Death metal followed a standard distribution like everything else. At first, a few pioneers patched it together out of what they had at the time, then a generation of bands emerged who solidified the style, followed by others who tried to make sense of that strong lead, before the imitators came.
Eulogy shows us a valiant attempt to make a Florida take on New York style technical death metal with the melodic spirit of European technical bands, ending up with an interesting mix of techniques that provoke interest and make for good listening but never quite pull their parts together into iconic songs.
If you want to be a Deicide, At the Gates, Morbid Angel, or Gorguts your songs must threaten to come apart by being asymmetrical and conflict-driven, but at some point, the themes must unite through contrast and reach a point of balance or synthesis; this is part of melodic and structural development and the hardest part of writing anything.
What compels about this release of compiled EPs (The Essence from 1992 and Dismal from 1993) is the sheer diversity of riff styles and uniqueness of the riffs, many of which find new ways to use chord voicings and phrase in order to make songs enigmatic, descending into the category of bands like Exmortis and Demilich which took up the Voivod playbook for harmonic oddity.
Back in 1992, death metal had low self-esteem. It was seen as primitive, unschooled music produced by filthy vagrants living under bridges for its lack of rock/jazz technique. Bands like Atheist forged a path toward technique-heavy music, and on this compilation one can find a range of technique applied in both a studied and homebrew way in the best death metal tradition.
Retro-metal fans have spent decades digging up every last influence on fifteen minutes one day in the lives of famous bands, but should extend their archaeology to acts such as Eulogy, which shows us the progress of the struggle for death metal to capture its unique voice, outsider artistry, and self-respect.
Tags: death metal, eulogy, Florida Death Metal, New York Death Metal
I still love this EP this many years later. Great melodies and great vocals. Some of the best OSDM.
I think there is a lot here that later death metal, including Gorguts, used.
I can hear a little Obscura in this.
It seems to me that it was a primary technique influence. Gorguts got the idea of through-composed material from Spheres and Burzum, I would think, and most of the rhythm is borrowed from Demilich.
Interesting. I personally don’t hear Burzum in any Gorguts material…even in composition.
By the way, I wanted to ask you what are your thoughts on Rippikoulu?
Historically, it would be pretty hard to argue that the through-composition of black metal did not influence later death metal.
I like how retards never consider that the admin could just be making up shit. Florida death metal being influenced by Norwegian shit (most of which people stateside didn’t like or wasn’t aware of at the time), sure.
Obscura was 1994-1995? At that point, black metal was the focus for most hardcore fans.
Everything that comes out of your mouth is ahistorical retardation.
Okay man
Okay, edgelord contrarian.
I promise to go back to Africa
If I get to nail Natalie Portman bottomless on a toilet
Get 100 Greek Hawaiian brides
And 100 jap nuyorican porican brides
And 100 thahitian Jew brides
They better have jobs too getting nude online too
Anyways death metal is dead this band wants the nineties to return stop listening to these old Scholl rip offs and crank up 93 shit dude!!!
Only if we feed Natalie twelve pounds of Taco Bell first.
Please gentlemen, keep your scat fetishes for yourselves
Scat makes the world go round.