Relapse Schallplatten & CDs

Review: The mid-90s were a time of immense change for the death metal scene, strongly linked to the endless progression of the genre's most vital pioneers Death, who in retrospect, appeared to be reshaping, retooling and expanding the genre for their current and future peers in real time. Having already switched out the lyrical gore obsessions of their early material for the socio-political ponderings of 1990's Spiritual Healing, before turning to more opaque, introspective ruminations on their superbly technical, progressive death metal opus Human in 1991, a two-year gap would occur (a lengthy creative respite in terms of their prolificacy) before the arrival of 1993's Individual Thought Patterns. During this time, metal drumming legend Gene Hoglan (Testament, Fear Factory) would enter the mix along with King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque, and this newly refurbished line up would continue to build upon the virtuosic hyper-technical prog-death blueprint of Human, but with a major increase of oppressive, metallic menace, leading many to consider the work to be Death's most mercurial balance of artistic complexity and vicious heaviness.