Long Island, NY · death metal · technical death metal

Suffocation

2 festivals played

New York death metal originators, and the band most responsible for the breakdown as a technical device rather than a gimmick.

Suffocation formed on Long Island, New York in 1988 and became one of the defining bands of American death metal. Their early records, including Effigy of the Forgotten, paired dense, technically intricate riff writing with abrupt tempo shifts and slow, heavy passages that helped establish the breakdown as a structural feature of the genre rather than an ornament. Frank Mullen's low, articulated growl and Terrance Hobbs's guitar work were central to the sound. The band broke up in the mid-1990s, reformed at the beginning of the 2000s, and has continued recording and touring, with the vocal role passing to Ricky Myers.

death metaltechnical death metal