Symbolic (Death album)
| Symbolic | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Death | ||||
| Released | March 21, 1995 | |||
| Genre | Technical death metal, death metal, progressive metal | |||
| Length | 50:37 | |||
| Label | Roadrunner | |||
| Producer | Jim Morris, Chuck Schuldiner | |||
| Death chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Symbolic | ||||
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Symbolic is the sixth album by American death metal band Death. The album was released on March 21, 1995 through Roadrunner Records. The album was remastered and reissued on April 1, 2008 with five bonus tracks.[1] As of 2002, Symbolic sold 36,000 copies in the U.S.[2]
Overview
Like its predecessors, the album is progressive and technically advanced. It also has higher production values than previous albums, being considerably less evil on its overall sound. It is notable that the average song length on this album is around five minutes, while it was around four minutes on Human and Individual Thought Patterns, perhaps due to slowed down song tempos closer to that of traditional death metal. It was also the only album to feature Kelly Conlon on bass. Chuck Schuldiner's growl also became noticeably higher on this release, which was continued on their final studio album The Sound of Perseverance and culminated with their cover of Judas Priest's "Painkiller".
No video was released for the album, but "Empty Words" was released as a single.
"Symbolic" was covered by the bands Cradle of Filth, Scariot and Sylosis, and "Crystal Mountain" was covered by Epica on their single "Quietus (Silent Reverie)".
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [3] |
| Blabbermouth | 10/10[4] |
| Metal.de | [5] |
| Metal Forces | 9/10[6] |
| Record Collector | [7] |
The album was received very well by the music critics. Metal-Rules.com ranks the album as the 7th greatest extreme metal album[8] and the 58th greatest heavy metal album[9] of all time.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Chuck Schuldiner.| No. | Title | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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[10] | ||
| 2008 remastered version[11] | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 10. | "Symbolic Acts" (demo of "Symbolic" without vocals) | 5:55 | ||||||||
| 11. | "Zero Tolerance" (instrumental demo) | 4:10 | ||||||||
| 12. | "Crystal Mountain" (instrumental demo) | 4:24 | ||||||||
| 13. | "Misanthrope" (instrumental demo) | 5:40 | ||||||||
| 14. | "Symbolic Acts" (4-track demo of "Symbolic" with vocals) | 5:55 | ||||||||
Total length: |
26:09 | |||||||||
Personnel
- Chuck Schuldiner – guitar, vocals, producer
- Bobby Koelble – guitar
- Gene Hoglan – drums[12]
- Kelly Conlon – bass (Tracks 1-9)
- Steve DiGiorgio – fretless bass (Tracks 10-13)
- George Marino – mastering and remastering
- Jim Morris – producer, engineer
- Patricia Mooney – design
- Rene Miville – cover art and band photography
References
- ↑ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - DEATH: 'Symbolic' Reissue Track Listing Revealed". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ↑
- ↑ Thomas, Stephen. "Symbolic - Death". Allmusic. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ↑ Bergman, Keith. "Review: Symbolic". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
- ↑ Thomas Weeber. "Death -Symbolic". Metal.de. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
- ↑ Arnold, Neil. "Death - Symbolic (2008 Reissue)". Metal Forces. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
- ↑ McIver, Joel (November 27, 2013). "Death - Symbolic". Record Collector.
- ↑ Top 50 Extreme Metal Albums. Metal Rules. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ↑ The Top 100 Heavy Metal Albums. Metal Rules. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ↑ "Amazon.com: Symbolic:Death: MP3 Downloads". Amazon. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
- ↑ "Death (2) - Symbolic (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ↑ "Gene Hoglan Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
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