Death are well known in the metal circles for being the main
responsible for the emerging of a new concept of musicality
within the heaviest realms of music. By the final years of the
eighties and beginning of the 90’s, Scream Bloody Gore
but specially Leprosy and Spiritual Healing (the three first
albums by this Florida based band) set the path for an huge
amount of followers of this new sound: Death Metal.
Chuck Schuldiner, the mentor
of the band, decided then to go even further with the bands
experiments, developing the sound to a more technical bases
while maintaining the speed, distortion and power approach of
the main sounding but leaving behind its rough and (fasten becoming)
predictable riffs.
Human saw the arrival of
Cynic’s Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert to the performer
list. This new members were just what Chuck needed to fully
develop his wider conceptuality and his true dream of setting
new parameters in terms of technical yet still aggressive content.
This album is a masterpiece amongst the death metalheads, for
the aggressiveness and brutality of the sound remains whilst
some progressive elements are added to expand the bands horizons.
Listening to Cosmic Sea it becomes obvious the influence of
the two ex-Cynic members, for this is a genuine prog metal instrumental
piece.
Death continued their pilgrims
voyage after Human with the release of other highly innovative
works, such as Individual Thought Patterns or Symbolic, but
this one is for me, their best achieved album. For it’s
the one that marks their most effective and well achieved idealistic
set. But the main reason that led me to feature this band/album
and the writing of this review, has to do with my will to pay
Chuck Schuldiner a deserved homage.
Chuck is no longer amongst
us. He was a victim of a cancer that ate his health bet never
did broke his spirit. Posthumously, here I grieve for a man
that dedicated his life to what were his beliefs and secured
a legacy for many bands and fans of the music he set the path
for. In my most metallic years, always I admired this band,
and I still do.
Thanks for all Chuck, Rest
in Peace.
