SYMBOLIC

There are few bands that have a catalogue as solid as the seminal DEATH and Symbolic is perhaps the highpoint. As you'd expect from death the album is full of well written songs, technicality, great riffs and an unrelenting ferocity, this time around though the sound is much tighter and more refined thanks to a crystal clear production.

Chuck schulinder has again assembled a group of fine musicians and chuck himself has developed into a formidable guitarist and I must say I'm a fan of chuck's vocals on this record as well as they are higher and less guttural than some of his other work. What can there be said of Gene Hoglan - what a beast, easily one of the best drummers in the genre nicknamed 'the atomic clock' for his incredible precision at high tempos, a fantastic performance - a technical and confronting effort on the drums. The guitars and bass are super tight thanks to the talents of Kelly Conlon and Bobby Koelble and by god are there some massive solos on this record, schulinders solos are fantastically musical especially considering how heavy the music is and they are played note perfect.

The title track is a clear highlight from the outset, we're flung head first into the fray 45 seconds into it with a fast thrashy riff and it quickly becomes apparent just how talented hoglan is on drums. great riffs, great solos, great structure - best song on the album.

Next up another great song in zero tolerance, featuring some fantastic lead guitar work and a bitchin' slow paced chuggage section with schulinders oppressive vocals and well written lyrics.

Without judgement is also a highlight featuring some spacey atmospheric guitar work and again some blazing fast thrash inspired riffs.

The album comes to a close on the long winded perennial quest, I don't know I was actually quite disappointed with this song and I really can't see what others see in this song, I guess the loss is mine.

Overall it's a solid album and one of DEATH's finest but I find that there isn't enough variance in the songs, I feel a sense of sameness about a lot of the songs, there are some memorable riffs but then there are a lot of riffs that are similar, They're all pretty much played in the same key based around the same scale. The highest I can give it is 4 stars a great album if you're into technical metal and bands like ATHEIST or CORONER.