Top 10 Most Brutal Death Metal Bands
This is a list of Death Metal bands based on their brutal sounds, heavy guitar riffs, harsh guttural vocals and deep death growls.
They are the gods of brutality. I don't want to hear any bull about cannibal corpse being "mainstream." They are not even close to being mainstream. If they were mainstream they would be mention in the same sentence as popular pop acts, but they're not. Cannibal corpse is more popular than probably any other death metal band ever, but that doesn't make them mainstream because death metal is underground to being with. Some people might try to pretend they are mainstream to make them less brutal, but even if they were it wouldn't make them any less brutal, just more popular. They are the heaviest, most brutal death metal band of all time.
I love Cannibal Corpse! Their heaviness and their violent content really brings death metal to life. They have so many violent song names such as I Blood, Meathook Sodomy, Messed With A Knife and Entrails Ripped From A Virgin's. SO BRUTAL! I'm not praising actual murder, but I really like how poetic their lyrics are and how addictive their riffs are. I'm really disappointed that Chris Barnes left the band, but I also really like Corpsegrinder as well. They've been banned in many countries due to their lyrical content and their album cover artwork. Butchered At Birth and Tomb of the Mutilated are their best albums!
To everyone who claims CC is not the most brutal, clearly they haven't listened to what I think might be the most brutal song ever and that is Meathook Sodomy, the intro makes your head wobble and the heavy riffing will make you ears fill with blood, just give it a listen and tell me it isn't on of the most brutal songs out there...
Brutal. Like I know they get criticized for being so well known, but that doesn't make them mainstream. Those who say they are overrated think it's mainstream, when technically there is no mainstream when it comes to underground genres.

Nile is INSANE! Their vocals are so brutal that the way it echos in the song and their guitars rip and I would say their right above cryptopsy and cannibal corpse
What can I say? The dual guitar works by Toler-wade and Sanders followed by Georges brutal double bass drumming followed by 240 BPM all at the same time makes for a brutal powerhouse of a band. they are definitely redefining technical and brutal death metal. and they deserve number 1 in my book of most brutal death metal bands.
They do brutality right. When they're fast it rips your face off. When they're slow it feels like the hammer of the gods on your spine. Absolute best Brutal Death Metal.
Still as technically brutal as ever in 2016. Caught them in London this week and the show was outstanding! Great atmospheric death metal, neck break speed and flawless.

Their riffs are relentless, the drums are thunderous, and Nergal's vocals sound just plain bestial if not outright inhuman at times. The raw intensity of their music cannot be understated. Their work is devastating Pagan war magic as music. Tracks like Sculpting The Throne Ov Seth are testament to their raw musical might.
Yeah, Behemoth ain't sound as 'brutal' as Cannibal Corpse, but they're the true tough guys! Cannibal Corpse always sound hilarious to me. They're making fun by death metal. I like Cannibal Corpse. Corpsegrinder is a nice guy. But I can never think them as a 'true death metal' band.
How is Behemoth not even in the top ten? Or better yet, why aren't they number one? We're talking about BRUTAL. And Behemoth turns your ears into dust and you'll still enjoy it. Get Cannibal Corpse out of here.
Behemoth is an amazing band, but doesn't belong in a list of the most brutal bands at all. If you want BRUTAL, listen to "Molesting the Decapitated" by Devourment. Now THAT is brutal.

This band is FAR more brutal than Bloodbath, Nile and Cryptopsy. They're not even that guttural compared to this guy's growls. These guys are WAY heavier. Plus, just look them up on iTunes and compare the song names and lyrics to the other bands. There's no comparison. "Babykiller" and "Molesting the Decapitated" by Devourment make "Eaten" by Bloodbath look and sound like a lullaby.
I don't like their music at all but in terms of brutality, I would place them at first. hell, they make Cannibal Corpse sound like a soft rock band in comparion
This is a list of the most brutal bands, not the best. Devourment makes most of thes bands seem like pub rock. Devourment, Brain Drill, Cryptopsy, Abominable Putridity, Benighted, Suffocation, Nile, and Dying Fetus should be up top
The greatest slam band in history, Devourment managed to be stupidly brutal and groovy as all hell both at once. Way more brutal than stuff like Cannibal Corpse or Behemoth

My absolute favorite band. Bloodbath have a dark ambiance mixed with good and heavy groove. Taking from bands like entombed and dismember. I wish these guys would come across north america, sadly they seem to only play in the Netherlands.
All I gotta say that, the guitars and the drumming are just unexplainable in my opinion. I can't even put it into words. I love behemoth and cc as well as infant annihilator. Those are top 5 bands but this band just throws those bands out the window. The gutturals are just something inhuman.
Mikael Akerfeldt did it all... in combination with the sheer evil melodies and virtuoso drummer - they're easily the bost brutal sound wise and the scariest as well - soundwise.
As I said before...Mikael can sing you to sleep...or scare you to death!

Dying Fetus is really brutal and honestly one of the heaviest bands I've heard. I really don't understand why so many people hate Dying Fetus...I mean, they're so talented. The guitarist/singer, John Gallagher is such a talented guy. He plays really heavy and complex guitar riffs while singing guttural vocals and headbang at the same time. I really want to see them live and I really want my band to go on tour with them. Here is a list of my favorites by Dying Fetus:
-Grotesque Impalement
-Intentional Manslaughter
-Invert the Idols
-Bathe in Entrails
-Procreate the Malformed
(SUPER HEAVY SONGS! )
Maybe the biggest influence on brutal death metal besides, cannibal and suffocation. Should be ranked much higher
Listening to this band's music makes me want to pet kittens and ride on a unicorn over a rainbow.
I've met tre williams one times and these guys are smart. and your blood is my wine, that intro and nuclear explosion is awesome

One of Cryptopsy's earliest albums, Blasphemy Made Flesh, is extremely loud, fast as hell, and downright heavy and insane, and that was just when they first started! They're other albums continue to amaze with incredible sound and brutality. These guys will never dissapoint if you're in the mood for the slams!
Blasphemy Made Flesh and None So Vile are hands down two of the best Death Metal albums ever recorded. A true showcase of the severity of the Canadian Metal scene.
Some of the most brutal music ever crafted. Insane vocals, intense guitars, chaotic drumming, and heavy bass. A recipe for brutality.
None so vile is my second favorite brutal death metal album 1st being suffocations effigy of course. these guys have 1 gmasterpiece album that puts them up so high. my top 10 are
1. Nile
2. Cryptopsy
3. Cannibal Corpse
4. Suffocation
5. guttural secrete
6. katalepsy
7. bloodbath
8. benighted
9. dying fetus
10. decapitated

I had been constantly in the search of some serious brutality until I came across this band, and I knew I had struck gold. I mean its not that CC is not good enough, but I personally favour Suffocation
Number 8? are you joking. Suffocation crushes and has been for more than 25 years despite numerous lineup changes. Band deserves more respect and has earned the top spot
The true kings of Death Metal. I don't need an explanation for why just listen to "Effigy of the Forgotten" and you'll understand.
Suffocation, great death metal band, their first album was genius, same with a lot of their others.

Brutal, blasphemous and satanic. That right there should say it all. Guttoral vocals and super fast tremolo guitarwork... Going strong for twenty five years as of 2013. Soldiering past bans and extreme controversy and censoring while laughing at it all the way... What's NOT to like?
Perhaps the most infamous bands in the genre, took the satanic lyrics to a whole new level..loved the band during the Hoffman brothers era...I like vital remains more than Deicide
I love Deicide and think they are heavier than cannibal corpse which happens to be my second favorite band.
Are you kidding me. Deicide should be there in top 3 at least.

Meshuggah aren't really death metal, but they're still one of the heaviest and most brutal bands ever. Their song Corridor of Chameleons will make you want to smash everything in the same room
One of the heaviest bands out there, but they aren't Death Metal. The vocalist doesn't use death growls. I'd call them Progressive Groove Metal/Djent
Dude Meshuggah is the most brutal out there! Should be on top!
Meshuggah sucks the vocalist sounds like Randy Blythe.

They should be way higher up than this. Personally I think they're on par with CC on brutality, but they're slamming brutal death, so it's a step further.
All these people who are not voting for these guys just haven't heard them, they are relentless!
Dude check these guys out- if you've never heard them, you don't know what brutal is.
Good band, especially their 2006 album Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead.

I voted just so I could reply to the Tard who said 'Cannibal are the nickelback of DM' what a poser. The only reason you're saying this is because of their popularity, if they were a band with maybe 100,000 sales you'd be hailing them as the best. And 'generic'... They started the genre. That's like saying sabbath is generic metal.. When they started the genre. Don't be such a hipster
Not trying to come across as a CC fanboys but give credit where credit is due, and for the record I'm a fan of Decapitated too but their brutality does not compare.
Day 69 is full of collateral bloody damage, CC is what everyone says and they're the Nickelback of death metal (too generic, sold out).
One best metal band
The masters of metal

I think some of the comments and votes are based on or too greatly influenced by people's favorite band(s) instead of the question at hand which is "who is the most brutal? " Although what is more brutal to one wouldn't be to another. There are several bands on this list I like better than Brain Drill, though I think Brain Drill are by far the most brutal. They are savagely intense, loud, insanely fast, super technical and spastically aggressive. There might be a few bands that come close but not quite touch them and whilst not being a whole new level up in the genera they have definitely raised the bar some.
What are they even? I can't wrap my head around their riffs. They all sound like solos except the bass is playing the exact same thing! They are completely insane.

Listen through somatic defilement and then tell me they don't belong on this list.
It's deathcore, not death metal. Still amazing!
There are two kinds of people, those who love whitechapel and those who never listened to deathcore
Whitechapel is heavy and brutal as hell... Listen to Possesion and Vicer Exciser...

Blasphemous growling comes from the doors of hell!
Hail vader!
Where is Luke Skywalker when you need him?
You guys have not listened to vader yet?
Luke, I am your father...

The songs "Blindfold Surgery", "Remnants of the Tortured" and "Letting Them Fall…" should give you enough evidence to support the fact that this great Russian band can kick ass.
They should be in the top tens! Their two albums are more brutal then half the bands in the top tens.
Just listen to these guys, and you'll understand why they belong in the top 3.
The kings of brutal death/slam, holy these guys are incredible.

Most bone crushing, heart stopping, completely insane death metal band I can find. These guys set a new standard for the whole metal genre. If you havnt heard about or listened to this band yet you are missing out!
These guys are crazy but they have great sound and base to every song they produce. I personally think that they are the most violent death metal band out there. In my own opinion.
I have yet to find any bands more brutal or violent than them. I mean come on, all of their songs are about raping woman and babies. What's more brutal than that?
They have the most brutal drummer I've ever seen, if you're a metal head definitely check out the song crusher.

This is the pure definition of brutal. Growling guttural vocals and almost minute long insane bass drops. Simply amazing slam.

Pure demonic bile for humankind. Their recent albums (The Harvest Floor, Monolith Of Inhumanity, The Anthropocene Extinction) are apocalyptically heavy. Dangerously fast and insanely technical, they are more than just a vegetarian grind core; they are black metal, progressive metal, death metal, tech death, and overall, they are brutal!
Each new album they release is faster and more brutal than the previous one. Their last album was kick ass-good and heavy and brutal.
Travis Ryan's vocals are by far the most extreme, mixed with Dave Mcgraws insanely fast blasting and Josh Elmore's most unique writing style. Cattle Decapitation is a monster.
Technical, angry, and vehemently brutal. A good band for a bad day.

Intensity, brutality &f full agression played at high speed with incredible technical skill...this band must be in a top position
Technical enough. But not consistent with their song writing. The drummer is insane..effing machine
Origin is pure death!


I feel that 'the Bleeding' and 'Maximum Violence', are my 2 most memorable death metal albums, of al time. Chris Barnes just provides something that strikes a nerve, with me.
A gateway band for many metalheads who are looking into entering the passages of death metal. Maximum violence did the trick to me when I was a teenager...Chris Barnes needs his due credit, come what may
Best death metal band overall. Each album is consistently bone crushing good. No bad albums. Yet!
Best death metal band! Number one.
They're amazing but I wouldn't say brutal enough to be top 10.

