Death

One of my favorite metal albums is Individual Thought Patterns from Chuck Schuldiner's Death. Heavy metal ear candy made by Schuldiner's vocals and guitar, Andy LaRocque's guitar, Steve DiGiorgio's fretless (!) bass and Gene Hoglan's drums. Neck breaking tempo changes and transcendental tutti's that together make it into great songs. It's music that liberates with guitars searching for heterogeneous arpeggios rather than monotous power chords. You will not find their music labeled as progrock but more than bands like Queen, Savatage and/or Dream Theater, I consider Death (from their album Humans on) to be one of my favorite progrock / metal bands; progressive song structures in music that crosses borders, burns like h*ll, never cease to fascinate and has a taste for the theatrical as well.

Chuck Schuldiner's life was cut short by a life threatening disease (and the US healthcare system). He died on 13 december 2001. ​(WdM)

Out of Touch / Individual Thought Patterns