The Black Dahlia Murder - Unhallowed (2003)
Many say that The Black Dahlia Murder aren't really deathcore, and as far as sounding like Suicide Silence this is obviously correct, but they are most certainly a founding band of the genre, even if they're kinda proto-deathcore. Like The Red Chord they are a stripped down version of death metal crossed with 90's hardcore and metalcore, but throw in a truckload of melodic death metal to make everything more fun.
With the death metal influence everything is satisfying brutal, and definitely more bitchin' than a lot of their later material; with the hardcore/metal influence the **** is way immediate and ****ing rips like a mofo; and the At the Gates riffs are just a ****load of fun, making the album catchy and catchy and catchy. There isn't a whole lot of variety here, but since we're talking about an amalgamation of death metal and hardcore that's kind of to be expected. Whatevs.
As is usual with deathcore the vocals aren't the best, but as with the best deathcore they have a heavy dose of energy to make up for it. I'm still not the singer's biggest fan, but having seen him live I'll say that he's a beast of a performer.
As one of the progenitors of deathcore this album shows much promise, even though much of that promise would be squandered by a ****show of ****ty bands. Regardless, this album rules and rips and is raucous.