DEATH Symbolic CD 1995

By 1995, Chuck Schuldiner had already invented death metal twice. Symbolic was him doing it a third time, just to make sure everyone was paying attention.

This is the album where Death stopped being just a genre landmark and became a compositional argument. Progressive structures, melodic leads that hurt in the best way, and Schuldiner's voice cutting through arrangements that had no business being this intricate for a band playing this fast. Symbolic sits at the exact moment where death metal started eating its own rules, and it sounds like it knew it. If you only own one Death record, it should probably be this one, though you'll end up owning all of them anyway.

CD, 1995 full length. USA death metal / progressive. Fans of: Autopsy, Possessed, Vader, Obituary, Malevolent Creation, Carcass.