«Symbolic» is Death’s sixth album and it came out on 21 March 1995 on Roadrunner Records. The recordings were made in late 1994 over six weeks at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, with Jim Morris producing. The line-up was Chuck Schuldiner on vocals and guitar, Bobby Koelble on guitar, Kelly Conlon on bass and Gene Hoglan on drums.
“`Country: USA
Style: Technical Death Metal
For fans of: Atheist, Cynic, Pestilence
It is Death’s most melodic and most technical record, with a clean production and compositions that tie the heavy to the melodic. The sound leans further toward melodic death metal while keeping the technical elements of the earlier work — the same balance Atheist – Unquestionable Presence struck on «Unquestionable Presence».
The title track «Symbolic» opens the album, «Crystal Mountain» became its best-known song and «Empty Words» shows its darkest side. «Zero Tolerance» and «1,000 Eyes» also stand out.
Schuldiner’s lyrics touch on mortality, faith and human nature. It is Death’s only album with Bobby Koelble on guitar and Kelly Conlon on bass, and the second and last one with Gene Hoglan on drums.
It was the band’s first record for Roadrunner Records and it is considered one of the greatest death metal albums. Chuck Schuldiner wrote all the music and all the lyrics, giving the band a more technical and melodic sound.
The album was reissued in 2008 with five bonus tracks and it is still cited as a landmark for technical and melodic death metal. It is the record that showed how far the genre could go beyond sheer violence.
The album influenced dozens of technical death metal bands and remains one of the genre’s best-loved records. The path it opened runs straight through Death – The Sound of Perseverance and everything the band did after it.
See also
See also: Vader – Litany.
