Death

Symbolic (Roadrunner)
by Scott Hefflon

Besides being on a new label, Death has yet another line up. This band is constantly redefining itself in small increments. Within the boundaries of heavy, thrashy music, Death blurs the fringes of the genre. Again. I’ve been a fan since “Regurgitated Guts” off Scream Blood Gore in 1987. Leprosy (1988) remains my reference of just how catchy and memorable heavy music can be. Those are usually trigger words for the sellout concept, but all I know is I could quote half the lyrics off the top of my head or grab a guitar and play the rhythms from memory.

Death ceased to be “death metal” a long time ago, as far as I can tell. Who the fuck cares? They’re from Florida, play mind-numbing heavy tunes, grind like stompcore, rip through double-bass-thundering speedcore, and have progressive intros and instrumentals that are beautifully dreamy, melodic, and still screaming with guitar harmonics. Chuck and (add current guitarist’s name here) trade shredding riffs like few existing bands know how. Speaking of Chuck, his voice has yanked itself back from the monster roar depths of genre standards and gotten into the more snarly screamcore region. Truthfully, it takes some adjustments, but it seems to work more effectively with the tuned-low guitar crunch and monstrous drumming.

And speaking of which, Gene Hoglan is now pounding drums for Death. He’s neck in neck with Mr. Lombardo for the sickest-drummer-in-creation category. While Lombardo may be more notorious and distinctive, Hoglan’s feet are just as fast and he can hit a cymbal quicker than anyone on the planet. The death of Dark Angel wasn’t his fault. His amazing drumming just couldn’t make up for their depleted songwriting abilities. The pairing of these two metal legends and a slew of new, heavy-as-fuck songs is Symbolic that Death is reborn.