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Rating: "- "Human" by Death??!!!!-"
At this point, someone might think that ElectricOne (that is, your humble reviewer) has completely lost himself in a nostalgic and vaguely "Sapore di mare" style depression in a metal sauce.
Not quite.
Let's say that always "that day when I was browsing through the vinyls" (see review of "Clandestine" by Entombed) a sort of morbid curiosity sparked in my mind: but how have all these masterpieces, now surpassed (in terms of production, perhaps, and I say perhaps, in terms of technique and audacity but not in inventiveness and passion) and sometimes forgotten even by those who now draw from them without knowing their original coordinates, been considered/reviewed in the last five years?
Well, the only review on Debaser of "Human" was proposed by a guy born in '86 who, in the year of release of the mentioned work, probably had other things to think about instead of analyzing the exponential growth of the death metal movement, considering his tender age.
The period 1989-1993 was surely the golden age of death metal: few signed bands dedicated to the genre (unfortunately the number of clone bands would exponentially and dramatically increase with the commercial success of the founding fathers), a great deal of compositional quality and an original kaleidoscope of ways to interpret a sound still in constant evolution.
The discography of Death, led by the late (oh, how much this music scene misses a superior mind like his) Chuck Schuldiner, is a clear example: considered by many as the true milestone of death metal (certainly the putative fathers of the American school along with Massacre, Repulsion, Master, and obviously Morbid Angel), they went in just under a decade from the raw but seminal "Scream Bloody Gore" to one of the highest expressions of the genre, namely the album under review, also encountering some musical setbacks like the intermediate and less successful "Spiritual Healing."
An unparalleled evolutionary push brings the Floridian band, once again revamped in the lineup except, of course, for the good Chuck, to the compositional zenith of their experience as a "pure" death metal act.
"Human" is the last album by our guys that still has all the intrinsic characteristics of the genre, therefore passionate executional ferocity, power and guttural timbre of the sounds (recorded, of course, at the legendary Morrisound in Tampa and obviously produced by the guru Scott Burns), vocals' savagery and a deeply evil and dark riffing.
The extraordinary technical abilities of Steve DiGiorgio (bass), Sean Reinert (drums), Sean Masvidal (guitars) are put in service of 8 memorable compositions (all obviously marked Schuldiner) where the creativity and originality of instrumental solutions never overshadow the ultimate purpose, that is, to go straight to the listener's heart capturing their attention with the extraordinary simplicity of a flowing multitude of riffs, all absolutely ingenious and highly engaging thanks to the pathos poured out by our guys.
This is the true strength of "Human": to make such an amalgam of technical abilities listenable, offering vivid human sound emotions, despite the refined individual technique and intricate rhythmic solutions (well, Reinert and DiGiorgio make "Human" a truly extraordinary product and all with disarming fluidity and smoothness), backed up by intelligent and erudite lyrics (moreover, highly relatable).
Those already familiar with the album in question will agree with me that mentioning the individual tracks is perfectly unnecessary, they are all wonderfully excellent in songwriting, execution, and recording (not to mention the numerous and extremely effective solos, true auditory pleasure gems), so from "Flattening of Emotions" to "Vacant Planets", passing through "Lack of Comprehension" (from which Death's first-ever video clip was made) and "Cosmic Sea" (a highly progressive instrumental track, in my humble opinion, the true gem of the entire album) there's nothing left but to dive into the listening experience and be astounded by it.
In memory of Chuck Schuldiner 1967 - 2001
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Flattening of Emotions (04:29)
Where is the person that could have been
Who, what took over, when did the end begin
Should we not prepare for the uncertain
Mysteries of our life, of our destiny
See things that are not there
Intruding voices
What went wrong to their picture perfect life
They once knew - Flattening of emotions
A mind shared by an uninvited stranger
Which comes and goes as choose to appear
Should we not prepare for the uncertain
Mysteries of our life, of our destiny
See things that are not there
Intruding voices
What went wrong to their picture perfect life
They once knew - Flattening of emotions
02 Suicide Machine (04:22)
Controlling their lives
Deciding when and how they will die
A victim of someone else's choice
The ones who suffer have no voice
Manipulating destiny
When it comes to living, No one seems to care
But when it comes to wanting out
Those with power, Will be there
Prolong the pain
How long will it last?
Suicide machine
A request to die with dignity
Is that too much to ask?
Suicide machine
How easy it is to deny the pain
Of someone else's suffering
Robbed of natural abilities
In death they now seek tranquility
In a confused state of mind
Extending agony, They must be blind
Manipulating destiny
When it comes to living, No one seems to care
But when it comes to wanting out
Those with power, Will be there
Prolong the pain
How long will it last?
Suicide machine
A request to die with dignity
Is that too much to ask?
Suicide machine
03 Together as One (04:08)
Labelled a creation of evil
Ridiculed for their shocking appearance
Sharing both please and pain
Two minds, Two hearts, One soul
Separating mentally
An illusion of privacy
Together - They absorb each other's lives
As One - They will live and they will die
A living hell has begun
Displayed as a nightmare
Criticized through words and eyes
As they stare
To the normal it seems grotesque
Connected by a bond of flesh
Two minds, Two hearts, One soul
Separating mentally
An illusion of privacy
Together - They absorb each other's lives
As One - They will live and they will die
A living hell has begun
05 Lack of Comprehension (03:43)
A condeming fear strikes down
Things they cannot understand
An excuse to cover up weaknesses that lie within
Lies
Laying your guilt and pain
On people that had no part in the molding of a life
That creates its destruction
Lies
Right before your very eyes
A reflection of the mistakes
To the end you will deny
Your part in the demise of a life
Lack of comprehension
Thriving on your cliche
Compelled by self-resentment
Reaching into the minds of those that created
The depression in which they
In which they drowned their flesh and blood
Lies
So easy to blame the
Everlasting fear on a pathetic attempt
To justify the ending of life
Lies
Right before your very eyes
A reflection of the mistakes
To the end you will deny
Your part in the demise of a life
Lack of comprehension
Thriving on your cliche
Compelled by self-resentment
08 Vacant Planets (03:48)
Mysterious object of flight on a voyage
To correct what they have done, What we are doing
Perhaps submerged, Living in the inner most
Recesses of the planet - No choice but
To adapt to an underground world
Limiting our passages of thought
Are they the examples of regression
A life form's abusive progression
In a realm so vast, We sit among the Vacant Planets
So many worlds yet to be seen that once have shared
The same effects that come from greed, Mass production
Perhaps submerged, Living in the inner most
Recesses of the planet - No choice but
To adapt to an underground world
Limiting our passages of thought
Are they the examples of regression
A life form's abusive progression
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