Search - Death :: Individual Thought Patterns

Death metal at its finest. One of the best ever!

Ryan Klubeck | Wilkes-Barre, PA United States | 10/08/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Chuck Schuldiner will be dearly missed. After listening to his incredible work, I perpetually think about how saddened I am. It brings a tear to my eye to think that such a prolific, hard working soul was taken away from the world. It's a shame that life throws these obstacles at you. He is a true metal mastermind, and he will forever influence many musical generations. He has left a legacy behind, and no metal musician will be able to say that they have not been influenced by Mr. Schuldiner."Individual Thought Patterns" was a big step forward in the progressive direction for Death. Instead of head-on brutality, Chuck implemeneted sweet melodies and guitar harmonies, and he also offerred variations in speed to avoid monotony. The songs have elaborate structures but they don't sacrifice the sheer awesomeness of their sound. Chuck also could not have recruited a better group of musicians to record this album. The line-up reads as a who's who of metal legends. On second guitar, we have Andy LaRocque (King Diamond), who is one hell of a shredder, but also holds great melody. The arpeggios on this album are utterly jaw-dropping, thanks to him and Chuck. Next, we have Steve DiGiorgio (Sadus, Testament), who is easily one of the best bassists in metal. He even plays a fretless bass! How awesome is that? Finally, there is Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel, Strapping Young Lad, Testament), who is arguably the king of thrash metal drumming. He just plain rules arse. Finally, Chuck's guitar playing and vocals are phenomenal. He and Andy dish out amazing solos, and his vocals are (I take pride in this description) downright evil. If you like traditional Death, then this may not be for you. However, I own Leprosy and Scream Bloody Gore, which I absolutely love, but Individual Thought Patterns is my favorite. It's unbelievable. I must also point out that this album gave melodic death metal a good jump start (bands like At The Gates and In Flames would carry the torch later). Anyway, if you have any concern for your METAL health, buy this. You won't regret it.Some highlights:Overactive Imagination: Chuck and company get the ball rolling immediately. The thrash level is insane on this track! Awesome solos by Chuck and Andy, too. One of my faves.In Human Form: Awesome mid paced metal-fest. Cool solo breaks throughout the song. Those arpeggios are so infectious!Trapped In A Corner: Probably the best song the album has to offer. Excellent, extensive solos, and riffs that drive you crazy.Mentally Blind: Simply awesome. Chuck can do no wrong.The Philosopher: Excellent closing song. Cool finger tapping intro, and heaviness to follow. There you have it folks. BUY THIS!"

Death metal?

Wheelchair Assassin | The Great Concavity | 12/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Individual Thought Patterns" may be loosely classifiable as death metal, but such a genre-bending masterpiece as this one goes far beyond the confines of one genre. Here death combine elements of death, thrash, and progressive metal to create a very heavy album that also boasts a potent groove. "Individual Thought Patterns" is a magnificent balancing act that blends heaviness, technical precision, and top-notch songcraft. The late Chuck Schuldiner's vocals blend screaming and singing for a fairly unique style. The guitar riffs aren't really all that heavy, but they're fast, precise and cruncy, backed up by lightning-fast drumming and flowing bass lines. This album is perfect for death metal neophytes like myself, and recommended for fans of death-thrash hybrids like Sepultura and Slayer, or even pure thrash bands like Metallica or Megadeth."

How couldn't you give this five stars?Best Metal album 1993!

Zander Haberstaft | Miami, Florida | 06/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This along with Leprosy is my favorite Death album. While those two albums are as different from each other as one can imagine, they represent a band that was always transforming and moving ahead.



What 'Individual Thought Patterns' represents is a success on the part of Chuck Schuldiner's song writing. He was now a seasoned musician. Whereas in the Leprosy era ('88) he had grand visions but couldn't actualize them, during this era he had finally penned his song writing skills. This album also brings together a band of ecclectic musicians, Andy La Rocque (of King Diamond fame) and Gean Hoglan (of various L.A. Thrash bands no one will remember except for Dark Angel) and Steve Digiorgio (ex-Sadus, Autopsy).



The guitars are good, at first they sound kinda weird together (La Rocque's 'neoclassical' style is a little bit of an acquired taste). But the riffs are as endless as they are interesting. The drum work is pretty good for Gene Hoglan, the Dark Angel drummer who I thought was highly overrated back in the day ('86) -from a drummers prospective of course. It is in fact I believe Hoglan's best drumming performance. The fills are interesting, the tom-rolls always different, the double-bass quads and triplets, the ride 2/3-4/6 beats, and the disappearing/reappearing crashes. Steve Digiorgio uses his bass to hold the beat and then some! He uses his bass like a bass and a guitar at the same time always playing on time or just slightly slower to give the music a kind of inverted feel. This is probably DiGiorgio's best work (unless you've seen him play live.) But then again, that's probably debateable. The bass is my favorite instrument on the album.



As previous reviewers have alluded to, they compare this to death/jazz or simply to Jazz song writing. I find this labeling somewhat erroneous since what these musicians had in mind wasn't something as technical as Tony Williams or Jaco Pastorius. What they were trying to do here is have a song that consisting in intro-verse-chorus-break-verse-chorus-end/outro in diverse time formats. Other bands that used this format were Atheist and Cynic (but also Thrash bands like Anacrusis). I concur with other reviewers though...THIS IS THINKING MAN'S DEATH METAL! (R.I.P. Chuck)"