Death: Individual Thought Patterns (1993)
Just when it looked like Chuck Schuldiner had assembled the ultimate death metal wrecking crew for 1991’s Human -- former Sadus bassist Steve DiGiorgio and Cynic survivors Paul Masvidal (guitar) and Sean Reinert (drums) -- he proceeded to shake things up again, borrowing King Diamond shredder Andy LaRocque and Dark Angel drum giant Gene Hoglan for ‘93’s Individual Thought Patterns.
Obviously, opinions will vary as to whether Chuck succeeded (and who really cares, at the end of the day?), but I’ll posit that Death’s fifth studio LP, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month, may just represent the apex of the band’s staggering technicality.
Certainly, it took another important step in harnessing all that rampant virtuosity in the service of compelling songwriting via the jagged riffs and sinuous melodies, blistering execution, and tasteful atmospherics found on highlights like “In Human Form,” “Trapped in a Corner,” and “Out of Touch.”
For me, personally, the track that brings it all together -- the performance, the music, the lyrics -- is the multi-faceted, subtly synth-backed “Mentally Blind,” where the obstinate, notoriously ‘difficult-to-work-with’ Schuldiner accidentally glances in the mirror while critiquing his detractors:
“You see your vision and no one else’s;
Your every word filled with sarcasm;
Crucify people with invisible knowledge;
Verbal destruction with each compulsion.
Every minute, a cliché of your kind;
Too much to say from a person with no respect;
Your accusations you will regret.
From the mentally blind;
Come ideas that are poison.
Take away the power;
A shallow person you will find.”
It may not be high poetry, but Chuck’s lyrics were becoming ever-more-insightful and thought-provoking than death metal’s blood and guts origins -- another trend Death pioneered and instilled into the scene as it matured.
Moving on, there are no glaring weak links here (other favorites include “Overactive Imagination” and “Jealousy”), and “The Philosopher” even received a not-entirely-silly music video that got some airtime on MTV and later earned the dubious honor of a Beavis and Butt-Head thrashing (at one point they compare it to Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy”).
And though he was merely a temporary hire for the album sessions, left-field choice LaRocque handily proved himself, as his six-string duels with Schuldiner still rank among the most exciting -- and musical -- of Death’s long career, with DiGiorgio’s fretless mastery and Hoglan’s metronomic precision not to be overlooked, of course.
In the end, Individual Thought Patterns is a typically over-played Death LP that still makes room for some sensible songcraft and clearly paved the way for perhaps the most immediate and accessible works in death metal history in ‘95’s incredible Symbolic.
Finally, I’ll once again share my Loudwire ranking of Schuldiner and his many minions’ complete studio discography, where I called out the futility of my own efforts, since there’s simply no such thing as a categorically superior or substandard Death LP.
More Death: Scream Bloody Gore, Leprosy, Spiritual Healing, Human, Symbolic, The Sound of Perseverance.
