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Symbolic (Death album)

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Symbolic
Studio album by
Death
ReleasedMarch 21, 1995
StudioMorrisound Recording, Tampa, Florida[1]
Genre
Length50:37
LabelRoadrunner
Producer
Death chronology
Individual Thought Patterns
(1993) 		Symbolic
(1995) 		The Sound of Perseverance
(1998)

Symbolic is the sixth studio album by Florida death metal band Death, released on March 21, 1995, by Roadrunner Records.

The album was remastered and reissued on April 1, 2008, with five bonus tracks.[2] It is the only album to feature Bobby Koelble and Kelly Conlon on guitar and bass, respectively, and the second and last album to feature drummer Gene Hoglan. The album has received unanimous critical acclaim.

Musical style

[edit]

Symbolic shows a continued shift in sound from Death's previous albums; the music became less focused on the traditional death metal template and more focused on increasing melodic aspects.[3] Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork said Symbolic is "the most melodic and refined" release of Death's career.[4] The album has been described as technical death metal[5][6][7] and melodic death metal.[3] Shaun Lindsley of Metal Hammer called the album a "labyrinth of technicality and cerebral lyrical meanderings displaying unsurpassable musicianship," while also describing its tracks as "catchy" and "incredibly accessible".[8] Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork said Symbolic is "neither as brutal as the early material nor as outwardly progressive [as Human or Individual Thought Patterns]." He also likened Schuldiner's vocals at certain parts on the album to those common in hardcore punk, describing them as "shouting through gritted teeth".[9]

Release

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Symbolic was released by Roadrunner Records on March 21, 1995.[10] Relativity Records made a deal with Roadrunner to release it, though Schuldiner felt that the album was not promoted well.[11] The contract for Symbolic was a one album contract.[12] The band did not receive the support to release a video, whereas two songs from their previous albums, titled The Philosopher (from Individual Thought Patterns) and Lack of Comprehension (from Human) did feature videos.[11] Schuldiner originally intended for Symbolic to be the last Death album, remarking in The Metal Crusade, the Death newsletter, that he "thought SYMBOLIC was a great record to leave people with to prepare them for the next journey, "Control Denied"![13]

Reception and legacy

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Blabbermouth.net10/10[14]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[15]
Metal.de10/10[16]
Pitchfork9.1/10[17]
Record Collector[18]
Rock Hard10/10[19]
Select[20]

Symbolic has received widespread critical acclaim and is regarded by many as being Death’s greatest album, and as being one of the greatest death metal albums of all time. In a contemporary review, Select stated that "there're still lashings of gristly, growling vocals and head-in-the-groin thrashing to be had" as a listener can "snuggle up to witness what dark depths Death's 12-year career has taken them too [sic]".[20]

A review of the 2008 re-issue in Record Collector stated that the album was as "close to flawless as metal gets, and a testament to the drive and talent of the much-missed Schuldiner".[18] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff considered the album "the band's most impressive and crossover-ish to date", combining conventional metal, "traces of doomy, Germanic melody and heaps of progressive might."[15] Some reviews were less favorable; Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic noted that "some of the riffs are beginning to sound a little tired and there is no great leap forward in terms of their musical ideas", though he noted that "the sheer visceral force of their sound should please their dedicated fans".[10]

The webzine Metal Rules ranked the album as the 7th greatest extreme metal album[21] and the 58th greatest heavy metal album of all time.[22]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Chuck Schuldiner

No.TitleLength
1."Symbolic"6:32
2."Zero Tolerance"4:48
3."Empty Words"6:22
4."Sacred Serenity"4:26
5."1,000 Eyes"4:28
6."Without Judgement"5:28
7."Crystal Mountain"5:07
8."Misanthrope"5:04
9."Perennial Quest"8:22
Total length:50:37[23]
2008 remastered bonus tracks[24]
No.TitleLength
10."Symbolic Acts" (March 1994 instrumental demo of "Symbolic")5:55
11."Zero Tolerance" (March 1994 instrumental demo)4:10
12."Crystal Mountain" (March 1994 instrumental demo)4:24
13."Misanthrope" (March 1994 instrumental demo)5:40
14."Symbolic Acts" (January 1994 4-track demo of "Symbolic" with vocals)5:55
Total length:26:09

Personnel

[edit]

Most of the information here is adapted from the CD liner notes of the original 1995 release and the 2008 reissue.[1][25]

Death
Additional musicians
Technical personnel
  • Chuck Schuldiner – production
  • Jim Morris – production, engineering
  • George Marino – mastering, remastering
  • Patricia Mooney – design
  • René Miville – artwork, photography

References

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  1. ^ a b Symbolic (booklet). Death. Roadrunner Records. 1995.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - DEATH: 'Symbolic' Reissue Track Listing Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. January 16, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "10 Best Songs by the Band Death". Loudwire. July 18, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2020. Symbolic saw a massive shift towards melody and a bit of a departure from the death metal that most bands were playing at the time. Along with Carcass and At the Gates, Death helped pave the way for infectious melodies and hooks to enter the genre.
  4. ^ Sodomsky, Sam. "Death: Symbolic". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  5. ^ "Review: "Death: Symbolic"". Sea of Tranquility. December 4, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  6. ^ "Death - Symbolic". KXSC Radio. September 24, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  7. ^ "Death - Symbolic - Metal Storm". www.metalstorm.net. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  8. ^ Lindsley, Shaun (April 3, 2020). "Every Death album ranked from worst to best". louder. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  9. ^ Sodomsky, Sam. "Death: Symbolic". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Symbolic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Dennis Gulbey (Spring 1997). "Death No More! Control Denied is Here!!". Sentinel Steel. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  12. ^ Frédéric Pichot (July 1998). "The Sound Of Perseverance..." Metallian. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  13. ^ "In Control and there's no denying it!". The Metal Crusade. 2 (6). 1995. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  14. ^ Bergman, Keith. "Review: Symbolic". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 105. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  16. ^ Weeber, Thomas. "Death -Symbolic" (in German). Metal.de. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  17. ^ Sodomsky, Sam (February 13, 2022). "Death: Symbolic Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  18. ^ a b McIver, Joel. "Death – Symbolic". Record Collector. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  19. ^ "Rock Hard review". issue 95 (in German).
  20. ^ a b PM (April 1995). "newalbums". Select. p. 93.
  21. ^ "Top 50 Extreme Metal Albums". Metal Rules. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  22. ^ "The Top 100 Heavy Metal Albums". Metal Rules. Archived from the original on November 30, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  23. ^ "Amazon.com: Symbolic:Death: MP3 Downloads". Amazon. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  24. ^ a b "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - DEATH: 'Symbolic' Reissue Track Listing Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. January 16, 2008. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  25. ^ Symbolic: The Expanded Edition (booklet). Death. Roadrunner Records. 2008.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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