Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, featuring double kick and blast beat techniques; minor keys or atonality; abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes; and chromatic chord progressions. The lyrical themes of death metal may include slasher film-style violence, political conflict, religion, nature, philosophy, true crime and science fiction.
Jeff Becerra of Possessed
Chuck Schuldiner (1967–2001) of Death, during a 1992 tour in Scotland in support of the album Human.
Death metal band Jungle Rot
Death metal drummer Steve Asheim
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual transgression".
Venom in 2008
Venom were significant to the development of speed metal into thrash metal into black metal.