Ah, death metal is such a fascinating genre. Most bands tend to grab hold of a theme firmly by the throat and refuse to let go.. no matter how beaten and repetitive it ultimately gets. The recent "space" theme has been running rampant among some bands right now and thats cool with me. The noodle crazy acts like Wormed or The Contortionist are making waves by casting wicked spells upon their poor instruments and some bands have even focused in a little deeper on their own vision of what spacey death metal should be and wrote entire albums based on the visitors and inhabitants that may or may not be lurking in the dark and vast outer realms that exist in all corners of our massive and mysterious universe. So this post is dedicated to them. I, Munk, am absolutely obsessed with both the potential creatures of unknown origins as well as of course some kick ass death metal, so a post like this just seemed like a no brainer.
Xenomorph
Empyreal Regimes (1995)
Next to the 'grays' which believe me we will get into soon enough, there is no other ALIEN that has made more of an impact on pop culture than the Xenomorph. Yes, this band not only embraced this famously deadly creatures name but also its image for their sole album cover. Xenomorph formed in 1990 in Omaha Nebraska with members that would soon end up in Diabolical Possession, Angelcorpse and Immolation. They only released one demo before 'Empyreal Regimes' which is their only full length. Fans of quick, punishing old school death metal should dig the sound here, and I bet that even Sigourney Weaver owns a copy of this now rare piece of obscure death metal history ;)
Hypocrisy
The Arrival (2004)
Hypocrisy is a band that has gone through many musical evolutions through their many active years. In my opinion they've solidified themselves as the metal act most associated with aliens. I could have chosen any one of their ET and interdimensional themed albums to write about but I chose 'The Arrival' for a 2 reasons.. Number 1, this is the first Hypocrisy record I owned, so deal with it. And number 2, the cover is just simply bad ass and fits with my theme perfectly. Three grays venturing out of their craft ready to dissect and prod some unsuspecting humans.. or cattle, we're not really sure. Either way it is this imagry that ultimately drove me to this album. While venturing deeper into their vast catalogue of releases through the years I've learned that I definitely enjoy the earlier, more aggressive approach to death metal that they once had in the early 90's, but this record will always have a warm spot in my geeky heart.
Andromophus Rexalia
Cosmic Collison Into The Fifth Dimension (2010)
This album is a twisted look into the potentially evil side of visitors from another world. Filled with ominous and bizarre samples, inhuman vocals and blisteringly fast drum and guitar work. This is technical death metal from another planet overseasoned with a heavy hand of brutal grindcore. I chose this album for obvious reasons, it seems like the grays from the before mentioned Hypocrisy album cover have found their next subject. He appears to be a business man trapped in some sort of a tractor beam and it is inevitable that he will soon end up on the craft seen at the very top of the albums cover. note that a priest is also held captive but I think the visitors infact have another fate in mind for this poor servant of the cloth. The music displayed here makes the listener feel as if he is that priest, injured both physically and mentally, pinned down against his will, and soon subject to an absolute beating.
Devouring Doom
Them (2010)
Devouring Doom is a 2 man experimental death metal project from Barcelona Spain. I havent been able to read the lyrics or even hold an actual copy of this demo but my buddy over at DeathMetalInvasion posted this a while back and sums it up much better than I can...
"Devouring Doom makes us think about the universe and the beings that possible live in it. It also talks about the destiny of humanity and how humans are destroying the Earth. Devouring Doom takes you deep in the human's soul and reflects us the worst humanity sins. In that way, we are doomed to oblivion."
Sounds pretty deep to me, you can check out this free release
here.
Rings Of Saturn
Embryonic Anomaly (2010)
If there is one band on this list that may actually be from another planet it would be Rings Of Saturn without a doubt. These kids play an unbelievably punishing technical style of death metal that is definitely not native to this Earth. The lyrical content is ripe with that of alien invasions, various themes pertaining to outer space and the coming destruction of our planet at the hands of another species. And shit, the cover art is fucking cool too, focusing more on the interbreeding and genetically altering aspects of these alledged space dwellers. Looks like the shit is about to hit the fan if/when these things start breaking out of their little test tubes and begin the hunt for some extraterrestrial bloodfeast all their own...
Annunaki
Throne of the Annunaki (2007)
Our jouney ends with a very special and more recent find for me. Not only is this band from New Jersey but they happen to call themselves Annunaki! To those unfamiliar with this term, the story of the Annunaki is as follows.. They were an alleged race of star people who came to the planet Earth from the planet Niburu about 450,000 years ago after colonizing the planet Mars as well. The Annunaki stood 7-9 feet tall and brought great knowledge to the ancient Sumerians of astronomy and architecture among other subjects. it is said that they also mined the planet for gold, one of the most rare metals in the solar system. It was believed that the gold was a key component in shielding their crafts from the intense heat created by entering the atmopshere. These so called "gods", sound like a bunch of cool ass dudes who I'd love to drink Niburuian beers with and spin a few death metal records. Annunaki play a brash version of blackened death metal with heavy thrash overtones. Pretty bad ass stuff and very deserving of such an awesome name.
Thanks (as always) for reading my vomits. And if I overlooked any bands or albums that might have fit in with this post please alert me to my failures.
