Death's Complete Discography

Liner Notes: This has taken me a month to write, simply because I re-wrote practically every review twice. It's two weeks overdue, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless.

Scream Bloody Gore

****

Death's signature début "Scream Bloody Gore" effectively invented "death metal" with its raw, "in-your-face" riffs, wild solos and guttural vocals. Standouts such as "Infernal Death", "Mutilation" and "Zombie Ritual" clearly display the early roots of extreme metal and while a sense of "sameism" sets in around half-way through and the highly primitive production hinders the listener from truly marvelling at metal genius Chuck Schuldiner, who actually recorded both the guitar and bass tracks for the album. SBG is a sorely overlooked album, and while it has its share of flaws, it set the standard for death metal albums to come.

Must Download: "Infernal Death", "Zombie Ritual", "Scream Bloody Gore"

Leprosy

***

"Leprosy", Death's second effort tones all the speed and aggression down a notch to provide a more rich, layered sound while still retaining the true "raw" feel of SBG. Although it attempts a matured approach to death metal, the overall feel of the album is more of a step backwards in terms of awfully conventional song structures and Slayer-esque guitar solos. That's not to say that it's a bad album as such, but not even the brutal vocals and lyrics can't compensate for this rather disappointing follow-up to one of metal's most pivotal albums.

Must Download: "Leprosy", "Pull the Plug"

Spiritual Healing

**

Looking back at the Death catalogue, one album sticks out for being the hardest to even comment on, let alone review. This album is their third effort "Spiritual Healing", a real evolution in terms of the actual musical content, but perhaps tarnishing the one thing that gave Death its unique quality; the vocals and lyrics. Rather than continuing on horror-film themed gore, Death decided to write more about political and philosophical ideas, as well as ditching the guttural singing in exchange for a more coherent yet out of place vocal style which presents a stylistic change, and never quite sinks in. But beyond that, Spiritual Healing succeeds in successfully taking Death to a new technical standard never achieved before by a death metal band, while still keeping the brutality of earlier releases. The production is very clean, with the solos being particularly excellent and some very memorable riffs. From what is audible, the vocals are recorded twice and overlapped to give a harmonized effect, but ultimately over-complicates things and ends up being ignored. While Spiritual Healing shouldn't be completely ignored at all, it can't compete with other Death releases in terms of its purity and therefore gets promptly relegated to the "for the hardcore" crowd.

Must Download: "Living Monstrosity", "Spiritual Healing"

Human

*****

With "Human", Death combine everything great about the first two albums; the mindblowing speed and aggression, with the technical proficiency of "Spiritual Healing" to create an epic masterpiece that leaves the listener in awe of Chuck and his genius. One of Death's most solid line-ups features Cynic co-founders Sean Reinart and Paul Masvidal and fretless bass legend Steve DiGorgio, and with such a strong line-up, only an equally strong album can be expected. The first half of the album sees a more straightforward brutal approach, akin to SBG and Spiritual Healing, with the second half laying the seeds for the progressive and technical sound found in later albums. Simply put, Human is an essential title for any metal fanatic.

Must Download: "Flattening of Emotions", "Suicide Machine", "Lack of Comprehension", "Cosmic Sea"

Individual Thought Patterns

****

Two years after their masterpiece "Human", Death recorded Individual Thought Patterns, an album which some consider to be their best, while others ignore completely. While neither is viable, ITP is a damn good album. And why? Because Death tone down the aggression and speed in favour of a very technical approach. Just listen to the two-handed tap-intro to "The Philosopher" or the fret-dancing intro to "Trapped in a Corner" and the reality becomes clear; this is a very different Death we hear. A constantly evolving Death. A Death which can never get stale. Which isn't to say that ITP is perfect by any means; the one biggest problem I have is the bass. It always seems to be letting off wet farts and it really bugs me, especially in the middle of a guitar solo or Chuck's singing. And it's really surprising how Death could allow such atrocious mixing to happen, but 1993 has gone and passed.

Must Download: "The Philosopher", "Destiny", "Trapped in a Corner"

Symbolic

*****

Words can't give Death's sixth effort enough credit. "Symbolic" is what Death has been building up to since 1983; an unrelentlessly angry yet compromisingly progressive album which oozes genius from each pore. It's hard to describe Symbolic without listening to it, but if it were possible, it would go something like this: each riff and solo leave a lasting mark in your eardrum and Chuck's expert song composition is only matched by his brutal yet subtly coherent vocal style and the layered guitar lines along with a perfectly composed bassline. Simply put, you must own this.

Must Download: "Zero Tolerance", "Empty Words", "Sacred Serenity", "Crystal Mountain"

The Sound of Perseverance

****

The Death saga concludes with "The Sound of Perseverance", widely regarded as one of their finest efforts. Listening to Symbolic and TSoP one after another is harshly deceiving, because TSoP is so different from all other Death albums. As a friend of mine said, Chuck sounds like Rob Halford choking on pieces of glass, the solos are yet again excellently performed, and second guitarist Shannon Hamm really "clicks" with Chuck creating a great guitar duo and some brilliant music. The album grips you like a parasite and doesn't let you go till you've heard and appreciated every last riff and growl. Even the instrumental "Voice of the Soul" grasps the listener's attention and demands it fully. The stand-out track is definitely the cover of Judas Priest's "Painkiller", from the opening power metal screech to the completely new guitar solos to the closing "PAIN!", this cover is one that matches the original. Death truly went out with a bang.

Must Download: "Scavanger of Human Sorrow", "Bite the Pain", "Spirit Crusher", "Painkiller"