Best Technical Death Metal Bands

Necrophagist is THE tech death band. They redefined the entire genre, and every band now attempts to mimic them. Death is a great band whom I have the utmost respect for. They are a death/melodeath band with some chops.

Necrophagist redefined the entire genre, and to this day, no one has surpassed them unless Archspire can follow up Relentless Mutation with something else as good. Archspire is the only band that even comes close to Necrophagist and may honestly surpass them, but as of now, Necrophagist is still the king.

Chuck gave birth to a new kind of music by mixing some technical death metal elements in a progressive mood. One of the best ever.

Death's style is not meant to be technical, but they were and still are incredible!

Scavenger. That's all you need to know.

Hmm, Death, Nile, and Necrophagist tied with 13%. Honestly, while I love Death, it isn't really tech-death. In my opinion, I like Nile more, but Necrophagist is good as well.

Kollias is actually the greatest death metal drummer of all time. Change my mind.

You could go on and on about why Necrophagist is "so good" and "so technical," but let's face it, Obscura (along with Archspire) are THE tech masters!

Orbital elements, infinite rotation, and universe momentum!

Jaw-dropping techniques and heavy as hell!

I get why they're low. They haven't been around that long, but Jesus Christ, Relentless Mutation is the best tech album I've ever heard. If they keep it up, they will go down alongside Necrophagist as the best of all time.

Relentless Mutation is the best tech death album since Necrophagist's Epitaph.

Echoing everyone else, Relentless Mutation ripped my face off.

One of the greatest tech death bands without the need to constantly play as technically as possible just for show. They provide a brutal and heavy atmosphere, and throughout all their style changes, they have still remained the greatest tech death band.

I love Death very much, but I feel that they don't deserve #1. They had some tech elements in their later works, but they were never tech death. It's like putting Metallica as #1 on a best death metal bands list. They're a great band, but not death metal.

I love Death, Opeth, and Meshuggah, and Between the Buried and Me is even my favorite band at the moment, but none are tech death. These guys are underrated. Think of a more intense Necrophagist with better riffs.

Quite disappointed that these guys aren't higher! I am very fond of their album 'Incurso,' particularly the song 'Apparition.'

The integration of beautiful classical melodies with the brutality of their metal riffage, while remaining very technically impressive, is magnificent. Spawn of Possession are a prime example of how well classical and metal can work together, like they were meant to be.

As a classically-trained musician, I am proud.

Old-school death metal vibe laced with uncompromising technicality. Politically and socially oriented lyrics add an intellectual edge to their brutality.

A death metal band that incorporates sweep picking and tapping. Pure epicness.

Come on, they need to be at least top 5. They released a masterpiece of an album when they were still teenagers, not to mention their later work such as Organic Hallucinosis, which is also a masterpiece. Vogg is a riff machine. Enough said!

Unable to reach their full potential because of an unfortunate accident. Truly focused on technicality musically as well as lyrically.

Ever since I made this list, I've been exposed to more tech-death bands, old and new, and these guys are one of the best bands so far. Their latest album has good songs that mix tech-death and prog metal with some jazz influences that sound sick as hell. The album before that was just pure, ruthless tech-death.

Truly dark places reached with technical virtuosity and ever-evolving style.

Well, I am very disappointed that the most influential technical death metal band is not in the top ten or even near it. Listen to "The Heaviest Matter in the Universe" for something heavy, "Flying Whales" for like eighteen movements, and "L'Enfant Sauvage" for a beautiful representation of their unique sound.

Why is Gojira so low? Seriously one of the heaviest bands out there, and not a single bad album at that!

In my opinion, they should be at the top of the list. Best albums: Fragments of Form and Function and Proponent of Sentience, but basically, they are all good.

Classic death metal, sharpened over the years into a true tech machine. Killer breakdowns and best live bass ever.

One of the founders of the subgenre. Why so low?

These guys are insanely technical and underrated. "Piece of Time" was probably the first technical death metal album. If you want a good example of this band, listen to "Piece of Time" and "No Truth."