Symbolic

Artist: Death
Label: Roadrunner Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 016861895723
EAN: 0016861895723
ASIN: B000000H66

Release Date: 1995-03-21

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Tracks:

Symbolic
Zero Tolerance
Empty Words
Sacred Serenity
1,000 Eyes
Without Judgement
Crystal Mountain
Misanthrope
Perennial Quest

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Customer Reviews:

Flawless.......2007-02-13

One of the best metal albums ever! Bar none. Chuck Schuldiner(R.I.P.) has never written better music during his lifetime. Listening to Symbolic is quite the ride. It's brutal yet melodic. It's ugly yet beautiful. Every time I listen to this, I get something new out of it. You couldn't buy this album from me if you had a million dollars! Don't hesitate to get this one.

Favorite Tracks: Crystal Mountain, Symbolic, Perennial Quest

Truly exceptional.......2006-12-05

First off, this is an album littered with marked contrasts. It is extremely melodic and engaging, yet relentlessly heavy and brutal. It is punctuated with Chuck's screaming, deranged and highly idiosyncratic vocal style, yet possesses many moments of rare and extreme beauty, like the ending to the final track, or the lilting acoustic guitar that appears at the end of 'Crystal Mountain'. The songs are for the most part highly concise and markedly well composed, trimmed of any excess and delivered to perfection, and as such manage to be accessible and enjoyable even on a first listen, despite the striking fact that each is technical and intricate to an extreme degree: the music is defined by numerous time changes, shrieking, schizophrenic riffs which interlock and contrast with each other, subtle rhythmic shifts, powerful dynamics, ultra-complex, groove infused drumming, and striking, endearing chorus sections.

The wealth of contrasts, however, does little to detract from the undoubted enjoyable nature of _Symbolic_. It is actually an album which is ruthlessly innovative and highly daring, fusing brutal, technical death metal with more progressive aspects, a tightened melodic sensibility and songwriting which I believe has never been bettered in the genre. Witness the stellar, breathtaking riff which opens the title track, the oh-so welcome release of tension which propels the ingenious chorus of 'Empty Words', the delicious interplay between bass and drums which underpins the intro to 'Sacred Serenity' (and lays bare the fundamental dynamics which drive the music under all the spectacular guitar playing), the epic, unpredictable twists of 'Perennial Quest', not to mention the blistering, space age thrash exemplified by the melodic '1000 Eyes' or 'Without Judgement'.
The intelligence in the compositions is mirrored by the intriguing nature of the lyrics-highly cryptic as always, but by now light years away from blood and gore death metal fodder. Chuck seems to tackle images, manipulation, discovery and perception, and each is covered well, providing a base which allows these cerebral and intricate pieces to flourish. The level of sophistication and abstraction is high, no doubt, but the spine-tingling, kinetic nature of the songs keeps everything exciting: this is heavy, brutal music of neck snapping intensity which is primal, engaging and fulfilling, all at once.
A remarkable and important statement from this landmark band, the sheer power and lack of compromise which exemplified Chuck Schulinder's work cannot be overlooked. It stands right at the pinnacle of metal albums as a whole, and the fact the Chuck would go on to push boundaries right to breaking point with _The Sound of Perseverance_ is genuinely frightening. I am thankful that he created this truly exceptional musical legacy and shared it with us all before he left us.

AMAZING!!.......2006-11-13

Very good album, the songs are perfects, Chuck was the best. I really miss him.

The simple-minded need not apply here........2006-11-10

Lately, I've been looking into a lot of metal, and Death is one of the first I checked out (along with Opeth, In Flames, Children of Bodom, and Queensryche). I gotta say that this album is MUCH more than I expected. I didn't expect any ridiculous lyrics about feeling up corpses like Cannibal Corpse has, as I've read the lyrics are intelligent, but I didn't expect them to be this intelligent! Here are some lyrics from the title track: "Savor what you feel and what you see. Things may not seem important now, but may be tomorrow." Come on people, those are lyrics to live by! So far, this is the only Death album I own, but it's definately made me motivated to buy more of their albums. Chuck Schuldiner includes complex musicianship, intelligent lyrics, and a high-pitched, completely comprehendible death metal growl in his music. Even if you hate death metal with a passion, you could love Chuck's work because his music is about spirituality and problems people face every day. Despite the technical guitar solos and bone-crushing drums, progressive elements are mixed in with Symbolic making it catchier than most death metal. There are also some acoustic passages on Misanthrope and Perennial Quest. Even though Chuck's lead guitar would have to be the most outstanding instrument, Bob Koelble's rythm guitar (and he also plays dual solos with Chuck on some of the songs), Gene Hoglan's drums, and Kelly Conlon's bass (which is actually audible!) are also very impressive. Anyway, here are my thoughts on the songs.

The title track opens up with some pounding guitars and symbols, and get a lot heavier at the 15 second mark. Then Chuck's growl comes in with "I don't mean to dwell, but I just can't help myself!" There's a great solo by Chuck, and Bob solos with him for the first 5 seconds of the solo. And then there's Kelly and Gene pounding away in their rythm section. It's about how peopl always take everything for granted, and never think that things may not be what they are tomorrow. Zero Tolerance opens up with some jazzy drums, but gets heavier when Chuck's voice and his guitar and Bob's guitar kick in. We also get a quick solo after the first 4 verses. And after another 4 verses, we get ANOTHER guitar solo! I think this song is about injustices in the world. Around the 2:50 mark, Chuck and Bob do some killer dual guitar solos. Possibly the best on the whole album! Empty Words opens up with some tribal drums, synth effects, and mellow guitar work, but then hits you like the prvious track does. I believe this song is about the hypocrisies of politics ("The answer cannot be found in the writing of others, or the words of a trained mind!"). And of course, more great guitar work from Chuck. Sacred Serenity opens up with some pounding bass and drum work from Kelly and Gene, then the guitars come in and we get a solo from Chuck. I'm not quite sure what it's about, but I'll update this review once I've decided what I think the meaning of it is. Nonetheless, it's an awesome song. There's also a calm interlude with Chuck soloing in the middle. 1,000 Eyes is a little catchier than the last 4 tracks (but those tracks are still awesome). I think this song is about racism against African Americans and/or about the slave movments back in the old days ("Privacy and intamacy as we know it will be memory among many to be passed down to those who never knew it"). That may not be what it's really about (hey, for all I know this song could be about Santa Clause), but that's what I got from it. The chorus ("Living in the pupil of 1,00 eyes!") is also very catchy, and I've been finding myself humming it from time to time. 1,00 Eyes also has a very creepy ending, with all the intruments and Chuck's voice echoeing continuously until they dissappear. You also hear Chuck yell (We Are Enslaved!") Next comes Without Judgement, which I think is about court issues and how the juries can be tricked so easily with cheesy sad stories. Once again, I don't know if that's what it's about, but that's my opinion. There are some creepy guitar effects in this song too. Crystal Mountain is my 2nd favorite track off the album. It's the catchiest yet most aggressive on the album. It's about, I believe, tyranny and dictatorship ("All the traps are set to confine all who get in the way of the divine!"). The solo from Chuck is, like all the other solos, nothing short of brilliant. Misanthrope seems to be about the evolution of mankind ("Knowledge is taken in by curious life forms"). Perennial Quest is quite possibly the most heartfelt song off the whole album, and my favorite off it. It's about every-day life, and questions people ask and problems go through. Though the instrumentation and vocal style may not be emotional, the lyrics certainly are. It just shows you what a genius Chuck is.

I don't regrety buying this at all, and I look forward to buying more of Death's albums. If you thought death metal is just a bunch of unintelligible lyrics about killing god and necrophlia (*cough* Cannibal Corpse and Deicide *cough*), there are some DM bands like that, but Death is not one of them. Death is intelligent, heartfelt, and talented, while Cannibal Corpse is stupid, tastesless, and boring.

To end this review, I would like to join all the other 5-star reviewers on this page and say: RIP Chuck Schuldiner.

Amazing technical progressive Death Metal.......2006-09-11

See now this is Death Metal done right! The drumming is MAD technical, experimental, Jazzy and progressive while still keeping touches of traditional Death Metal(which satisfies the metal purists). Truly amazing drumming that any drummer would appreciate! There is enough obscure and original drumming on this album to please even my musical snobby tastes! I feel that the drummer saves this band from being another typical Death Metal band, with his ultra intense and jazzy delivery.
The guitars are blazing, with killer take-no-prisoners solos and crunching riffs in typical Death Metal fashion. The guitars are really piercing, usually registering on the higher regions of the fretboard, but nevertheless pummeling and straight-to-the-point. Seriously, the guitar work is amazing! True carpal-tunnel syndrome inducing!
As with most Death Metal, the bass lines are hard as all heck to hear and not that technical or creative, but that's a usual for Death Metal(which Opeth would change later on). There are some pasages on this album where the bass really shines(the intro to Sacred Serenity). I personally feel that the vocals suck, they are too shrill and the vocal delivery is not that stellar, but hey, these guys were one of the pioneers of the genre, so I can't complain too much. But, as with all Death Metal and all screeching and "cookie monster" vocal bands(yes including Opeth), the growling and screaming can get kind of tedious. Death Metal has never been about the lyrical delivery though, its about the instrumentation.
The lyrics are great, typical style for the genre, dealing with political issues, death and dying(of course, it is Death Metal!)
Death inspired such amazing greats as Opeth(among many, many others), which is my all time favorite, so I praise them for that. You can hear their influence throughout the Death Metal genre today.
The song structure is quite ingenious as well, with heavy passages with occasional chilled out breakdowns. Tempo changes galore and a super strong emotional delivery that renders many of today's bands into the garbage pile of repetitive crap. Remember, Death came out in the early 90's, so it says a lot that they sound a million times better than bands of our millenium.
Death share a style somewhat similar to bands like Iron Maiden and a little like Slayer, but 100000 times more technical, and with a way better drummer. The drum and guitar interation is among the best in music.
I know there is some kind of concept with the lyrics, but I have never been able to figure it out.
Symbolic is a really great album that all lovers of Metal in general need to check out, if not just to hear one of the bands that changed the face of Metal.
The reason I gave this four stars is because the bass guitar could have been a bit more inventive and audible, something that many bands need to learn. Being a bass player myself, there is no excuse why the bass should be "behind" the band.
The sound mixing on this CD is superb

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