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User
Reviews 12
Approval 88%
Soundoffs 3
Album Ratings 1621
Objectivity 69%
Last Active 07-21-20 11:57 pm
Joined 10-17-16
Review Comments 39
| Death - Ranked
Ranking the discography of one of my favorite bands. | | 1 |  | Death
Human
Human feels like definitive arrival for Death, a glorious midway point between their Death Metal and Thrash Metal origins and their more melodic and progressive sounding late-career stuff. It keeps the strengths of both sides of the spectrum of their sound with absolutely NONE of the weaknesses, what few there even are. The proggier, occasionally more experimental ventures like Cosmic Sea make this album an awe-inspiring feat that still manages to be as visceral and shredding as you'd want a Death record to be. In that respect, I view it as the most quintessential, emblematic entry in their discography. It's 33 minutes long, perfectly paced, divinely produced, and it'll flay the flesh off your bones. Sometimes there is no better endorsement for something than saying 'this sh*t absolutely GOES' | | 2 |  | Death
The Sound of Perseverance
The final entry in the band's output is a monument to perfection, an exemplary showcase of seasoned musicianship and the evolution of the band as a whole. To think they started with Scream Bloody Gore and ended up here is insane, honestly. Chuck's vocals here sound entirely unlike any album that preceded it, proving he's truly one of the best vocalists in the genre. The sound itself is more melodic and progressive, so if that's not your thing and you're more into the heavy, nerve-shredding side of the band's sound, this may not fulfill that specific niche quite like Human or Leprosy might. However, it doesn't change that this thing is still absolutely monstrous. It's hard to come back to this, knowing the band could've gone on to further the ideas here if not for Chuck's untimely passing. There's a lot of soulful, strangely poetic songwriting like on 'Flesh and the Power It Holds' that strike a really human (haha) chord with me in a way few metal albums do. Unfathomably beautiful. | | 3 |  | Death
Symbolic
I'm already running out of ways to say 'it's perfect'- but I mean, yeah, it is. Symbolic feels like perhaps the band's most structurally auspicious moment, as Symbolic is not just a collection of songs, but a bonafide journey. This was very clearly something the band had been building to, and feels like the proper climax to their career, where SoP feels more like their well-deserved and more unhinged victory lap. It's a gnarly, ugly beast of an album that feels like it's actively trying to harm you while listening to it. Whether or not you prefer this to the last album is not a matter of quality, but preference, and I just really like indulgent prog sh*t so SoP just edges out for me. | | 4 |  | Death
Individual Thought Patterns
Me, a broken record: Yeah, this one is perfect too. It's the last Death album I'd award a perfect score too, making this band rivaled only by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds for being the act that takes home the most 10/10s from me. Being my 'least favorite' of these four is a meaningless distinction when you look at it on its own. The thing that always leaps out to me here is the bass playing, which is sour, caustic, and positively wretched-sounding. I love it. Definitely a solid midpoint between Human and Symbolic, and its pacing, scope, and more adventurous production aspects make it a blast to throw on. | | 5 |  | Death
Leprosy
Unfortunately, I feel like Leprosy just *slightly* lives in the shadow of the rest of their career. Far too much for my liking. Don't let the placement here fool you, this record is EXCELLENT. Once upon a time it was my favorite of theirs, back when the more adventurous entries of their discography intimidated me a bit too much or just went over my head due to lack of experience. That said, this is a vicious record that sounds like everyone involved is actively trying to beat the shit out of their instruments until they break, most notably on the drums. It's death-tinged Thrash metal at its finest, featuring tracks like Open Casket that are more ferocious and ugly than anything they'd make down the line. Leprosy may not reach the loftier heights of what followed it, and it's comparatively far more simple sonically, but it's an essential project all the same. Generally, a great starting point, even if the dirtier production makes it a bit more unfriendly. | | 6 |  | Death
Scream Bloody Gore
Scream Bloody Gore is a hell of a debut. Don't mistake the placing of it near the bottom as me saying it's not good, this band does not have an album that is even remotely shy of 'great'- that said, it's definitely still a very obvious starting point. The production is filthy, positively disgusting in the best of ways, even if some of the mixes are a bit muddy. It still adds to the record, weirdly enough, which lyrically is a lot more base and primal than the headier material that followed it, but it makes for a good, more simplistic listen. A great death metal album that places here not because it's bad, but because the others are too good. | | 7 |  | Death
Spiritual Healing
Calling this the 'worst' record in their catalog feels inherently dishonest. It's here mainly by the merit that SOMETHING had to be, cause that's just how lists work. I appreciate the more adventurous, more political writing here, and the production is certainly a step up, but this is the only record of there's that feels 'transitory' and doesn't benefit from that. Human works because it seamlessly combines these disparate eras, whereas Spiritual Healing just isn't all that far away from Leprosy or Scream. It's a little too cleanly produced as well, and doesn't do a whole lot with that cleanliness, it's just not as adventurous as other releases. That said, plenty of metal bands will never make a record this good. | |
BaselineOOO
11.25.20 | perfect ranking | PortraitsOfDecay
11.25.20 | For me it’s
Symbolic
Sound of perseverance
Leprosy
Human
Individual thought patterns
Scream bloody gore
Spiritual healing | JeremiahBullfrog
11.25.20 | effin great band | Morningrise767
11.25.20 | "That said, plenty of metal bands will never make a record this good." And thats for the album you put in last place...
Such a legendary band! \m/ | Uzumaki
11.25.20 | Ope. Another Death ranking. Being one of those rare bands who never put out a “bad” album, whichever way they’re ranked is always a “correct” ranking, but for me, I went:
Leprosy
The Sound of Perseverance
Spiritual Healing
Human
Symbolic
Individual Thought Patterns
Scream Bloody Gore | ShadowRemains
11.26.20 | 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 2 (so in other words put tsop at the bottom for me and keep everything else the same) | TheSonomaDude
11.26.20 | Nice ranking. Pretty much all Death rankings that don't put TSOP dead last are accurate. |
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