REPUGNANT.

I love it when I'm at work and I throw the 'ol iPod on shuffle and the tiny shiny beast rewards with something I forgot I had - like these ghouls from Stockholm known as Repugnant.
They may have been overlooked by the masses by some of the more famous names in the scene back then, but you'd be hard-pressed to say these guys don't belong up there when mentioning bands like Grave or Nihilist.

Awesomely chunky riffing, nice, swingy-thrash drumming at times, cold-throated lyrical delivery, audible bass runs, & sweet solos when you need them - you'll find it here...



Repugnant - Epitome of Darkness

Link in comments.

POSSESSED.

S.F. Death Metal stalwarts who may have coined the name for the genre - that's old news to many of you, I know - but honestly? I don't think these guys ever got as much attention / respect as they are worthy of.

While Seven Churches is the standout long-player of their catalog, I would have to say that this little EP is solid from start to finish (Joe Satriani produced? Really?), and could very well be my favorite of all their recorded output. The guitars are hot-sounding, and the vocals are agonizing in their feel.

Excellent thrash / death from back in the day...



Possessed - The Eyes of Horror

Link in comments.

DISINCARNATE.

Just to re-state the obvious...

James Murphy is (a goD), and one of the founding fathers of classic Florida Death Metal as far as guitarists go.
Stints in Death & Obituary (amongst others) proves his legacy.

On this here beast of a record, Mr. Murphy played everything except drums.
He didn't sing either, but his six-string efforts certainly do.
James drives the tempo & atmosphere of each song with tasteful & memorable riffs that are still unique to this day.

If you haven't heard this, now is the time to be blown away.
If you are familiar, re-aqcuaint yourself with the mastery of Mr. Murphy's PURE death metal guitarwork...



Disincarnate - Dreams of the Carrion Kind

Link in comments.