“Top 5 Old School Death Metal Albums”

The “Old School Death Metal” (OSDM) metal genre is one of the most beloved metal genres, due to the rawness of the sound and unrelenting assault of brutality. What differentiates OSDM from regular Death Metal? The answer is simple: OSDM is all death metal albums from 1985 to 1995. Let’s get into the Top 5 Old School Death Metal Albums.

#5: “Death” – Leprosy

When talking about Death metal, how can you not mention “Death”? Although it is argued if “Death” or the band “Possessed” were the fathers of death metal, one thing is for sure: Death can do death metal. Death does Death Metal really really well. Death’s second album, “Leprosy,” released on August 12, 1988, a year after their debut album Scream Bloody Gore, is widely regarded as their most raw album. Death, in later years, towards the end of vocalist/guitarist Chuck Schuldiner’s (R.I.P.) life, progressed to more 80s power metal making this album stand out from others in their catalog, and with song names like “Leprosy,” “Left to Die,” and “Pull the Plug,” you can already tell the album is going to hit you with an onslaught of death metal. Although this album is not the best OSDM album, it was released in 1988, making it impossible to not include it on the list, considering they laid the foundation for OSDM albums to follow.

#4: “Entombed” – Left-Hand Path

Greetings from Stockholm, Sweden! The Swedish Death Metal kings’ first release on June 4, 1990 laid the foundation to a death metal formula that gave Scandinavian death metal bands their unique sound and also gave pleasure to all listeners from all around the world. “Entombed” played in B standard on a seven-string guitar (which was yet to be used in death metal), mixed with the legendary Boss HM-2 distortion pedal (yet to be heard), along with dirty production quality (a must for OSDM) to make some of the most brutal death metal known today. Many people love this formula (including me), and once you fall in love with it, it’s hard to turn away.

#3: “Obituary” – Cause of Death

OBITUARY!!! I had to stop myself from putting this number one considering they are one of my most favorite death metal bands of all time. Most of the time I like it slow, and most of the time “Obituary” is slow, so most of the time I like “Obituary” and so do many others! “Obituary’s” second album, Cause of Death, released September 19, 1990, does not need to play at some crazy breakneck speed in order to achieve the death metal brutality. They are crazy heavy while keeping it slow, and this album especially uses different sounds taken from various places to create this amazing atmosphere that makes this album so much more awesome. But what really takes this album home is how amazing John Tardy’s vocals are. They literally sound like someone is dying, and no one does it better than John Tardy. The vocal patterns and the tempo match perfectly, and all in all, Cause of Death is just a masterpiece.

#2: “Suffocation” – Effigy of the Forgotten

The heaviest OSDM album. Period. Released on October 22, 1991, New York death metal giants “Suffocation” took a slightly different approach to making the most brutal music imaginable. They were the first band to invent a true brutal breakdown such as… every song on the album. They were super groovy and relied rarely on demonic sounding tremolo picking sections. The biggest surprise, however, was that the production quality could be mistaken for something made today. This formula heavily inspired the genre which, in my opinion, is the heaviest genre of metal out there: Slamming Brutal Death Metal. That about shows you how monumental this album was in the metal world. When listening to OSDM, it’s impossible not to go back to this album and smile every time you headbang until your neck is broken replaying the breakdowns on every song (especially on “Liege of Inveracity” and “Seeds of the Suffering”).

#1: “Morbid Angel” – Altars of Madness

There is no debate on what the number one spot is on every single OSDM top albums list ever created. “Morbid Angel’s” Altars of Madness, released on May 12, 1989, was the gateway band to lead the charge of even more brutal death metal. They took the formula used on “Death’s” Leprosy, mastered it, and then added a sick atmosphere as well as technical riffs to make the ultimate OSDM album. Although, personally, I would rather have “Obituary” or “Suffocation” up at the number one spot; many posts online and many contrary opinions outweigh my personal opinion, and this masterpiece needs to stay on top. Listen to the first song on the album “Immortal Rites,” and if you like it, you are going to like every other death metal album on this planet.