Death - Symbolic (1995)

     I hate that this album gets called overrated by a portion of the metal community. But hey, opinions are like assholes. Symbolic was the first album by Death I ever listened to and will, hands down, always be my favorite Death album. It's one of those death metal albums you listen to over, and over again, and each time you're reminded of all the different elements found in this album that make it an absolute progressive/death metal classic.

     The album is notably as progressive as previous albums but delivered with more intensity, more speed, and I guess you could say, a few hints of more non-metal influence? Groove, perhaps? We'll call it melody. Upbeat tempos and heavy riff arrangements keep this album from being anything but boring. This album is full of memorable moments, from intellectual lyrical structure to riff transition.

     To the left and to the right

     From behind - they're out of sight 

     Plunging into a new found

     Age of advanced observeillance 

     A world wide, foolproof cage 

     Privacy and intimacy as we know it

     Will be a memory 

     Among many to be passed down

     To those who never knew

     Living in the pupil of 1000 eyes

     This album is enough to keep my attention the entire length, and that's what I deemed the deciding factor whenever I was asked what my favorite Death album was. It's difficult to pin down exactly which Death album should be deemed the most influential, the most creative, the most unequivocally death metal album of our times, but what is certain is that Symbolic is up among the top of the ranks.