Necrophagist

Germany's Necrophagist are renowned for their improbably complex and instrumentally sophisticated interpretations of the necessarily brutal death metal sound, which they also see fit to adorn with lyrics steeped both in relevant social qualms and gory medical pathology. The band was formed in 1992 and is still helmed by vocalist/guitarist Muhammed Suiçmez, but its membership has otherwise remained in constant flux, and the first Necrophagist album, 1999's Onset of Putrefaction, found the man himself working solo with only a drum machine to keep him company. Needless to say, this didn't bode well for live performance, so Suiçmez proceeded to hire and fire over half a dozen sidemen for road work, before settling on guitarist Christian Münzner, bassist Stefan Fimmers, and drummer Hannes Grossman for the recording of Necrophagist's second album, Epitaph, in 2004. In spite of the connotations implied by its title, the band remained active thereafter and in 2009 featured Suiçmez, Fimmers, guitarist Sami Raatikainen, and drummer Romain Goulon, but has yet to record again.