For those of you who do not know, Chuck Schuldiner inspired millions of people. He inspired a metal movement; the movement known as death metal. Few have effected metal greatly like he did. Chuck Schuldiner is the guitarist and vocalist of Death which he formed in 1983. To this day Death are still very influential. The band went through a lot of lineup changes, but Chuck not only continued with his music, he also progressed as a musician. I have decided to write a review for this influential band and give my point of view on Death’s 1991 effort,
Human, which had a very strong lineup.
Human
Human is a rather short album with only 8 tracks, and the tracks themselves aren’t that long either. Despite its shortness, there is still plenty of time for the band to showcase their talent. The riffs in this album are technical, furious, heavy, and every other positive thing you can think of. The guitar sound is full of highs and lows but you can tell there isn’t very much mids. This can be a good or bad thing because it is a personal preference. I would have liked there to be more mids. In my opinion it would have made the overall sound of the album fuller. The guitar still sounds good though. The bass isn’t very loud like it was in the band’s next album,
Individual Thought Patterns. The drumming in this album is solid and quite technical, but not as technical as
Symbolic or
The Sound of Perseverance.
The Sound of Perseverance had impressive drumming but the extreme technicality wasn’t always needed. On
Human the drumming is not overdone. The songs have a good vibe and the drums are still impressive.
The songwriting is great and helps make
Human excellent. Chuck's skillful songwriting as well as the band's improved musicianship is demonstrated on songs like the instrumental, “Cosmic Sea”. It has an awesome bass line about halfway through and there are some slower parts in the song which create different moods so this is definitely an atmospheric song. The vocals suited the power and furiousness of the riffs. “The Flattening of Emotions” captures this right from the start. Chuck Schuldiner’s vocals are unique and difficult to explain. An aspect that I like about Death is you can usually understand what he is saying. His screams are just as powerful as the riffs and make the songs sound even more intense. The vocals aren’t high-pitch or real low, yet they might take a bit of getting used to.
“Suicide Machine” is a catchy track with a mid-tempo beat. Both the verse and chorus are catchy making it one of the strongest songs off the album, though there isn’t any filler. “Together as One” has a neat guitar melody in the verse and is one of the faster songs. On “Secret Face” some effects are used on the guitar which is most likely a phaser. There is also a clean part at the beginning of “Lack Of Comprehension”. These attempts of experimentation are beneficial because the variation makes
Human even more interesting than it already it is.
There are so many positive things about
Human that to experience the genius of it you will have to actually listen to it. It is truly an excellent death metal album and is a must-have if you like this band, if you like death metal or even metal in general. It is one of Death’s best albums. What lowered the score a little is the production and that it is a bit short but this is barely an issue because there is no filler. It has everything that you could want from Death: powerful and heavy riffs, impressive drumming, vocals that intensify the music, and great songwriting.
Death (on this album) consisted of:
Chuck Schuldiner- guitar and vocals
Paul Masvidal- guitar
Steve DiGiorgio- bass
Sean Reinert- drums
My Top 3:
- Flattening of Emotions
- Suicide Machine
- Together as One
