Indeed they are fantastic. Possibly my fave album of the genre also. I own Necrholocaust in all three formats. Still gotta buy the split.

I was just thinking. Mexigorge don't have that typical dark sound, but their music has a genuinely depraved vibe to it.

I actually like Embrace of thorns and was going to mention them in the New dm thread a while back, great band but they have actual variety and incorporate outside influences at least on their newest album. Very good stuff

wrathprayer definitely deserves a mention here; can't wait for that album

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFV-lb66taA

Forgot this baby too, makes anything by the Chasm look like shit.

What is that? Cover art is excellent. Although the Chasm are as dark as sticking flowers to puppies with glitter filled glue.

I don't know that many death metal bands, but for me one of the darkest are Incantation of course, their first two albums. Also Autopsy "Mental Funeral" I usually put this one right after Incantation. I didn't listen to much of Demilich, but from what I've heard they are very dark. Lesser known band Baphomet I would also consider dark. Also that band Infester is sick!

Obviously gotta second a lot of stuff here, but even though I love Graves of the Archangels, I gotta say, dead Congregation's EP Purifying Consecrated Ground is even better, heavier and darker. Just listen to Vomitchrist and die.

I don't think Rippikuolu, Owl, Drowned or Origin of Darkness have been mentioned. Good stuff.

fascinating how both mentions of rippikoulu manage a typo

That's what you get for not having an English name!

So no one knows where that intro sample on "Gore Blessed To The Worms" is from? I tried to read the liner notes but they are too small. Apologies for digressing. Abramelin's self-titled release is not only musically excellent but was/is banned in some parts of this country for the lyrics, so that gets a vote from me.

Edgar is on my Facebook contacts. I'll ask him.

Mystifier.

OP- "Don't just post band names -post specific songs, and explain why. Put a little effort into it if you expect people to take your recommendations seriously."

Yes. Not dark in a hellish, demonic, bloodsoaked traditional kinda way, but rather in a bleak, post-apocalyptic, alien kinda way. Very unique if you ask me.

Drowned indeed are pretty dark. Grave Miasma and Sonne Adam (only on first EP) are also worth mention but my total favourites by far are Shroud of the Heretic - Boiled to Death !

I am a huge fan of The Chasm, and even I will agree they aren't exactly a dark-sounding band. They've got a great mystical vibe, but not one of pure evil. I'm gonna have to check out Argentum, though!

As for things that haven't been mentioned, it may not be the deathiest metal, but P.H.O.B.O.S.'s Tectonics is full of crushing rage. The atmosphere is downright suffocating. It's a fucking dark album, that's for sure. I'd also like to toss a bone to Ares Kingdom for bringing the darkness, yet remaining sadly underappreciated.

I was going to mention their EP its soo much better than their lackluster full length, a much better drum tone and overall a lot more violent.

I agree with the people who suggested Autopsy's debut album and Sorroricide. Autopsy used a much more straight-forward approach to "dark sounding" riffs compared to Sorroricide. I would suggest Immolation's debut album as one of the darkest sounding releases. Grave's Into The Grave, Gorement - The Ending Quest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icwNtcmqj8Y - Immolation - Those Left Behind (eerie and technically proficient)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uef5_Scm0qs - Grave - Obscure Infinity (brutal yet, ominous, a rare combination in my opinion).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNpcoW9XmOg - Gorement - The Lost Breed (melancholic and doomy).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5lZtc2eb1M - Eternal Darkness (slightly melancholic)

.. so "cute" metal. "puppy scamper" metal.

whoah. Totally forgot about that. yes.


Quite. Seems, though, that it's darker (and better) than the album. I'm liking the acoustic interludes better than the tracks...

As others have mentioned, Onward to Golgotha is the darkest death metal album. Period.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uyS-fRWnxY

This is a very dark one imo, from a great band

That' be great man. It sounds to me like they've ripped the audio from a movie, and then tweaked it somehow to give it that eerie effect. Anything you could find out would be good

Great album. How are they comparable with The Chasm, though? The two sound nothing alike.

Care to elaborate ? This thread slowly, yet steadily turns into the Incantation worship. Might as well be a case of name-dropping.

Listen to it. It's dark and evil as fuck. They aren't just "death metal". It's too dark at times. Some bands I'm surprised haven't been mentioned:

INFESTER
MORPHEUS DESCENDS
MYTHOS (especially the Moulded In Clay demo)
SADISTIC INTENT
DRAWN & QUARTERED
NECROS CHRISTOS
MERCILESS (The Awakening)
DEICIDE (Legion)

I`d add something new as most of what I would suggest has already been posted. The demo by Dublin`s ZOM is one hell of a dark death metal demo; it definitely has a dark fucked up genuinely evil feel to it and is highly recommended by me. I`d also throw down Witchrist as well from New Zealand, murky and dark death metal, great stuff.

The ZOM demo has been getting good press. I'll pick it up at some stage.

Witchrist is really crushing. I'll only got the debut at this point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KqPdykIJo0

Most people probably wouldn't consider Death to be "dark", but I would have to disagree there.

Nope, i consider that album to be a thrash release, and not dark.

um, actually Infester has been mentioned a few times. garthmargengi mentioned it first, and i also seconded them:




and Drawn and Quartered was mentioned a few posts above yours:

i'm gonna have to disagree with you and say Mortal Throne of Nazarene. but that's probably just splitting hairs lol



nice recommendation, i forgot about them. Beheaded Ouroboros is really good.

i think someone may have already mentioned them, can't remember... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mJntQiCGuI just freaky and evil stuff

how about Corpsessed...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v5bnD4BNKw
1:13 - 2:00 absolutely love that part

Imprecation... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz4Kc0De7NE
not as good as Incantation, but still solid dark death metal

Well, to each his own I suppose. The album has guttural vocals with extremely gory lyrics, simple but brutal riffs, pounding drums...why not just call it "death metal"? I would also say that it's definitely got the same vibe that a gory, old horror movie, such as Lucio Fulci's "The Beyond" would have, so it's definitely dark and evil.

I think Scream Bloody Gore is death metal through and through, but it's not particularly dark and evil to my ears.

For 1987 Death were pretty evil. Nowadays it's nothing because more brutal bands have come along. Out of all Death's catalog, SBG is probably the most sinister. I'd go out on a limb and call it pretty dark, but I certainly recognize there is far darker death metal.

Graves of the Archangels is the darkest DM I've ever heard. Pure sonic evil. Incantation is badass, but even they didn't smother me like this. In their darkest moments they were still human musicians. Dead Congregation sound like demons who crawled up from hell and decided to play death metal.

For 1987 yes, but I always find if you need to qualify something with a "for the time of it's release", it's been outdone.

Scream Bloody Gore always felt a lot more 'fun' than your average person would think. There's plenty of violence and horror, but it's still campy. Death's peak of darkness would come either on Leprosy or Spiritual Healing - the title track of that song has some really ominous riffing, the best of which starts at 3:30.

Anyways, for the late 1980s, Grotesque had some dark material, although the odds of the masses hearing it before the mid '90s were very low. The song "Incantation" is probably the best example of this, and it still holds up today. It probably drops into thrashing madness too much to compete with the Portals and Teitanbloods of today on pure fear and loathing, but still.

Leprosy sounds shitty and far less menacing than some of the stuff on SBG. You cant compare the terrible drumming and that thinly produced piece of crap, to some of the darker songs such as Behold the Unholy Grave and the titletrack.