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Class 6(66)
Death: Individual thought patterns
05/03/10 || InquisitorGeneralis
Introduction
Each album by “Death” is a fucking classic period. I honestly had a hard time picking which one to start with (fuuuuuck me I am going to go through as many as I can while most are uncovered!) for my return to the Class 6(66) section. A great line-up, a progression in style, incredible songs from first to last? “Individual Thought Patterns” fits that fucken bill and is going to get due treatment here.
Chuck “god of all metal” Schuldiner always surrounded himself with top musicians and to fill in for the departed dominating duo of drummer Sean Reinert and guitarist Paul Masvidal from “Human” he picked up the amazingly better combo of Gene “The Overweight Atomic Been in 10,000 Bands but Still Incredible Drummer Clock” Hoglan and King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque. Bass picker deluxe Steve DiGiogio hung around and with this roster Chuck would create his most experimental, intriguing album.
Sandwhiched between the monolithic “Human” and masterpiece “Symbolic”, “Individual Thought Patterns” perfectly combines the aggression and power of Death’s earlier style with the technical, progressive elements that would define the bands final albums. Featuring a completely unfuckwithable line-up of musicians and some of the bands best and most popular songs, “Individual Thought Patterns” might just be the ultimate Death album, but with such an incredible and diverse catalogue making a judgment of that caliber is almost impossible. However, one thing is for fucken sure: this album completely dominates in every facet is a classic with a capital “C”. Let’s get to it.
Songwriting
10 Chuck managed to make ten tracks which share a style unique to “Individual Thought Patterns” but do NOT run together or sound the same. Each track on here has its own identity but remains true to jazz-influenced, technical feel of the album. Right from the get go on “Overactive imagination” you know Death is not fucking around. While not as brutally heavy as “Human” there is still death metal in the extreme but with a finer touch.
“Individual Thought Patterns” has heavier tracks like “Overactive Imagination” and “Jealousy” mixed in perfectly with more technical tracks like ‘Trapped in the corner” and “Mentally blind”. It even features Death’s slowest, and most well known track “The Philosopher”. Find filler on a “Death” album and I’ll come over and fuck your wife for you. Find filler on “Individual Thought Patterns” you can come over and fuck my wife…. if I had one. Translation: the songwriting is fucken ace.
Production
9 While not my favorite Death production sound (that would be “Symbolic”) the mix nevertheless is excellent here. Scott Burns, who also produced “Spiritual Healing” and “Human” as well as 15,000 other Florida Death Metal albums, again does a master job on “Individual Thought Penis”. My one and only complain is the kick drum sound. While not poor by any means it just seems a bit weak compared to other Death albums. Forum production master and guest reviewer Floodhorse described this sound as the “heartbeat” kick. Hoglan’s footwork is fucken incredible and a little more impact from the bass drum would be nice but fuck, it still sounds pretty damn good. Everything else is superb: Chuck and Andy’s guitars sound great and the bass is right up there too. What else can I say? The album and all of its parts sound fucken good.
Guitars
10 Listen to “Trapped in a corner” and my score explains itself. The solo/middle section on that song may be the best ever in the history of death metal. Throw in the Hoglan’s insane drumming to back up Chuck and Andy shredding and you get absolute awesomeness. Need more? How about the finger-flying intro and the crushing riff that follows it on the “Philosopher” or the breakdown riff in “Mentally blind”? The main riff on “In human form” is the catchiest and best on the album! Guitarists and bands try their whole lives to come up with one or two songs with guitar riffs and playing this good: “Individual Thoughts Patterns” is an album featuring ten of them played by two of the best metal guitarists around.
Vocals
9 “Individual Thought Patterns” is when growly Chuck started to become raspy Chuck. While his vocals had been evolving since the early days this is when Chuck made a clear change to the sound that would carry through till “The Sound of Perseverance”. There is a reason Chucky-boy made it on the Best Growler’s List and his performance on “Individual Thought Patterns” is a clear reflection of that.
Drums
10 Mighty Gene the Meat Eating Machine’s first performance with Death is nothing short of brilliant. Within the firs minute of the album opener “Overactive imagination” you know the Hogman is on point. Other brilliant moments include the middle/breakdown of “Mentally Blind”, the previously mentioned solo section of “Trapped in a corner”, and frenetic pacing on “Jealousy” and “Out of touch”. Gene is more technical on here than on “Symbolic”, his other outstanding but more straightforward performance with Death. His footwork is top-notch with both machine-gun stop/start sections and balls-up rapid fire beatdowns. Toss in his impressive fills and the fact that every song on here has technical, precise drumming but still sounds distinct and you have the whole package: one of the finest drumming performances in death metal.
Bass
10 Steve DiGiorgio on “Individual Thought Patterns” accomplishes an extremely rare achievement in the world of death metal: he makes the bass stand the fuck out and be an integral part of the songs. When I listen to “Jealousy” I still am stunned by the whacked-out jazz shit he pulls out. Besides the flamboyant parts the bass groove is undeniable. DiGiorgio adds just the perfect amount of extra heavy on “In human form” and “The philosopher”. Fuck, he is like a second rhythm guitarist on “Trapped in a corner”. Another outstanding performance on a record where every single member brings the fucken A-game.
Lyrics
7 Chuck kept on plugging away with his lyrical mix of philosophy, mental status, the human condition, religion, and other assorted topics. I have always given Death immense credit for keeping the lyrics interesting and never being to stupid or goofy with the evil stuff. “Individual Thought Patterns” though lack any hugely memorable lyrics and many of the songs share the same theme of questioning religion, society, accepted norms… etc, etc. This content does get a bit old after a while and I rarely find myself singing to myself like I do when I think of “Pull the plug”, “Crystal mountain”, “Suicide machine”, or “Spirit Crusher”. The lyrics on here are far from bad: actually they are damn good just hard to understand sometimes and not as memorable as those on other “Death” albums.
Cover
10 One of Death’s best and most original. Your skull is where your thoughts are fucko! Don’t know what else to say other than I think it’s cool as hell and a hell of a lot more original than zombies fucking or a demon with a boner or some other ridiculous bullshit. No two Death covers look the same and each one represents
Logo
10 A classic, a death metal logo stalwart. Only Grave has a better one. You disagree? Fuck you. Find a better logo that incorporates the face and sickle of the grim reaper. Oh, and behind that logo is the best band in the history of death metal so… umm… yeah, a fucking 10.
Booklet
Lost it! I have moved three fucking times since I bought this CD and the book is long, long gone.
Overall and Ending Rant
If you consider yourself a fan of death and extreme metal this is an album you have to own. The influence of “Individual Thought Patterns” can be heard across today’s metal spectrum: from the insanity of techdeath like Necrophagist to extreme melodeath like Arsis there is no genre of metal save Whiggity Whiggity Whack Black Metal or the the slow insano stuff our resident droneboner staffer Khylystytylyltyly loves to love that has not felt the impact of Chuck’s unmatched songwriting and performing talent.
While many people say this album’s predecessor “Human” is the most influential release by Death I think “Individual Thought Patterns” is the bands most complete record featuring an unmatched line-up, diverse and creative songs, and a style that perfectly blends the aggression of early records with the progressive elements that would define the rest of Death’s incredible and unmatched career. No score but the following could do this album justice…
- Information
- Released: 1993
- Label: Relativity
- Website: www.emptywords.org
- Band
- Chuck Schuldiner: vocals, guitars
- Steve DiGiorgio: bass
- Andy LaRocque: guitars
- Gene Hoglan: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Overactive Imagination
- 02. In Human Form
- 03. Jealousy
- 04. Trapped in a Corner
- 05. Nothing Is Everything
- 06. Mentally Blind
- 07. Individual Thought Patterns
- 08. Destiny
- 09. Out of Touch
- 10. The Philosopher
