Symbolic

There might be something to the notion that artists aren't fully appreciated until after they've died, particularly where Death and its central figure Chuck Schuldiner are concerned. On the other hand, one might argue that the recent aftermath of the craftsman's end, timely or not, lead to a period of inflated interest. Whatever the case may be, the passing of Chuck in the early 2000s ushered in a whole generation of itching ears who did not have the privilege of either seeing Death live or on MTV back when the channel was still worth a damn. And with that has come a favoritism toward the latter day works, specifically following Spiritual Healing that are not immediately shared by mainline death metal fans, particularly of the 80s and early 90s persuasion.

"Symbolic" is a difficult album to fully categorize, which makes the massive amount of interest in it all the more intriguing. It definitely has a progressive nature to it, incorporating not only the classical, jazz and rock influences that were already pretty well present on Individual Thought Patterns, but also further elements of early 90s groove/thrash and even, to a degree, the older melodic metal bands that Schuldiner first took a liking to before switching over to the death/thrash sound of Possessed that inspired his seminal albums. The resulting melodic passages and general progression of the songs gives a nod towards the emerging Swedish melodeath scene, to almost the same degree as Carcass' Heartwork, though from an even more virtuoso-based and progressive angle that also takes into account the waves Cynic had made with Focus.

From the inception of the catchy and dark title song, there is a sense of duality between simplicity and complexity that creates an ingenious sense of tension upon which the philosophical lyrical pondering is given a fitting tableau. The first riff is cut from a haunting, Mid-Eastern character that reminds slightly of Slayer's various offerings via Seasons In The Abyss, and is actually among the more groove-driven ideas Chuck has ever come up with, almost to the point of channeling Exhorder. In the often abrupt fashion, things are quickly turned to a mixture of rhythmic twists and thrashing passages that are about as jostling as they are brilliant. The song goes a bit long, as does much of the album, but the odd assortment of shift in feel and melodic hooks keep things interesting.

For the most part, this album straddles a number of stylistic fences, almost to the point of becoming schizophrenic, and yet nothing seems at all out of place. The heavier numbers "Zero Tolerance", "1,000 Eyes" and "Misanthrope" play up the older thrash metal influences a good bit, while "Empty Words", "Sacred Serenity" and the spellbinding mixture of melodic and progressive elements that is "Crystal Mountain" seem to channel elements of Fates Warning within an obviously more aggressive template. The result is a collection of songs that, even when as short as 4 and a half minutes in length, make themselves as busy as possible while somehow managing to stay catchy. There are literally a couple of instances on some of these songs, particularly the closer "Perennial Quest" where elements of At The Gates have managed to find their way into Chuck's riff set, alongside a lot of other stuff like a serene minute long clean fade out with volume swell guitar leads that sound like a lone mourner in a cemetery in the failing light.

The greatest strength of this album is its complexity, and ultimately its greatest weakness is, well, its complexity. While this is definitely a worthy successor to Individual Thought Patterns (still my favorite Death album to date), it actually reaches just a tiny bit too far into the progressive realm and occasionally gets convoluted. Granted, it's one of the better convoluted albums I've ever heard, and it is understandable why this album is praised to no end. In many ways the early offerings of Dark Tranquillity, Arch Enemy and In Flames resemble this album's sort of wandering stylistic aspersions, though not to the point of occasionally channeling Rush or Dream Theater as this does. It's a high water mark for melodic death metal, and while the progressive label fits equally as well, that's pretty much the label I tend to place it under. Just one more towering accomplishment by a man who was taken from us way too soon.