DEATH — Individual Thought Patterns (review)

DEATH — Individual Thought Patterns album cover Album · 1993 · Technical Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Stooge
Another album, another lineup overhaul, no surprises. As long as Chuck Schuldiner is there, you’ll get some solid metal. His writing style really hasn’t changed a lot from the early years, but a higher caliber of musicians can turn good songs into great ones. That was the case with Human, and the trend continues on Individual Thought Patterns.

Chuck, being quite the King Diamond fan, calls on Andy LaRocque to take on the second guitar slot for the studio sessions. I’m more used to hearing his leads accompanied by King’s wailing, high-pitched vocals, but LaRocque’s solos work well on this album. Many of Individual Thought Pattern’s most memorable solos can be traced to his fret board.

Aside from Chuck, the only returning player from Human is bassist Steve Digiorgio, who receives a generous boost in volume on this album. Sometimes he sounds a bit to high in the mix, but fretless bass playing on a metal album was still something of a rarity in 1993, so I don’t mind it. His playing stands out strongly in “Nothing Is Everything”, “Jealousy”, and the dueling solo outro (with Chuck) on “The Philosopher”. His rhythm section partner, Gene Hoglan, is just as impressive throughout the album.

Many of the songs are great cuts, but I’d describe the title track and “Out of Touch” (intro aside) as being less memorable than the others. The strongest tracks on this album are “Trapped In A Corner”, which features my favorite solo section on the album, “The Philosopher” (the song that made me a Death fan), and “In Human Form”.

Overall, this is an excellent album by Death, but is sandwiched between two even better albums in their discography. This is sure to please most fans of death metal, and possibly thrash and prog metal fans as well.
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