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Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of metal which combines the melody of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) with the intensity of death metal. The genre is also known as Gothenburg metal, a reference to the city in Sweden where it originated. Originally the genre combined the harmony style and groove melodies of heavy metal with the harsh thrashing sound and vocals of death metal. Early melodic metal bands seem to have taken lots of influence from American bands

Melodic death metal contains more melodic guitar riffs, melodic solos, and acoustic guitar work than death metal. It also contains more comprehensible lyrics with traditional death growl and screaming vocals. The pioneers of melodic death metal include Dark Tranquillity, Carcass, At the Gates and In Flames. Sentenced is also sometimes credited as one of the first melodic death metal bands with their release of North From Here. Some melodic death metal bands combine the genre with other metal genres such as progressive metal (e.g. Into Eternity), power metal (e.g. Children of Bodom), symphonic metal (e.g. Eternal Tears of Sorrow), thrash metal (e.g. Arch Enemy), doom metal (e.g. Swallow the Sun) and folk metal (e.g.Eluveitie).

In the late 1990s, many melodic death metal bands changed their style of playing by adding more melodic elements; more melodic choruses and riffs and making more prominent use of keyboards. Also many melodic death metal bands moved away from the lyrical themes of death, gore, and murder common in other death metal groups.