Shnate McDuanus Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Death is one of my all-time favorite bands (dem00n, you're welcome to join at any time) but there was always one album of theirs that, for some reason, I struggled to get into. That was their third album, Spiritual Healing. I always thought the riffs were boring, the production was bad and the lyrics weren't as well thought-out as in earlier or later albums. The one thing I could say that I really love about the album (and I mean LOVE, like, think defines it as a death metal classic) are the solos, played excellently by Chuck Schuldiner and James Murphy, who over the years has become something of a guitar hero to me, playing on albums like Obituary's Cause of Death and Cancer's Death Shall Rise, and always amazing me with his tasteful and undeniably heavy solos. Spiritual Healing, though, never really did it for me for one reason or another. Today I decided to give it another try, and what I heard today was something I had never heard before in the album: atmosphere. This is a very atmospheric death metal album, and deserves to be listened to through a good pair of headphones, and preferably in a lossless audio format like FLAC. The riffs are subtle and textural as opposed to being percussive and brutal, and the vocals have a touch of reverb on them which gives them a very omnipotent, mystical quality which they never really got on Death's other albums. After this album, Chuck Schuldiner's vocals began to take on more of a shrieking style, somewhat reminiscent of black metal vocals but still sufficiently guttural and phlegmatic. But I digress: Spiritual Healing, whatever you think of Death or of death metal, is a unique and stylistically important album in the band's discography, and to some extent an important part of the death metal genre as a whole. The songs may have themes that aren't very characteristic of Death (personal themes like emotional turmoil and drug abuse, as opposed to the gore which defined the first two albums, or the sociopolitical and cosmic themes that pervaded the last four albums,) the riffs may be slightly less crushing and the vocals may be in somewhat of a middle ground between Chuck's early growls and later shrieks, but this is a good and important album for fans of death metal. Oh, not to mention, the bass sounds great on the album. And I still love James Murphy's guitar solos--for instance, on this track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-eVLpvPIFI And here's the characteristic "atmosphere" that I mentioned earlier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOB3DK_zXnA Sorry for another metal topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 The drumming could be better. This might be the most important Death record because this is where Chuck started to really learn about his abilities lyrically and guitar wise. Human was the start for Death being technical and more musical but this is just as important in a more hidden way. Isnt it great to watch a band grow up through their music? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shnate McDuanus Posted September 16, 2011 Author Share Posted September 16, 2011 The drumming could be better. This might be the most important Death record because this is where Chuck started to really learn about his abilities lyrically and guitar wise. Human was the start for Death being technical and more musical but this is just as important in a more hidden way. Isnt it great to watch a band grow up through their music? Good points all around, and yes, it is great to watch a band grow up through their music. It's true that this album is more technical than their first two, but I remember as far back as Leprosy there were definitely traces of the more technical style of riffing that they'd come to be known for. Still, Spiritual Healing is a landmark album to be sure, and definitely serves as a crucial middle ground between their early period and their late period. The saddest thing to me, though, is that their "third style," the Sound of Perseverance style, which, I suppose, was more progressive and melodic, never really got to develop to full form. Death is one of those bands that I love as much for what they've done as I do for what they could have done. EDIT: Let me also mention that dem00n is a very smart young man with a bright future in this world and a hell of a lot to offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Death was going to die anyways (haha). All Chuck wanted to do was play in Control Denied, no one could of gussed what he was going to do in the next 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 EDIT: Let me also mention that dem00n is a very smart young man with a bright future in this world and a hell of a lot to offer. I dont know about that one, might have to wait and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shnate McDuanus Posted September 16, 2011 Author Share Posted September 16, 2011 Death was going to die anyways (haha). All Chuck wanted to do was play in Control Denied, no one could of gussed what he was going to do in the next 5 years. Yeah, that's true. I really liked Control Denied, too, but...not as much as Death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 They realsed some solid stuff, it gets play time here once in a while. Oh look a other xdemon/dem00n topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shnate McDuanus Posted September 16, 2011 Author Share Posted September 16, 2011 They realsed some solid stuff, it gets play time here once in a while. Oh look a other xdemon/dem00n topic. Yay! Time for Weapon: THIS IS NOW A WEAPON THREAD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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