Symbolic (Death album)

1995 studio album by Death

Symbolic

Studio album by

Death

Released| March 21, 1995
Studio| Morrisound Recording, Tampa, Florida[1]
Genre|

* Technical death metal
* melodic death metal

Length| 50:36
Label| Roadrunner
Producer|

* Jim Morris
* Chuck Schuldiner

Death chronology
| Individual Thought Patterns
(1993)  | Symbolic
(1995)  | The Sound of Perseverance
(1998)

|
|

Symbolic is the sixth studio album by American death metal band Death, released on March 21, 1995, by Roadrunner Records. The album marked a shift towards melodic death metal, while still retaining elements of technical death metal. It is the only album to feature Bobby Koelble and Kelly Conlon on guitar and bass, respectively, and the second and last album to feature drummer Gene Hoglan.

The album has received unanimous critical acclaim, and is regarded as Death's best album, and one of the greatest death metal albums of all time. The album was remastered and reissued on April 1, 2008, with five bonus tracks.[2]

## Background and recording

[edit]

Symbolic was recorded over a six-week period at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, and was produced by Jim Morris.[3]

## Music and lyrics

[edit]

Symbolic showed a continued shift in sound from Death's previous albums, and was seen as a "massive shift towards melody", deviating from tropes of traditional death metal.[4] Matt Mills of WhatCulture called the album "perfect union of melody, brutality and intricacy that [Death] had been building towards ever since Scream Bloody Gore."[5] The album has been described as "not as mathematically progressive" as Death's two previous albums.[5] The closing track, “Perennial Quest,” has been described as "[quaking] in its own melody like a pop song stripped for parts, doused in gallons of acid and marinated in arsenic."[6]

Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork said Symbolic is "the most melodic and refined" release of Death's career.[7] The album's sound has been categorized as technical death metal[8][9][10] and melodic death metal.[4] Shaun Lindsley of Metal Hammer called the album a "labyrinth of technicality and cerebral lyrical meanderings displaying unsurpassable musicianship," while also describing its tracks as "catchy" and "incredibly accessible".[11] Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork said Symbolic is "neither as brutal as the early material nor as outwardly progressive [as Human or Individual Thought Patterns]." He also likened Schuldiner's vocals at certain parts on the album to those common in hardcore punk, describing them as "shouting through gritted teeth".[7]

The album makes use of clean guitar tones, dissonance, arpeggios, and melodies described as sounding "Egyptian".[4] Journalists have made note of the apparent influence of European heavy metal bands Sortilège and H-Bomb present on the track "Crystal Mountain." The song contains an acoustic guitar solo in its outro.[12]

The album is noted for the higher tone of Schuldiner's vocals compared to the "deep death growls" on early and mid-career Death releases.[5]

The album's lyrics have been described as "mystical,"[4] and explore topics such as political corruption, surveillance and class consciousness.[5]

## Release

[edit]

Symbolic was released by Roadrunner Records on March 21, 1995.[13] Relativity Records made a deal with Roadrunner to release it, though Schuldiner felt that the album was not promoted well.[14] The contract for Symbolic was a one album contract.[15] The band did not receive the support to release a video, whereas two songs from their previous albums, titled The Philosopher (from Individual Thought Patterns) and Lack of Comprehension (from Human) did feature videos.[14] Schuldiner originally intended for Symbolic to be the last Death album, remarking in The Metal Crusade, the Death newsletter, that he "thought SYMBOLIC was a great record to leave people with to prepare them for the next journey, "Control Denied"![16]

## Reception and legacy

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [13]
Blabbermouth.net| 10/10[17]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal| 8/10[18]
Metal.de| 10/10[19]
Pitchfork| 9.1/10[7]
Record Collector| [20]
Rock Hard| 10/10[21]
Select| [22]

> "Many fans at the time simply couldn't get their heads around this new, progressive way of doing death metal — it could be argued that the resurgence of "gore-grind" and the revival of bands walking in the footprints of early Death, Autopsy and the like, was a reaction to Chuck's more technical and melodic experiments. Looking back on it in hindsight, while the songs on "Symbolic" hold up as if no time has passed, it's almost laughable to think of the hue and cry Death's perpetual shifts in direction caused."

\- Blabbermouth

Symbolic has received widespread critical acclaim and is regarded by many as being Death’s greatest album, and as being one of the greatest death metal albums of all time. In a contemporary review, Select stated that "there're still lashings of gristly, growling vocals and head-in-the-groin thrashing to be had" as a listener can "snuggle up to witness what dark depths Death's 12-year career has taken them too [sic]".[22]

A review of the 2008 re-issue in Record Collector stated that the album was as "close to flawless as metal gets, and a testament to the drive and talent of the much-missed Schuldiner".[20] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff considered the album "the band's most impressive and crossover-ish to date", combining conventional metal, "traces of doomy, Germanic melody and heaps of progressive might."[18] Some reviews were less favorable; Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic noted that "some of the riffs are beginning to sound a little tired and there is no great leap forward in terms of their musical ideas", though he noted that "the sheer visceral force of their sound should please their dedicated fans".[13]

The webzine Metal Rules ranked the album as the 7th greatest extreme metal album[23] and the 58th greatest heavy metal album of all time.[24]

Matt Mills of WhatCulture wrote, "Symbolic is one of those once-in-a-generation metal albums that just gets everything right."[5]

Blabbermouth wrote, "If heavy metal was a college course, "Symbolic" would be on the reading list on day fucking one."[17]

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Chuck Schuldiner.

No.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "Symbolic"| 6:32
2.| "Zero Tolerance"| 4:48
3.| "Empty Words"| 6:22
4.| "Sacred Serenity"| 4:27
5.| "1,000 Eyes"| 4:28
6.| "Without Judgement"| 5:28
7.| "Crystal Mountain"| 5:07
8.| "Misanthrope"| 5:03
9.| "Perennial Quest"| 8:21
Total length:| 50:37[25]

2008 remastered bonus tracks[2]No.| Title| Length

|
|

10.| "Symbolic Acts" (March 1994 instrumental demo of "Symbolic")| 5:55
11.| "Zero Tolerance" (March 1994 instrumental demo)| 4:10
12.| "Crystal Mountain" (March 1994 instrumental demo)| 4:24
13.| "Misanthrope" (March 1994 instrumental demo)| 5:40
14.| "Symbolic Acts" (January 1994 4-track demo of "Symbolic" with vocals)| 5:55
Total length:| 76:40

## Personnel

[edit]

Most of the information here is adapted from the CD liner notes of the original 1995 release and the 2008 reissue.[1][26]

Death

* Chuck Schuldiner – guitars, vocals, bass and drum programming on January 1994 demo[2]
* Bobby Koelble – guitars
* Kelly Conlon – bass
* Gene Hoglan – drums

Additional musicians

* Steve Di Giorgio – bass (tracks 10–13, 2008 remaster)

Technical personnel

* Chuck Schuldiner – production
* Jim Morris – production, engineering
* George Marino – mastering, remastering
* Patricia Mooney – design
* René Miville – artwork, photography

## Charts

[edit]

1995 chart performance for Symbolic Chart (1995)  | Peak
position

|

Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[27] | 68
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[28] | 30
2025 chart performance for Symbolic Chart (2025)  | Peak
position

|

Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[29] | 64
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[30] | 111
Croatian International Albums (HDU)[31] | 8
Danish Vinyl Albums (Hitlisten)[32] | 6
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[33] | 37
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[34] | 35
German Rock & Metal Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[35] | 10
Greek Albums (IFPI)[36] | 96
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[37] | 12
Norwegian Physical Albums (IFPI Topplista)[38] | 10
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[39] | 32
Scottish Albums (OCC)[40] | 50
Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[41] | 19
Swedish Vinyl Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[42] | 10
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[43] | 87
UK Album Sales (OCC)[44] | 66

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Symbolic (booklet). Death. Roadrunner Records. 1995.`{{cite AV media notes}}`: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
2. ^ a b c "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - DEATH: 'Symbolic' Reissue Track Listing Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. January 16, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
3. ^ Popoff, Martin (2003). The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time. ECW Press. pp. 343–343.
4. ^ a b c d DiVita, Joe (July 18, 2013). "10 Best Songs by the Band Death". Loudwire. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
5. ^ a b c d e Mills, Matt (July 14, 2018). "Death: Ranking All 7 Studio Albums". WhatCulture.com. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
6. ^ "The 300 Greatest Albums of All Time". Paste Magazine. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
7. ^ a b c Sodomsky, Sam. "Death: Symbolic". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
8. ^ "Review: "Death: Symbolic"". Sea of Tranquility. December 4, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
9. ^ "Death - Symbolic". KXSC Radio. September 24, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
10. ^ "Death - Symbolic - Metal Storm". www.metalstorm.net. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
11. ^ Lindsley, Shaun (April 3, 2020). "Every Death album ranked from worst to best". Louder Sound. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
12. ^ Horsley, Jonathan (June 18, 2021). "5 songs guitar players need to hear by… Death". MusicRadar. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
13. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Symbolic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
14. ^ a b Dennis Gulbey (Spring 1997). "Death No More! Control Denied is Here!!". Sentinel Steel. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
15. ^ Frédéric Pichot (July 1998). "The Sound Of Perseverance..." Metallian. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
16. ^ "In Control and there's no denying it!". The Metal Crusade. 2 (6). 1995. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
17. ^ a b Bergman, Keith. "Review: Symbolic". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
18. ^ a b Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 105\. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
19. ^ Weeber, Thomas. "Death -Symbolic" (in German). Metal.de. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
20. ^ a b McIver, Joel. "Death – Symbolic". Record Collector. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
21. ^ "Rock Hard review". issue 95 (in German).
22. ^ a b PM (April 1995). "newalbums". Select. p. 93.
23. ^ "Top 50 Extreme Metal Albums". Metal Rules. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
24. ^ "The Top 100 Heavy Metal Albums". Metal Rules. Archived from the original on November 30, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
25. ^ "Amazon.com: Symbolic:Death: MP3 Downloads". Amazon. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
26. ^ Symbolic: The Expanded Edition (booklet). Death. Roadrunner Records. 2008.`{{cite AV media notes}}`: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
27. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Death – Symbolic" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
28. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
29. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Death – Symbolic" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
30. ^ "Ultratop.be – Death – Symbolic" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
31. ^ "Lista prodaje 7. tjedan 2025" (in Croatian). Top Lista. May 14, 2025. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
32. ^ "Hitlisten.NU – Vinyl Top-40 Uge 19, 2025". Hitlisten. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
33. ^ "Death: Symbolic" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
34. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Death – Symbolic" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
35. ^ "Official German Charts Top 20 Rock/Metal Charts" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. May 16, 2025. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
36. ^ "Official IFPI Charts Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Combined) – Εβδομάδα: 26/2025" (in Greek). IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on July 2, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
37. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2025. 20. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
38. ^ "Physical Album 2025 uke 20". IFPI Norge. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
39. ^ "OLiS - oficjalna lista sprzedaży - albumy" (in Polish). OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Note: Change the date to 9 May 2025–15 May 2025 under "zmień zakres od–do:". Retrieved May 22, 2025.
40. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
41. ^ "Veckolista Fisika, vecka 20" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
42. ^ "Veckolista Vintl, vecka 20" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
43. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Death – Symbolic". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
44. ^ "Official Albums Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. May 16, 2025. Retrieved May 24, 2025.

* v
* t
* e

Death

* Chuck Schuldiner
* Shannon Hamm
* Scott Clendenin
* Richard Christy

Studio albums|

* Scream Bloody Gore
* Leprosy
* Spiritual Healing
* Human
* Individual Thought Patterns
* Symbolic
* The Sound of Perseverance

Live albums|

* Live in L.A. (Death & Raw)
* Live in Eindhoven
* Vivus!

Demos|

* Reign of Terror
* Mutilation

Compilations|

* Fate: The Best of Death

Videos|

* Live in L.A. (Death & Raw)
* Live in Eindhoven
* Live in Cottbus '98

Related articles|

* Discography
* Band members
* Death (book)

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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