Deathstep is, by majority consensus, one of the most hardcore genres of dubstep. The genre's root concept combines death metal with Brostep elements; specifically, the beat and the bass. It is characterized by a lack of melody, deep distorted growls and basses, death metal drums and distorted guitars, ominous choirs and 'pan' snares. Usually between 130-150 BPM.
Notable artists include (not limited to) Code: Pandorum, Kretan, Moth, KRAM, Dyroth and White Eyes,
History[]
The term 'Deathstep' was first used by the artist Mobthrow in the homonymous track 'Deathstep' from Mutant dubstep EP released back in March 2009. It was a term to describe his new music influenced by death metal and dubstep. Notably, it was also used in a track called 'Voices From God (Deathstep VIP)' by the Polish producer Substep Infrabass . The term "Deathstep" was coined simultaneously and coincidentally by the two respective artist to describe their unique works, without any prior coordination or connection.
In 2011, Bratkilla released his Deathstep LP - solidifying Deathstep as a category of its own. Since this release, Deathstep has steadily grown into what you see today. Even branching out multiple sub genres under it.
Many consider Bratkilla to be the founder Deathstep, but Bratkilla himself claimed it existed before his contributions. The underground music community recognizes Substep Infrabass as the pioneer of the subgenre, and is regarded as one of the most important pillars of the scene along with Bratkilla and MOTH. Many artists like Chrispy and Moth picked this up early and made their own version of it.
The growth of the community is all thanks to few youtube channels that consistently promotes underground music throughout the years, including Community Mix Productions, Hydraulic Damnation, DJFROST, DubstepDose and many more. And the tight-knit communities on Discord and Reddit provide a space for enthusiasts to come together, build a community, and appreciate the music.
Structure[]
Deathstep is a combination of death metal and brostep. Thus, we need to bring out the best of both worlds. Deathstep frameworks usually begin with ominous-sounding guitar riffs, with lots of choir. The drums usually consist of a very solid and hard kick, and a very heavy ‘pan’ snare with a lot of riff. The basses are heavily distorted and low pitched. Artists use 'machine gun basses', usually in triplets, along with more heavily distorted growls and screeches.
Machine Gun basses were first introduced to the "Deathstep" scene by the artist named "Sadhu". Machine Gun Basses are heavy, distorted bass plucks which heavily resembles the sound of a machine gun firing. Machine Gun basses often have pronounced transients and sub-basses with pitch bend to mimic a short pitch fall to create a kick-like sound provides more rhythm to the low end of a track.
Pan snares are a specific kind of snare drum which are often layered with metal noises with longer decays. Due to the nature of the sound, listeners associated the metal sound to pan-hitting noise, hence became "pan snares". Pan snares became a popular element of deathstep tracks due to artists like Code:Pandorum and Dyroth who heavily utilized pan-snares in their tracks. Code:Pandorum, one of the earliest artists to use pan snares, admitted that these wonky, metallic snares were a direct inspiration from the legendary Drum and Bass artist, "Katharsys" who is well known for using metallic snares in his tracks.
Deathstep tracks often have well-built intros and breakdowns exhibiting a range of sounds and music styles from Death metal guitar riffs to Demonic Orchestral Choirs. Deathstep may have a variety of sounds but the music is ultimately presented with a hard, heavy-hitting Dubstep drop which makes the listeners go hay-wire. Deathstep, being influenced by Death Metal, often features satanic /demonic imagery so viewer discretion is advised.
Edit: Article failed to mention Mantis, nothing more need be said.
Examples:
- Code:Pandorum - Soldiers ft. Advm Stvne
- Dyroth - Destruction
- Moth - What Never Was
- HaXim - Doom
- KRAM - Perversity