SPIRITUAL HEALING - 1990 / DEATH

METAL HAMMER ESPAÑA Nº4: Los legendarios DEATH con SPIRITUAL HEALING, su tercer disco.

Enlace:

SPIRITUAL HEALING - 1990 / DEATH - METAL HAMMER ESPAÑA

Saludos.

ENGLISH

METAL HAMMER ESPAÑA Nº4: The legendary DEATH with SPIRITUAL HEALING, their third album.

Link:

SPIRITUAL HEALING - 1990 / DEATH - METAL HAMMER ESPAÑA

LABEL: COMBAT RECORDS

RELEASE DATE: 16th of February, 1990

MEMBERS:

CHUCK SCHULDINER: Vocals, guitar

JAMES MURPHY: Guitar

TERRY BUTLER: Bass guitar

BILL ANDREWS: Drums

TRACKS:

LIVING MONSTROSITY

ALTERING THE FUTURE

DEFENSIVE PERSONALITIES

WITHIN THE MIND

SPIRITUAL HEALING

LOW LIFE

GENETIC RECONSTRUCTION

KILLING SPREE

VIDEOS:

LIVING MONSTROSITY

SPIRITUAL HEALING

KILLING SPREE

DEATH, the main idea through which the dearly missed CHUCK SCHULDINER wished to share his talent with us, needs no introduction. This is one of the pros of discussing one band (even if it was mostly good old Chuck and a bunch of musicians who never lasted very long) known by every metal fan and cherished, at least to a certain extent, by any extreme metal follower. We are talking, in particular, about a person renowned for being a great musician, besides being someone charismatic and kind, and as a whole, about a band which has the privilege of being one of those about which there seems to be unanimity when it comes to point out a career with no traces of mediocrity.

And is all thanks to seven studio albums, released in the span of eleven years (a little before Chuck's untimely passing), which are proof of the possibility of having a forward looking mindset within the confines of a genre which more often than not is scarcely prone to changes, as death metal is. And of doing all that successfully and with a great amount of good taste. The first of those albums, SCREAM BLOODY GORE (1987), is widely acknowledged as death metal's first record ever, and the second one, LEPROSY (1988), might as well be the genre's most famous records, and one of the most loved ones. SPIRITUAL HEALING, from 1990, is the third record and the one to be reviewed now. And the album on which Chuck began to leave horror and gore behind (themes used and abused on the two previous records) to embrace a more social and even philosophical vision. The music also evolved from here on, thanks to more complex songs, with more tempo changes and technical nuances, thanks to which Death would soon begin to be talked about a progressive death metal outfit. I'm not someone who is very fond of an endless array of tags to talk about music, but it's crystal clear that the music found on Leprosy differs from that of the band's latest records, although we are still talking about death / thrash of the highest order and with a level of quality within the reach of very few. Chuck was always much more than death metal, and a visionary.

Death, back in the day: from left to right, Andrews,
Schuldiner, Murphy and Butler

But before I go on with Spiritual Healing I'd like to write about another of those factors which contributed greatly to Death's glorious career path, and which is no other than the endless list of great musicians who have made the different lineups of the band, be them little known (at least back in the day) or more famous, but extreme metal royalty in every case. Musicians like CHRIS REIFERT,  RICK ROZZ, PAUL MASVIDAL, STEVE DIGIORGIO, GENE HOGLAN and ANDY LAROCQUE have played in Death, among others, not to mention the also deceased SEAN REINERT and SCOTT CLENDENIN. Perhaps it could be said that, on Spiritual Healing, Death were still a proper band (instead of  Chuck's very own musical vehicle, and also keeping in mind that Scream Bloody Gore had been recorded by only two musicians), because drummer BILL ANDREWS (who had already recorded Leprosy) was still in the ranks, while musicians like TERRY BUTLER (bass) and the well known and seasoned guitar player JAMES MURPHY (ex every band out there) joined. The fun fact here is that Andrews, Rozz and Butler became also part of MASSACRE, and Butler is also the current bass player in OBITUARY.

Spiritual Healing was recorded at the famed MORRISOUND studios in Tampa, was produced by the band, together with the megafamous producer SCOTT BURNS, and the also very well known front cover was drawn, for the last time with Death, by ED REPKA.

James Murphy

 

LIVING MONSTROSITY remains one of my favourite Death songs ever. Just like that. This track, which deals with drugg addiction during pregnancy, and its subsequent consequences, begins with an old riff which had already been part of the song BACK FROM THE DEAD, which was on a 1985 demo of the the same name. Close to its second minute, the frantic momentum of the song slows down a little for Chuck and Murphy to share a great flanged melody which leads to a brutal sonic assault, with a lenghty solo shared by them both, which turns out to be even better than the already mentioned opening riff.

Death even indulge themselves in a very doom-like beginning in ALTERING THE FUTURE, before moving to more usual grounds (within the band's parameters) and the unavoidable surge of speed, although the latter is not the most remarkable feature of the song. And yet there is room for a more violent section, after Chuck screams the title sentence, with more variety provided by Andrews and the double kicks, before everything starts all over again from that aforementioned riff.

 

DEFENSIVE PERSONALITIES is faster, but it also has enough diversity to keep the listener's attention. What I like the most about it is the second and very aggressive riff, which arrives quite soon, right after Chuck's first line, and that will be revisited later on. Also Andrews' work, with all those thing he does with his feet during the guitar solos. And speaking of which, it is to be noticed that every single song on this record boasts guitar solos by both axemen, be them in different order sometimes, or separated within the different sections of a particular song. No surprise when it comes to Murphy, but remarkable concerning Chuck, just in case someone was thinking of him as the average frontman and guitarrist who only plays rhythm guitar. That is far from accurate, because not only was Chuck a proficient shredder, and surely an overlooked one, but also there is at least one Death album on which he is, in fact, the sole guitar player, with everything something like that entails.

Chuck, rehearsing

 

The intro melody to WITHIN THE MIND reminds me of the beginning of songs like ZOMBIE RITUAL or EVIL DEAD, both on Scream Bloody Gore, although in those two cases the melodies quickly became blasts of violence and velocity, and here verything is more subtle and mid-paced. Great solo by Murphy, the first one to be found. Chuck's closes the song and both of them are executed over a potent rhythm section with open chords.

SPIRITUAL HEALING runs over the listener with a huge display of tapping (as happened on Leprosy and its title track), courtesy of Chuck himself, which has been the ringtone on my phone for years. Being close to eight minutes, this song not only became the band's longest up to that moment, but also remained as such for a few years, until it was overcome in that department by PERENNIAL QUEST as the closing number on SYMBOLIC (1995), and later on by FLESH AND THE POWER IT HOLDS, which is on THE SOUND OF PERSEVERANCE (1998), Death's last album. So we can find all sorts of stuff in this track about using violence for religious reasons, even what I identify as a synth at 3’30’’, when Chuck screams the name of the song, right before the guitar solos. Butler's pulsating bass resounds like there was no tomorrow during the slower parts, although this track is overall quite speedy. It has to be noticed, as trivia, that one of the riffs in the middle section was also brought back to life from the band's early days, because it had been previously used to open a song called LEGION OF DOOM,which did not go further than its demo stage.

Not that I dislike LOW LIFE, not at all, but in my opinion, this is the one thing which distances the record a little from an almost perfect final score, even if only due to its opening riff, which I deem little original or imaginative if we think about the usual standards of this band. Having said that, the rest of the song manages to contradict me with another great work by Butler and above all things, with a glorious, fast instrumental midlle stretch during which both axemen exchange as many as six solos, no less. The opening riff can be heard again, but who really cares? Another doom ending, once again.

Death, circa 1990, after a show

GENETIC RECONSTRUCTION has great, dystopian lyrics, although a tad worrying. As for the music, which is what really matters, this is another belter which does justice to the rest of the album, with different atmospheres and tempo changes, another round of amazing guitar solos and a main riff which turns out to be, in its own twisted way, catchy enough to stay in your mind for a while, something that I guess is not the most usual thing within the death metal realm.

Great intro to KILLING SPREE, the last song on the record and also its shortest one, about someone who seems to be the perfect scapegoat for carrying out exactly that, a killing spree. This song is mostly fast and furious stuff, with less nuances that the rest of the bunch. As if living up to its own name. I love the part beginning at 1’26’’, which leads to the guitar solos and happens to be the only one in which the whole band slows down a little.

I never know how to rank Death's albums, from worst to best or whatever. Spiritual Healing ranks among the best ones, no doubt, but all of them can be in that same position, now that I come to think of it. Even HUMAN, the one that I listen to the least, is another scorcher. This fact only hihglights the flawless career of a musician who was second to none and who would go on turning heads with his endless talent (also in CONTROL DENIED, the side band he ensembled by the late nineties), before illness sadly claimed his life in 2001, when he was only thirty four. 2026 will mark the 25th anniversary of his passing and I just hope there is something special, whatever it may be, to celebrate him and his legacy the way they both deserve.

Long live Chuck Schuldiner.

Cheers!