''Death Metal'' is a 1984 split album by the bands

Helloween Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Wei ...

Hellhammer Hellhammer was a Swiss metal band from Nürensdorf, active from 1982 to 1984. Although the band's sound and style were heavily criticized and poorly reviewed during their active years, they have been widely praised in retrospect and are often r ...

, Running Wild, and Dark Avenger. It contains the only recorded material by the German group Dark Avenger. The album offers a snapshot of the Central European metal scene during the end of the early 1980s. At that time, Running Wild had yet to develop their "

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

metal" schtick and considered themselves a

black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emp ...

band. Helloween were more of a

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) * Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *'' Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video gam ...

speed metal Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It ...

act rather than the melodic

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

vehicle into which they would soon develop. Hellhammer were the darker and heavier band of the foursome and would later evolve into the group Celtic Frost. Running Wild's songs appear as Japanese bonus tracks on their 1995 album, '' Masquerade''; Helloween's tracks appear on the second disc of the 2006 remastered and expanded edition of their 1985 album, '' Walls of Jericho''; and Hellhammer's tracks appear on the 1990 re-issue of their 1984 EP, ''

Apocalyptic Raids ''Apocalyptic Raids'' is an EP by the Swiss extreme metal band Hellhammer. It was recorded and released in March 1984, and was the band's only commercial release. The record was a major influence on the then-emerging death metal and black metal ...

''.Fischer, Thomas Gabriel (2000). ''Are You Morbid? Into the Pandemonium of Celtic Frost''. London: Sanctuary Publishing Limited. p. 8.

Track listing

Credits

;Running Wild * Rock 'n'

Rolf Kasparek Running Wild is a German heavy metal band formed in Hamburg in 1976. They were part of the German metal scene to emerge in the early to mid-1980s, and are also considered to be one of the country's so-called "big four" of power metal, along w ...

– vocals, guitars * Gerald "Preacher" Warnecke – guitars * Stephan Boriss – bass * Wolfgang "Hasche" Hagemann – drums ;Hellhammer * Tom "Satanic Slaughter" Warrior – vocals, guitars * Martin "Slayed Necros" Ain – bass * Bruce "Denial Fiend" Day – drums ;Dark Avenger * Siegfried Kohmann – vocals * Bernd Piontek – guitars * Claus Johannson – guitars * Uwe Neff – bass * Andreas Breindl – drums ;Helloween *

Kai Hansen Kai Michael Hansen (born 17 January 1963) is a German musician who is the founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray. He is also one of the co-founders of metal band Helloween, which he rejoined in 2016. He is a promine ...

– vocals, guitars * Michael Weikath – guitars *

Markus Grosskopf Markus Grosskopf (born 21 September 1965) is a German musician who is the bass guitarist, backing vocalist and a founding member of the power metal band Helloween. Biography Grosskopf started playing bass at the age of 15 when he became friend ...

– bass *

Ingo Schwichtenberg Ingo "Mr. Smile" Schwichtenberg (18 May 1965 – 8 March 1995) was a German drummer and one of the founding members of the power metal band Helloween. Biography Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow said about Schwichtenberg in an interview 1999: ...

– drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Death Metal (Split Album) Helloween albums Hellhammer albums Running Wild (band) albums 1984 EPs Split EPs Noise Records EPs