Here are the five best death metal bands from Asia, chosen by Ripped to Shreds leader Andrew Lee.
While, sonically, Ripped to Shreds’ sound takes influence from all corners of the globe, Lee’s Chinese and Taiwanese heritage informs the lyrical content and visual themes.
With this band so brutally and brilliantly serving as an ode to the East, we’ve invited Lee to shout out some of the absolute best death metal bands from the continent of Asia.
What You Need to Know About Ripped to Shreds
From: San Jose, California
First Album: 埋葬 (2018)
New Album: Sanshi (2024)
Andrew Lee first formed Ripped to Shreds as a one-man operation. Since, he’s been a real underground champion. He not only plays in a multitude of other brutal bands, but runs Nameless Grave Records and further props up the scene he’s dedicating his life to.
The first Sanshi single, “Perverted the Funeral Rites, Stripping for the Dead,” is based on a Taiwanese funeral rite which is exactly as what the song’s title describes.
“We wanted to come out of the gates swinging with our most morbid and grinding material yet. ‘Perverting…’ showcases our new live approach with constant vocal and solo tradeoffs, and we shot the video in Taiwan with a real Daoist priest as a natural extension of RTS’ narrative approach to songwriting,” asserts Lee.
Watch the music video below and see the Ripped to Shreds visionary’s list picks further below.
Get your copy of ‘Sanshi’ (out Sept. 27 on Relapse Records) here and follow Ripped to Shreds on Bandcamp, Instagram, Spotify, X and Facebook.
Ripped to Shreds, “Perverting the Funeral Rites, Stripping for the Dead”
Five Best Death Metal Bands From Asia, Chosen by Ripped to Shreds’ Andrew Lee
Death metal bands Ripped to Shreds in front of a mausoleum
Brain Corrosion (death metal/grindcore)
From: Taipei, Taiwan
Most recent release: Exhumed from Eastern Tombs (split with RTS, 2020)
I first met Sleazy Derek, the bassist of BC, when he organized a Butcher ABC gig in Taipei sometime in 2019. Before then I hadn’t heard of Brain Corrosion, but I was blown away by the sick deathgrind grooves and blasting!
They play in a style kind of similar to Machetazo or Impetigo and would’ve fit right in with all the Razorback Records classics. We got along pretty well and I invited Derek to join the first live version of RTS, with him on vocals. Our original plans to go on tour in Europe fell through, but we played some shows in Taiwan together.
Sleazy Derek is pretty much the nexus of all DIY grindcore happenings in Taiwan. My one-man gore band (Houkago Grind Time) went on tour with Derek’s other gore band Myxoma last year and we’re going on tour again in the U.K. in September. Fingers crossed I can bring Brain Corrosion to the U.S. some time.
Dharma (symphonic death metal)
From: Taipei, Taiwan
Most recent release: Three Thousand Realms in a Single Thought Moment 一念三千 (2022)
Dharma is the brainchild of drummer Jack Tung and vocalist Joe Henley. Joe was my first point of contact into the extreme metal scene in Taiwan and he’s played in bands for the better part of two decades there.
The concept is to promote Buddhism and the lyrics are scriptures sung in Sanskrit. Musically they’re along the lines of Behemoth or later Septicflesh and also incorporate a monk to lead in live chants and play the singing bowl.
Intestine Baalism (melodic death metal)
From: Tokyo, Japan
Most recent release: Ultimate Instinct (2008)
The OGs of melodic death metal and one of the longest running death metal bands from Japan (since ’91!), where grindcore reigns supreme and death metal is relegated to the wayside.
Their early material is more straightforward Dismember plus Suffocation worship, with their own twists on melodies that wouldn’t sound out of place in j-rock/vkei, and start incorporating some slam elements in later albums.
They never fall into the trap that most early aughts melodeath bands did, where riffs and blasts are sacrificed for synths and rock grooves, keeping brutality and low vocals at the forefront. I was lucky enough to reissue their albums on vinyl through the label I run with my buddy Brandon, Nameless Grave, and I’ve heard some whisperings about new material from the band that I’m ultra excited about.
Biomorphic Engulfment (brutal death metal)
From: Bangkok, Thailand
Most recent release: Incubation in the Parallel Dimension (2021)
BLASTBEATS! Drummer Polwach Beokhaimook is one of the sickest and most prolific gore/noise/brutal DM drummers in Thailand, blasting in bands such as Cystgurgle, Smallpox Aroma, or Ecchymosis.
Biomorphic Engulfment are all speed, only occasionally slowing down to momentarily ride a double bass groove before going straight back into chunky brutality. No slams to be found here, it’s all ping snare blasting. Songs are also punctuated by short bursts of melodic soloing which helped their new album really stand out in a sea of bland NSE mundanity.
Impiety (black/death metal)
From: Singapore
Most recent release: Versus All Gods (2019)
Impiety are one of the oldest extreme metal bands from Asia, starting in ’88 as Sexfago before changing their name in ’90. They’re one of the best known with multiple tours across Europe.
Hailing from a time before death or black metal solidified their musical stylings, they retained a clarity and brutality to their recordings that their rawer contemporaries such as Blasphemy or Mystifier didn’t have. Although their production values are much higher these days, Impiety has remained loyal to their musical roots with raw thrashing war metal assault to this day.
READ MORE: The 10 Best Doom Metal Drummers, Ranked by Crypt Sermon’s Enrique Sagarnaga
Obituary’s Don Tardy: My 10 Favorite Albums When I Was a Teenager
Legendary death metal drummer Don Tardy of Obituary takes us through his favorite music from his youth.
Gallery Credit: Obituary’s Don Tardy
