It seems unlikely, I know. Black metal, once home to some of the most creative minds in music, is stagnant. It can only blame itself, though: if it hadn't spent so much time arguing about its own characteristics, it might have stayed green forever. But it did: black metal liner notes are practically manifestoes, and critics, who love narrative more than they love their own mothers, dutifully set the narrative in stone. Death metal, though, never got its hopes raised by assholes like us, and never had any pretensions toward political ideology or subcultural identity. Such death metal identity as exists is best seen on the DVD that accompanies the new Deicide CD: it's Foghat on tour in 1978, essentially, only with less money, more Satan, and better weed. In short, death metal is a field in which all efforts are going to have to reward themselves, because any external rewards are mighty slim, and it doesn't look like things'll be changing on that front any time soon.