Death Individual

Chuck Schuldiner puts even more emphasis on the guitar harmonies, with the help of King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque. Bassist Steve DiGiorgio treats his instrument more like a third guitar, making for some unique ensemble interplay. Individual Thought Patterns cemented Death's reputation as not only one of death metal's founders, but also one of its most creative, musically proficient, and listenable bands.

There's no point judging music artifacts on the merit of audile quality, not when the artifact in question represents the birth of one of the greatest metal bands in history, DEATH. Instead, we should embrace the buzzbombing, ratchety and frankly horrid cassette-era transfer of basement tapes comprising MANTAS' "Death by Metal" as a peek into the origins of future genius…

1990's Spiritual Healing wrapped up a trilogy of Death LPs delineating the birth of a genre and featuring the childishly provocative splatter-gore cover art of the ever-popular Ed Repka; artwork that, as the years wear on, has increasingly undermined the revolutionary musical accomplishments contained within all three of the legendary Floridian death metal band's first studio efforts…

Words cannot do this album enough justice. This is a truly glorious metal release, certainly Death's finest hour, and easily one of the top metal albums of all time. The sheer ferocity and emotion that channels through each of the intricate, progressive guitar melodies shatters every low opinion of the American metal scene. When you combine Chuck Schuldiner's shrieking vocals (his eeriest performance ever) with the most talented, cohesive lineup yet, you get the definitive Death album. This album delicately mixes the best aspects of past albums Human, Individual Thought Patterns, and Symbolic and takes them one step further. The album is more aggressive, more progressive, and certainly more melodic…

In a way, Napalm Death's Peel Sessions better represent the group's extreme classic sound than any of their '80s albums. Albums such as Scum and From Enslavement to Obliteration still stand as testaments to the group's innovative approach to prototypical grindcore, but as historically important as these albums are, they're awfully lo-fi. The pristine clarity and live aggression of the group's sessions on John Peel's influential BBC radio show make for a better sample of exactly how amazing this storied group was during its fabled era with vocalist Lee Dorrian, guitarist Bill Steer, drummer Mick Harris, and drummer Shane Embury…

Napalm Death's second full effort, From Enslavement to Obliteration in ways put the seal on what the band had done, with most of its members going off to pursue their own individual efforts soon thereafter, and as such is the perfect complement to Scum, showing the quartet both straining at the bit and honing its original approach to a T. Like Scum, it starts on a more deliberate pace, with "Evolved as One" hitting a slow, careful trudge – everything is quite discernible, even Lee Dorrian's sore-throat roar style of singing – which is all the better to build up the listener for whatever happens next…