
Ascended
Stench of Decay
Krypts


Some others
Autopsy (Pioneering American band with a lot of atmosphere)
Accidental Suicide
Funebrarum (Influenced by Incantation and Immolation)
Deathevokation (I don't know what to compare this to. Songs are long and somewhat depressive)
Gorement


I will add in links once youtube starts working.

I would compare Deathevokation to The Chasm, in the sense that they both play songs that overstay their welcome and actually manage to create non aggressive non heavy death metal (!).

I second most of the other recs though, and I'll add

Kingdom of the Lie - About the Rising Star
Lie in Ruins - Swallowed by the Void
Cenotaph - The Gloomy Reflections of Our Hidden Sorrows
Shub-Niggurath - Evilness and Darkness Prevails
Cosmic Atrophy - Codex Incubo
Drawn and Quartered - Return of the Black Death & Hail Infernal Darkness
Purtenance - Member of Immortal Damnation
The Wakedead Gathering - Tenements of Ephemera
Zealotry - Radix Malorum
Drowned - Viscera Terrae

Almost all of these reminds me of Immolation and Incantation(/Dead Congregation) in some way or other. Ulcerate -like stuff is harder, especially EiF and TDoA, maybe take a look at Rune - The End of Nothing which has some of the same misanthropic/melancholic feel as TDoA. Maybe.

Father Befouled is very much Incantation worship with a horrid sick atmosphere.

I'd also recommend

Vasaeleth

If you like Incantation you should check out Deteriorot.

You may also enjoy Adversarial they have some quite discordant riffs along the lines of DSo, Ulcerate and Hacavitz. Their album is great but the production takes a little getting used to.

Cartilage are another interesting act, very old school but with inventive drumming and melodies.
Another personal rec is Hardware from Mexico, strange and very raw and may not be appropriate but i love their stuff.

Put my vote in for Rune as well, otherwise Astomatous and Arkhon Infaustus (from Perdition Insanabilis and later).

You might like Destroying Divinity, reminds me of Immolation quite a bit. Very intense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e12k3XlV3I

Couple of recs for you:

Grave Miasma. Didn't see them in your list, but most definitely worth your time. Crushing, atmospheric greatness.

For something more obscure, give The Wakedead Gathering a listen. They remind me at times of the suffocating, off center atmosphere that Immolation summon.

Yskelgroth: Unholy Primitive Nihilism is relatively unknown and fits in with your requirements. i didn't think of it earlier.

and that new Aosoth... III i would highly recommend I've been enjoying the fuck out of it since I heard it this week.

woah, I haven't checked this in a bit. So much new stuff to check out!

From casual youtube listens, I've really enjoyed Aosoth, The Chasm, Deathevokation, Drawn & Quartered...
Still have to check out a lot of things here and give them some others time to sit.
Thanks a lot everyone!

Keep it coming if anything else pops up.

A couple of Aussie bands for consideration:

Ignivomous - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGujJRhB ... re=related

Eskhaton - http://snd.sc/kSILVR

Thanks for starting this thread, and thanks to everyone recommending. I'm new to Death Metal, too, so this helps.

All I think I can add is that Disma looks like it's going to destroy.

Have you heard Everything is Fire by Ulcerate? If you love The Destroyers of All, Everything is Fire will probably be life-changing for you.

Necros Christos have a heavy emphasis on atmosphere as well. They're kind of in the same vein as Dead Congregation, although definitely a different take on it.

Vanhelgd are another good band to check out; their newest album, Church of Death, is one of my favorites of the year thus far. They're Swedeath with a strong emphasis on dissonant, unsettling melodies, kind of in the vein of the early At the Gates albums. (Speaking of which, The Red in the Sky is ours fits the bill quite well here.)

new baring teeth album 'atrophy' might interest you, strong gorguts/ulcerate influences here. first listen through but its been pretty awesome thus far

Embrace Of Thorns - Atonement Ritual is a masterwork.

http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Em ... ual/237610

I see The Wakedead Gathering mentioned a couple of times. I should give that tape another go, because i didn't find it that great actually.

Deathevokation not heavy? Surely you jest. And they are way heavier (and better) than The Chasm.

Dunno about better man. Your are comparing a legendary band to one with a small discography.

Yeah, I should probably back off my claim a bit. It's just that I'm a Devo fanboy, and don't care much for The Chasm (find them boring).

Imprecation-Incantation & Immolation inspired DM from TX.

In my opinion Deathevokation are good, but nothing amazing. There are more exciting recent "old school swedish death" bands around. Certainly enjoy the releases i have though.

The Chasm are boring? Did you hear the last album? Such a experience.

Does anyone know if Deathevokation works on the new album?

Add this killer band, pretty much capture the Immolation sound
Maveth- Breath of Abomination


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0WMwmpnYWc

The last album wasn't even their best. To me it's the tryst of Procession, Conjuration and Spell.

And seriously, I like both The Chasm and Deathevokation. No need to pick sides between the two.

Also, if you think they're non heavy and non aggressive then I just don't even know - that's just plain old wrong.

maybe beyond terror beyond grace's new album i cant say for sure because there is only a preview out but it sounds Ulverateish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc4BePzhtHI

Some of the best death metal I've heard this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAAbrhJypg4

Sinister - Cross The Styx
Rippikoulu - Musta Seremonia
Infester - To the Depths... In Degradation