Death Metal Musicians Play Their Favorite Songs

In this Gear Factor compilation, watch death metal musicians play their favorite songs.

While these musicians (all guitarists and one drummer) play brutal, aggressive and extreme music, their backgrounds all point in very different directions.

With technical precision being one of the calling cards of death metal musicianship, it’s no surprise to hear the likes of Paul Gilbert and Yngwie Malmsteen crop up as critical early influences.

READ MORE: The 27 Best Death Metal Albums of 2024

You’ll even hear severely downtuned renditions of Yes and Van Morrison riffs as the starting point for one band that’s been heating up throughout the 2020s.

Featured in this video:

• Brendon Small (Dethklok / Galaktikon)
• Brandon Ellis (The Black Dahlia Murder)
• John Cooke (Napalm Death)
• George Kollias (Nile)
• Kyle Beam and Jared Welch (Undeath)
• Dave Davidson (Revocation)
• Brody Uttley (Rivers of Nihil)
• Charles Elliott (Abysmal Dawn)

With Nile‘s George Kollias being the lone non-guitarist in the Gear Factor episode, he provides refreshing contrast to the shred frenzy. He’s one of the leaders in extreme metal drumming and he shouts out Metallica‘s …And Justice for All as one of his earliest obsessions when learning how to play.

Watch the full episode below.

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