I dont know , i have noticed that also. Most of the bands come from northern europe (i.e Finland). I think it is because we are confined to the mtv world. We dont have any foundation of black/death metal bands in the U.S

It's passe perhaps?

I agree, there is no foundation of black metal in the US. Most of the people start out possibly in the Nu Metal genre or don't exactly research on the internet to discover bands over seas. They only see Dummu Borgir on MTV and think it's "cool" rather than looking for something true. When i've talked to any members of US black metal bands, their influences are always the most generic, and probably don't even know that there are much better bands out there that link to their style. they always just say Dimmu Borgir, Old Mans Child, Emperor, "Dark Throne" (not Darkthrone with proper sp), and Satyricon. It seems that most of the bands just discover the surface of black metal, rather than the entire iceberg below the surface.

I agree that we do not have the greatest black metal bands with the exception of a few (summon and so forth) however we do have some great death metal bands from america.....angel corpse, broken hope, brutal truth, cannibal corpse,control denied, death, deceased, dying fetus, exhumed, immolation, incantation, malevolent creation, vital remains, suffocation, six feet under, solient green just to name a few are all great bands in my opinion.

I think there are alot of good black/death bands from the US. The reason there aren't more, though, is because Americans are into so many different kinds of music that metal gets kind of lost in the foray. http://www.myspace.com/ibexthrone

There are GREAT death/black metal bands from San Francisco! Artificium Sanguis Impaled exhumed weakling 100 suns those are a few that you can check out!

I suppose the extreme metal scene sort of split in the mid 80's, with two distinct sounds. Death metal was invented in america, while black metal came from the frozen wastelands of scandinavia (all lyrical differences aside) Black Metal is just like CLASSIC METAL, classic metal was invented in England and never really left England... The cold and harsh climate of Scandinavia seems to withhold the Black Metal scene in Northern Europe.

I think it's more based on what is mainstream versus what it is what you find otherwise. in a lot of cases you really have to search hard for good death metal. And if you don't know the right people, visit the right places, etc., it can be incredibly hard to find it. The rarity of it creates an underground group and following all of it's own. For example it's easier to follow metalcore then it is to follow strict death metal, due to the lack of media stations playing it as well as venues that even acknowledge its existence. So in effect, if you don't have that influence, chances are your not going to end up playing that kind of music.

I've been listening to death metal since I was 15, thrash metal before that. The more gore the better. My take is Death metal is just murderous lyrics; America was founded on bloodshed, and the slaughter of our lands indigenous people, our national religion (Christianity) is one of the most bloody in history. As Six Feet Under put it "America the Brutal," wasn't that great, but holds true nonetheless. Granted, most metal heads aren't Christian, but bloodshed is our way as a nation. I won't tell you the rest of the world is utopia, however, from our founders, the puritans, and the witch trials this is a murderous nation. Now, metal heads see this, and we understand how disgusting it is, and we want people to see just how much so it is, thus; we put it down in the most disturbing, rotted body landslide, entrails ripped from a virgins c**t, Multiple Stab Wounds way possible. The better question is why did some of the most influential death metal bands come from Florida; Obituary, Malevolent Creation, Death, etc? Even the dude from Hypocrisy came down here to hang with, and learn from the bands down here. I was personally born here, and have no answer. I as well enjoy black metal, but cannot say why Norway makes the best black metal.