At 10/8/13 06:00 PM, HeavenDuff wrote:
I'd like to know your opinions on their evolution, career, line-ups, favorite and least-favorite albums and why, etc. If you feel like doing so, you could also rank their albums from favorite to least favorite and explain why. Hopefully we could have a nice discussion in here :)
I love any chance to talk about Death. I haven't heard enough from Sigh to comment (I've only listened to the debut album... what's it called...), but I can certainly speak about what is (IMO) the best death metal band, ever.
For starters, I can safely say I like all of Death's albums. I can also state that Leprosy is above all my favorite. I hear a lot of people criticize the "excessive" blast beats on Leprosy, but I disagree. I feel that the drums are in no way excessive, no more so than the album's greatness is excessive.
That being said, my least favorite album would have to be Symbolic. The best track (again, IMO) has to be Crystal Mountain, but even that pales in comparison to other tracks off any album. In my opinion (a lot of this being opinion based), Symbolic lacks the feeling, the emphasis, dare I say the emotion of the other albums, especially Leprosy and The Sound of Perseverance.
The Sound of Perseverance is another topic I could go into entirely, but I'll keep it brief. From what I've seen, it gets a lot of crap for it's vocals (which I happen to enjoy greatly). It's different, I'll give them that. But I think it's not necessarily a "bad" different. To me, the Sound of Perseverance has a more, excuse me for using this buzzword, "epic" feel to it. Tracks that come to mind are The Flesh and the Power it Holds, The Scavenger of Human Sorrow, and Spirit Crusher. Gone were the days of the "excessive" (their words, not mine) blast beats, and in are the days of high pitched vocals, and strong power chords. And that's okay.
In the end, Death obviously had a phenomenal career. Most of the criticisms I see for the band (either by album or just in general) aren't purely bad things. The change in vocal styles across each album may bother some, but it's better than releasing a series of albums that don't differ at all. I guess it's all a matter of perspective.
I regret that I was not nearly old enough to ever see the band live (being 5 years old when the band disbanded). But, I guess in a way it's better that it ended on a high note, rather than a downward spiral.
R.I.P. Chuck.