Decibel Magazine: Deron Miller's (CKY) Top 10 Death Metal Albums of All Time

Deron Miller's (CKY) Top 10 Death Metal Albums of All Time

Posted June 4 by Chris D.

CKY's Deron Miller might not be the most obvious death metal nut, but the dude is totally into it. Not because it's fashionable -- death metal is the new black metal -- but because he's been connected to death metal for a good long while. When not jamming with drummer Tim Yeung (Divine Heresy, ex-Hate Eternal, Decrepit Birth) in death metal outfit World Under Blood, Miller spends time penning liner notes for Metal Mind's reissues of key Roadrunner Records classics.

Read on as the CKY singer/guitarist spills guts on his Top 10 Death Metal Albums of All Time. They're mega-brutal!

10. Death - Leprosy
1988
Combat
Chuck's second record. And probably his heaviest. A real improvement over Scream Bloody Gore. This one's chock full of classics like "Open Casket", "Forgotten Past", "Choke On It" and of course "Pull The Plug".

9. Cancer - Death Shall Rise
1991
Vinyl Solution / Restless
Probably one of the heaviest records ever. Thanks to James Murphy and Scott Burns, cancer's second effort blew away the underground's low expectations of this UK based band. John Walker's vocals on this record may be the sickest ever recorded. Killer solos as well. A must have.

8. Immolation - Unholy Cult
2002
Metal Blade
Immolation returned in 2002 with a record that topped all of their previous. Dark melodies, killer groove parts and that instantly recognizable Immolation sound.

7. Decrepit Birth - ...And Time Begins
2003
Unique Leader
Master of the drum kit, Tim Yeung helps Decrepit Birth out on their debut of time changes, one pass riffs, and brutality beyond belief.

6. Incantation - Upon the Throne of Apocalypse
1995
Relapse
This rough mix of the album Mortal Throne of Nazarene is a shitload better than the final mix...sickly heavy and limited to 2,000 copies in 1995.

5. Malevolent Creation - Envenomed
2000
Arctic Music Group / Pavement
Most bands don’t come back with one of their best albums 10 years into their career. This one’s a top notch speed assault on the ears, with more melody and better vocals than any of their other records.

4. Pestilence - Spheres
1993
Roadrunner
A BOLD experiment from an otherwise generic death metal band.

3. Malevolent Creation - Retribution
1992
Roadrunner
A brutal, rhythmic masterpiece from the best death metal band ever.

2. Gorguts - The Erosion of Sanity
1993
Roadrunner
The most technically brilliant record ever. Not over-complicated like most records of this type are today, this one still boasts hooks and melodies through layering. Unmatched to this day.

1. Death - Spiritual Healing
1990
Combat
Intelligently made the crossover from raw/gory to political/polished, without sacrificing brutality. The first Death record that had more of Chuck's mark than Possessed or Venom's...classic.

*** CKY's Carver City is out now on Roadrunner Records. ***

Posted 6/4/2009 1:39 PM by Avail73

CANCER! Death Shall Rise is a classic. I need to track that down. It's $50 used on Amazon! Jesus!

Posted 6/4/2009 2:18 PM by Conduit

I'm haggard enough to have all three Cancer records on tape. Yeah boyeeee. Good list here, if a bit unsurprising for a Malevolent Creation fan

Posted 6/4/2009 2:27 PM by Jesus

Into the Grave is the best DM album ever. Followed by None So Vile, Effigy of the Forgotten, Last One on Earth, and Human. Also Mortal Throne of Nazarene is awesome, the rough mix notwithstanding.

Posted 6/4/2009 3:35 PM by Metal Nerd

Black Seeds Of Vengence, Human, Persirtance Of Time, Deicide, Once Upon The Cross, Domination, Butcherd At Birth, Terrifier, Alters Of Madness. Class dimissed everyone

Posted 6/4/2009 4:59 PM by astral zombie

umm..."Persirtance" Of Time isn't a death metal record, and neither is Terrifier...go back to school!

Posted 6/4/2009 5:07 PM by Conduit

I love when lists like these are posted and people come in with theirs, and holy shit opinions become facts, suddenly.

Posted 6/4/2009 5:41 PM by catsaremetal

I give Deron props for doing that Death tribute album.

Posted 6/4/2009 11:40 PM by frank

I mean, regardless of his favorite death metal albums, I give this guy props because CKY Vol. 1 is a killer fucking album, especially if you were in highschool when it came out. Catchy metal. Promiscuous daughter.

Posted 6/5/2009 12:31 AM by MMM88

Good call on "Retribution" and "Dead Shall Rise".. and Pestilence is generic ??!!.. Spheres is almost a Jazz/Fusion album with some DM hints here and there.

Posted 6/5/2009 12:03 PM by Jason

GORGUTS "The Erosion of Sanity" is my favorite metal album (or any genre, really) of all time.

Posted 6/5/2009 1:31 PM by LightningRider

You know..... Spiritual Healing is probably my favorite Death record as well.

Posted 6/7/2009 12:09 PM by Dementia

Definitely a wise choice with Spiritual Healing and Erosion of Sanity. I would have tacked on a little Morbid Angel's "Covenant" and Cryptopsy's "None So Vile" myself...

Posted 6/7/2009 5:20 PM by Tim

Interesting list, lots of second and third tier death metal acts on the list. Probably the first time I've ever seen a Top 10 death metal list without either Carcass, Entombed, Bolt Thrower, or Morbid Angel. Might be time for me to give MC's Retribution another listen.

Posted 6/7/2009 11:12 PM by BarrenPraise

Never cared for Death Shall Rise, even though Murphy ruled on it. (Murphy always rules) "Tasteless Incest" always rubbed me the wrong way. (pun fully intended) Where's the love for Like an Ever Flowing Stream?

Posted 6/8/2009 1:02 PM by jinete nocturno

Totally agree with the two from Malevolent Creation, THE BEST DEATH METAL BAND EVER (with Brett on vocals of course!)

Posted 6/8/2009 7:14 PM by AWM

Good thing we have "Metal Nerd" on here to tell us that ANTHRAX is death metal. The major omission here is Altars of Madness but given that it's just not one of the dudes personal favorites there is nothing wrong with the list. Actually, adding Nile or Deicide on there would only have shitted it up.

Posted 6/8/2009 9:19 PM by bearwizard

how the fuck is atheist generic?

Posted 6/8/2009 10:54 PM by MMM88

Actually he was talking about Pestilence.. like AWM pointed out, its a matter of opinion plus I think for a guy coming from a band like CKY the list is actually pretty good. As for Pestilence, generic they definitely are not. For me personally they were and still is the stand out band from that whole Dutch DM scene.

Posted 6/9/2009 11:55 AM by Luis Benavides

No very clever election.

Posted 7/5/2009 11:55 AM by chuckbeef

Fantasy football league for death metal fans! http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/register/joinprivateleague_league_select?league_id=180400&jsubmit=1

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