Thoughts on Technical Death Metal?
 

What is your opinion on it? I have mixed feelings. I personally enjoy the instrumentals, and admire skill required to play most technical death metal, but then again, I'm not really a big fan of death metal in the first place.

Honestly, I never really know which bands are considered "technical" and which bands are just plain old "death metal". Looking at Wikipedia's entry for technical death metal, I see several bands I like and a couple that don't really do it for me (most of which have more of a progressive element to them). So I guess the answer is I like it, by and large, except when it gets too proggy.

Spawn of Possession's album from last year, Incurso is a pretty good example of technical death metal. Later Death albums, like The Sound of Perseverance (1998) is another good example.

I can't say I'm the biggest fan, some bands can get a little too wankery with it and I feel it kills the flow, but when it's done right it can be pretty good.

Yeah, I'm generally a fan of the raw and simple stuff like Obituary or Obliteration, but like Pete said, when it's done right, it's fine. Suffocation would be a good example. I'm not a good judge of technicality, but at least from what I gather, they're pretty ****ing technical.

Based on the Wiki entry, I have albums from Meshuggah, Oceano, Beneath The Massacre, and Death. I have listened to various songs from each band listed and have come to the realization that I really like most of what I heard. I'm a weird music fan though, as I rather like full genres as opposed to the bands within.

I get lost in all these metal sub genres. I keep it simple I like black and death metal and, the technicality always rules..but, can be easily overdone and seem a little pretentious.

It's a difficult thing to discuss because most all extreme metal bands have quality instrumentation. What differentiates "technical" death metal from the vanilla variety seems to be.... an emphasis on making it apparent that it's technical. The result being you get guitar solos coming at random, drums triggered to such an extent it sounds like a drum machine, etc....

This emphasis on technicality bores me.

If I had to simply and personally define technical death meal, it would be essentially death metal, with ostentatious instrumentals, and unusual styles.
It usually includes stuff like face-melting guitar solos, unnervingly fast drums, and stupidly complicated bass lines.

Listen to Desseminated Intravascular Coagulation by Viermia.

Gorguts' Obscura is a fantastic album, but like Janszoon said, the rest of my death metal listening may or may not fall into the "technical" sub-category, leaving me with a dearth of things to mention or a good perspective on the sub-genre as a whole.