(That you might have heard of)
We can celebrate our Independence all day by drinking beer and posting videos of keg stands on Facebook for your co-workers to see, or if you’re like me you can focus on a tried and true American creation: death metal. It’s because of bands like Possessed and Death that the genre has grown and become a sound that even transcends cultures today, being loved and shared with other fans around the world. You’ve heard of the big names like Suffocation and Morbid Angel, but on this 4th of July, we’re looking at the smaller American bands who are keeping the spirit alive.
Mammoth Grinder: Coming back last year from a three-year hiatus, Texas’ Mammoth Grinder are the kind of band your parents are afraid of you going to see live. Lyrically it’s nothing to get the PMRC back together for, but it’s the unrelenting and carnivorous nature of this year’s Cosmic Crypt that puts the band in the spotlight as one of the more tenacious acts in the scene today. Tracks like “Molotov” and “Locust’s Nest” don’t pull any punches, and “Servant of the Most High” all but erases the band’s sludgy and punk-inspired earlier days. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just their recent 
output is titanic in comparison) Mammoth Grinder is all about the insanity, and there’s absolutely nothing separating you from the beatdown that comes complimentary with their name.
Of Feather and Bone: Quick, to the point, and no frills. Coming from a hardcore punk background, Of Feather and Bone’s transition into bonafide death metal is one that sees the band plunge headfirst into the grime. Bestial Hymns of Perversion doesn’t toy around with you, and the HM-2 guitars tell you everything you need to know: this band is dangerous. Rhythmic shifts on “Repulsive Obscurity” catch you off guard, and the pure dread that comes from the lyrics on the title track are profound. “Cursed to betray and live/The throats sing your name/From the womb; the wretched whore/Behold your mess.” This stuff is pure evil, and it’s coming from the unholy bastard child of Autopsy and Bolt Thrower themselves. Of Feather and Bone are vicious enough to be their own demon entirely, as the end of the day they’ve come into their own instead of standing in the shadow cast by their influencers. Comparisons will do little for this band.
Disma: New Jersey has its share of secrets, but none greater than Disma. While the Garden State has seen many a death metal band rise within it, none have hit home quite like the band in question. The past few years have been slow for the band, yet Disma no doubt have one of the strongest discographies mentioned thus far, especially with 2011’s Towards the Megalith. Taking cues from doom metal and perhaps a bit from Incantation, Disma crawls out the void and obliterates everything with weapons tailor-made to themselves. The opening chugs on “Chasm of Oceanus” are massive in size, and with a enough thickness to even give Entombed a run for their money, it only gets better from there as the band refuses to let any song be filler. Disma pops up from time-to-time as they see fit, and with new material in the works following an EP release last year, the time is nigh for new material.
Spectral Voice: There’s a good chance I’ve mentioned Spectral Voice here before, and it’s with reason. Like Of Feather and Bone, the band comes from Denver, yet that’s where the similarities end. Banking on the ever-ironically delightful death/doom hybrid, Spectral Voice made a big impact with Eroded Corridors of Unbeing last year, and they haven’t (Also ironically) slowed down since. This band hustles and always have something going on, releasing a split with Vastum just this year. Vacuous, sinister, and hauntingly atmospheric, Spectral Voice not only bring something special to the genre, but death/doom in general. It’s a breath of fresh air for a stylethat didn’t know it needed a kick, and one that raises the bar ever so much more for other acts to follow.
