Review Summary: Featuring the strongest lineup in the band's history, Human struggles to be anything less than essential.
Every genre has a pioneer, a single artist that came to define the genre. Trip Hop had Massive Attack. Nu-Metal had Korn. And death metal had none other than the band aptly named Death. This band has been incredibly influential in the metal world since their formation in 1983. The leader of the band is the now deceased Chuck Schuldiner who was one of the leading figures in the extreme metal world. I learned about this band through this website and then went to check out their album Scream Bloody Gore. I was very impressed and wanted to hear more. The next album that I decided to get was this one, and Human still remains to be my favorite.
Death was on this album:
Chuck Schuldiner " Guitar and Vocals
Steve DiGiorgio - Bass
Paul Masvidal - Guitar
Sean Reinert " Drums
What was good about this album:
-- This album is loaded with plenty of catchy and often technical riffs that most metal fans can"t help but be entertained by. Schuldiner is one of metal"s greatest songwriters and I think that it shows the most on this album. His riffs make the songs flow very well and the songs never really become tedious.
-- The rhythm section is solid. Steve DiGiorgio does a fantastic job (as he usually does) and Reinhart is always providing the band with a solid and fast drum beat. Most of the time the songs are focused on the guitars and Chuck"s vocals, but occasionally the rhythm section will get to show off their obvious talent.
-- The band"s sound has greatly matured since their formation. When Scream Bloody Gore came out the album had a defined sound, but it had not been perfected yet. By now, Death has become an unstoppable force of metal nature with a very clear sound.
-- Chuck"s lyrics are beyond those of most death metal bands. Instead of talking about pure carnage and gore, the song"s subjects are often more intellectual and I can actually take them seriously.
-- Chuck"s voice, even though it is a constant harsh scream, is very easy to understand. Lots of death metal bands end up with guttural roars that no one can decipher, but I can tell everything that is being said. It"s nice to be able to understand what the vocalist is saying.
What was bad about this album:
-- Death is Chuck Schuldiner"s band, so almost every part of the song is based around him being awesome. With so much talent within the band, it would be nice to see some more soloing from the rest of the band members. This doesn"t detract from the rating much, but it"s still noticeable.
-- The entire album is constantly heavy and occasionally harsh on the listener"s ears. It would be nice to hear a clean break every once in a while, even that"s not a characteristic of a death metal band. Once again, this doesn"t take away from the rating much at all.
-- The album is fairly short. I was disappointed to see that the album was over after only eight average length songs.
-- This album might be too heavy for some listeners.
Highlights:
Flattening of Emotions
Suicide Machine
Together As One
Cosmic Sea
To those who want to possibly get into death metal, or are just looking for a very good metal band, this album would be one I would strongly recommend. The guitar riffs are superb and the songwriting is fantastic.
Final Rating: 4.5/5
