Customer Reviews

Individual Thought Patterns

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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)

"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.

it's a bit hard to imagine the impact that this album had when it was first released. back in 1993, there wasn't a vast amount of death metal bands that were concerned with fusing elements of progressive rock and jazz into their compositions. Death had begun incorporating some of these styles in their Leprosy and Spiritual healing albums; but they seemed to be merely flirting with those ideas and used them sparingly within the structure of their songs. but with the advent of Individual Thought Patterns, Death found a renewed power of sound using equal amounts death metal and progressive riffing. Listening to this album and comparing it to their previous efforts, you'll notice a really big step in production (the bass is much more streamlined and fluid here, the drums sound tighter, and the guitars more distinct), and you'll notice the amazing advancements in songwriting. every single song on I.T.P. displays an increased presence of dynamics, agility, and creativity that really blew every other band clearly out of the water. where as Death were once an old school brutal death metal band with a lot of leanings towards classic thrash, the newfound committment to this more thoughtful approach added depth, maturity, and colour to their already impressive legacy. one thing that i love so much about this album, is that Death did not try and change the shape of their sound or their band. they never did a 180 degree turn with their music. they stayed completely metal, but they just upped the ante (and the IQ) of the entire genre (which they basically created). in other words, it all seems like a natural progression. if you are sitting here reading this review and you are a thinking "wow...sounds great, i gotta get this album", there's one more thing that needs to be pointed out. this album succeeds not just because of the great production, not just for the excellent songwriting, but also because of the inclusion of Andy LaRocque (on loan from King Diamond) on second guitar. the explosive power between Chuck Schuldiner and LaRocque is absolutely breathtaking. the solos sweep faster, the riffs punch harder, and the ideas are limitless. all of these factors concrete the status of this album as a classic monument to thinking man's metal and a pinnacle for lesser bands to strive for!

Death play super advanced, technical metal which falls somewhere between the progressive and death metal subgenres but cant truly be said to belong to either. This album displays a collection of dense, tightly constructed songs which are remarkable in that there is a wealth of melody and accessible elements buried beneath the, admittedly daunting, abrasive exterior. Death's greatest strength seems to be their knack of introducing extremely melodic aspects to the complexity of polyrhythmic, dual guitar soaked, byzantine death metal song structures. For instance, the lead riff of 'Trapped in a corner' is catchy, yet jerky and twisting, designed to emphasise an inescapable situation. The song builds to an instrumental interlude, and climazes on a guitar solo which owes as much to thrash metal as early death (metal), yet wouldn't sound out of place in a Maiden song. To return to the records tight construction, it is worth noting the immacualte attention to detail and careful self editing present. None of the songs are particuarly long, a melodic idea never outstays its welcome, while the instrumental parts, as complex as they are, are intertwined beautifully to allow for the listener to unravel their delights over time. The playing is world class, and Chuck Schulinder's singing and lyrics exhibit more than enough competency to propel Death far above most fare of this kind. Focusing on particular songs is hard here, as each piece is so dense and intricate that only many repeated listens will really do them justice. I can say that they are certainly more accessible than anything on 'Human', also a great album, and that the guitar playing has advanced immeasurably.
'Individual thought patterns' is basically mandatory for fans of extreme metal. It is practically flawless, each song contains at least four or five little unique moments which mark them as favourites for life. I would also recommend this CD to progressive metal fans looking to widen their worldview and absorb something that has no prog influences and very little in the way of excess. Highly recommended.

Having dropped most of his former Band members ( again... ) Chuck's got an all new Band here, including Gene Hogan so if you expect drumming beyond belief on this album you're right. This Album doesn't compare to the rather agressive and brutal assault "Human" was but it's great nevertheless. The (sort of) straight song structures of "Human" are replaced by more progressive stuff, solo extravaganza and more melody. All of this works, since Chuck never forgets where a song has to end instead of stretching it to death ( hello Dream Theater ). All in all, this, along with "Human" is my favorite DEATH album, mixing techincal perfection with good songwriting. Their follow-up "Symbolic" didn't quite reach this in my book. Let's all pray for Chuck's recovery!!!!!

I don't like reviews that make claims like "This is the only album (of this genre) you'll ever need," but after listening to this album only a couple of times it is tempting to make the old "desert island claim," i.e. if you could only have one Death Metal album, you could make a case for this one...fast, precise playing, really good songwriting, classic DM vocals...what more could you need? And this album becomes even more amazing in contrast with the subsequent album, "The Sound of Perseverence," which is much different stylistically, going more for inventive riffing than just raw speed, but every bit as good. "The Sound of Perserverance was actually my first album by Chuck and company (I found it at a used CD store), and it caused me to pick up this and some earlier Death albums. I would like to thank the other reviewers that turned me on to these guys; and I would like to congratulate Chuck for daring not to produce the same album over and over again, yet not giving in to cheesy, gimmicky, experimetation.

I once heard a reviwer on a Cannibal corpse (yuck) page say that "All death metal, in my opinion at least, is stupid. It is nothing but a lead singer grunt screaming while the guitarist plays guitar distorted while the drummer bangs on his drum at the speed of light." This album proves how ignorant and ludicrous that statement is. Seriously, I challenge any Limp bizkit fan to listen to this album from start to finish and then tell me with a straight face that those wiggers have more talent than the musicians who perform on this album. Now, with all that constructive criticism out of the way I would like to get on to this masterpiece. I will be listing the reasons why this album is amazing. They are as follows:

1.) The drumming. Gene Hoglan (in my opinion) is rivaled only by Dave Lombardo, Paul Bostaph, Doug Bohn, Flo Mournier, and Doc from Vader. He's a fast, dexterous, and accurate drummer whose style I have alway admired.

2.) The guitar solos. Andy Laroque can play. I'm familiar with his work with King Diamond (another underrated Metal genius). I'd like to see any "pop-punk" guitarist try to outplay this guy.

3.) The bass. Steve Digiorgio's playing isn't as prominent on Testament's "The gathering" album but his talents do shine brightly on this release.

4.) Last but certainly not least, there is Chuck Schuldiner. His guitar playing never fails to impress me. I've always liked his vocal style. It's always nice to hear a Death metal vocalist who sounds like a Human being instead of a silverback gorilla (e.g. Chris Barnes of Cannibal corpse, Frank Mullen of Suffocation, and at the genre's worst point, Will Rahmer of Mortician). I also think his lyrics are very intelligent, memorable and cleverly written (Go to Darklyrics.com for the lyrics to all the songs).

This is a work of art. This is unbridled creativity. This is passion and intelligence, and it goes by the name of "Individual thought patterns".

Death's 5th offering is in every way a fine album. It was released in 1993, when bands like Atheist, Cynic and, to some extent, Sadus, were on the forefront of death metal experimentation, mixing this rough and raw style of music with instrumental finesse and rhythmic complexities of jazz. The resulting music was one of death metal's finest moments, and I encourage anyone to search out and listen to the named bands.

"Individual Thought Patterns" also treads the death-meets-jazz territory. And dare I say, it's arguably the best of the death/jazz bunch. Not only the songwriting is perfect, not only the lyrics are Schuldiner's trademark personal thoughtful look at the society and its deficiencies, but it's the line up that is really the gem here. The musicians that made "IFP" are a true and unique death metal dream team. While Chuck Schuldiner was a skillful guitarist himself, the second guitar is played by Andy LaRocque, a long time member of King Diamond and a contributor to dozens of other metal albums. The resulting guitar duo treats the listener to lots of blistering solos and intricate riffing. Bass duties are handled by a fretless bass genius, Steve Digiorgio. What this man plays with a bass-guitar is impossible to describe, and almost impossible to believe. Digiorgio's bass goes way beyond being just a part of the rhythm section. And while we're on topic, I encourage metal enthusiasts to give a try to other albums with Steve's participation. It's worth every second of it. And finally, on drums we have another legend, Gene Hoglan, who played in many famous bands, Strapping Young Lad and Testament being the first that come to mind. Crystal clear production was done by yet another legend, Scott Burns, who was an undisputable No.1 producer for American death metal.

I won't describe the music for you. This album is very hard to get into, and that might be a turn-off for those with short attention span. But with time you'll get to digest everything that's going on during the 40 minutes that this CD lasts. And you'll come to agree that this is a must have album.

Death, along with Slayer, were pretty much the founding fathers of the genre since known as death metal. Now I know that many consider Possessed's 1985 album (I forget the title) to be the first true death metal record, but it was Death, and later Sepultura, that would really establish the most brutality and features that all death metal bands would follow. Vocalist/guitar virtuoso Chuck Schuldiner formed the band way back in the early '80's, and as aggressive and darkly-themed as Slayer was, Schuldiner's band single-handedly outdid the former in many ways, namely the vocals. The vocals are perhaps the most important and distinguishing features of death metal, and separate the genre from its close half-sibling, thrash metal. As well, the lyrics are generally as dark as Slayer's (ranging the whole gamut of all things offensive, from death and destruction to anti-religion and Satanism - BUT ALL FOR ENTERTAINMENT VALUES). But just as important as the vocals and lyrics are lots of heavy, double-bass riddled drumming, loud, shredding guitars, and deep, chugging bass. Oh, and lots of time changes throughout. As time progressed, bands tried to outdo each other in intensity, but unfortunately, too many focused their "talent" on the lyrics, which went from eerie and evil to just plain sick (*cough*Cannibal Corpse*cough*). However, Death, although they progressed in their own respective ways (especially in band lineups; Schuldiner would ultimately be the only consistent member), would never become so immature.

Now that you know how important and significant Death is, here is my review for INDIVIDUAL THOUGHT PATTERNS. This album clearly shows how amazing a guitarist and songwriter Chuck Schuldiner is. Just pick a song - any song - and you will be blown away by his duels with then-fellow lead/rhythm guitarist Andy LaRocque (formerly of King Diamond). Now I know there are all the great twin-guitarist lineups out there, like Mustaine and Friedman, Smith and Harris, King and Hanneman, etc., but good lord, LISTEN to Schuldiner and LaRocque play! Death, as well as being the first true death metal band, would also be one of the innovators of the importance of melody - which there is plenty of on this album. Because of how dense the songs are, Schuldiner has sure picked up some incredible musicians to play his music.

Speaking of incredible musicians, I was finally enlightened by the drumming of the great Gene Hoglan. This guy is SICK. He is so fast and so complex, it's not even funny. I'm a fan of such complex drummers as Mike Portnoy, Henry Ranta, and Dave Lombardo, and it won't be long before Hoglan is up in that list, as well. Finally, there's no denying Steve DiGiorgio's talent on bass (he plays a fretless one, too!), even though he's the type to play with a band simply for the royalties.

Also, Chuck Schuldiner is an amazing death metal vocalist. His deep, throaty wails and grunts are good because, although still hard to understand, are far more clear than Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, and Mortician's vocalizations. That's a big plus, because Schuldiner is a complex lyricist, with songs that focus on things far more interesting than a million ways to kill someone. In fact, this album has few lyrics that even are ABOUT death; it appears to be a sociological look at how people try far too hard to be what they are not. Now how many other death metal bands can you say have lyrics like THAT?

A few standout songs include "Destiny," with its fingerpicked acoustic/clean electric guitar intro. "Out of Touch" is also very good, with deep, smashing riffs. As well, the use of keyboards in "Mentally Blind" adds an eerie feel. Finally, the solo in "The Philosopher" is so spacey and melodic. But in general, all the songs are great; this is a great ALBUM; you can just sit down and listen to each song and love it all as a whole.

Finally, my one and only complaint: the production is pretty quiet. A remaster would be a great thing for this, but what can I say? At least the songs can be HEARD, and having heard them, I know that this is a great album from one of the most important bands in the genre of death metal.