I think it’s pretty well established who the “Big Four” are. But like, aren’t they all thrash bands or something? Well whatever. I think for this Gospel, I’d like to go through a few candidates for the “Big Four” of techdeath.

I also think that it’s pretty safe to say that the OG Big four are among the founders of the subgenre. Death, Cynic, Atheist and Gorguts are pretty up there, however I will absolutely leave this open for debate. Just my personal opinion, yanno? I’m not going to yap on about them, as I said in the first chapter, for kinda obvious reasons (i.e. I don’t need to). So, anyway..

I remember the first time I saw Origin, on the last good Summer Slaughter a few years ago. They were completely new to me, and I was instantly hooked by how ungodly heavy they were.  I went home to investigate them further, and fuck me sideways! They had been around since I was still sucking my thumb (yo, I stopped in like 3rd grade, ok?) And man, that’s the latest to the game I’ve ever been. But man, I was in love. I went through their discog, and Entity immediately sucked me in. Antithesis was pretty incredible too. Ohhhhh and they had just released Omnipresent with that new guy who always stage dives! I love Entity, I think it’s the masterpiece, but god damn do I love “Unequivocal” (off of Unparalleled Universe).
But what gets me is that even though they’ve been around for over 20 years, they’re still painfully underground, and I think still pretty unappreciated. I can’t fathom the day these dudes will pack it in, but it’ll be a fucking dismal day when they do.

I was pretty late to the game when I discovered Nile too, but what do you expect from a kid who grew up on oldies, fell into pop music in their preteen years, and ended up being an emo kid throughout highschool? I was instantly pulled in by the Middle Eastern influence and heavy Egyptian mythology (who isn’t?).
Though I was pretty heartbroken after Dallas Toler-Wade left, Brian Kingsland is a solid replacement. I love seeing him share vocals, almost equally, with mastermind Karl Sanders and bassist Brian Parris. Dudes have been going since 1993, with no intention of slowing down. And they’re still absolutely killing it.
It’s 2019, and George Kollias is projected to release (at least) two incredible albums this year. Whatever Nile is cooking up is one of them, and THIS is another.

What’s your favorite Nile song, and why is it “Annihilation of the Wicked”?

And of course, there’s Necrophagist. Sure, I’ll probably get some flack for putting them in here. And sure, Suicmez has been pretty MIA since… IDK, their last show was in 2012, I think? He’s been seen around a bit since but guys, c’mon. Some of the greatest names in tech emerged from that project, i.e. Hannes Grossmann and Christian Munzner. And Marco Minnemann.

I don’t even remember the first time I heard “Extreme Unction”. But it was love at first listen. And then I delved into the shallow puddle that is their discography, and loved every second of it.  Whereas the might not be all that relevant anymore, especially in the grand scheme of tech, one cannot simply deny

So, I’ve given you three. And I am torn between a handful of rather pinnacle bands as to who would round out this quartet the most adequately. If YOU had to choose, who would it be? Sound off in the comments, eh?