Probabilmente il miglior disco dei Death, dal punto di vista concettuale e musicale. In ogni caso (potete essere in disaccordo), il mio disco preferito della band. Il disco è difficilmente descrivibile in poche righe, trattandosi di un disco multisfaccettato (ma non cervellotico): accanto a pezzi più tipicamente death-oriented (sempre originalissimi) come "Symbolic" e "1000 Eyes", abbiamo le aperture più "melodiche" di "Zero Tolerance" e "Crystal Mountain", le ossessive "Without Judgement" ed "Empty Words", fino alle track conclusive.
Il concept del disco è basato su un simbolismo esasperato ("about life", ebbe a dire il cantante/chitarrista stesso), spesso ermetico, tradotto in un capolavoro di suoni distorti e violentissimi. Segnalo in particolare tra i brani "Perennial Quest", assieme a "Flesh and Power it Holds" uno dei migliori pezzi della band. Un lavoro che parte dalla "tradizione" death metal per evolvere in uno stile personalissimo, carico di tecnicismi, riff velenosi, tempi dispari scanditi alla perfezione, ed una produzione semplicemente superlativa. Inoltre "Symbolic" si distacca dai classici testi nichilisticamente votati al satanismo (qui del tutto assente, ovviamente), dall'occultismo e dal non-meglio-specificato gore, tramutando il genere in vera e propria poesia oscura e profondissima ("I ask my question/Why? What today?/When tomorrow?", "it must be strange/to not have lived/so far into/existence").
Certo, mancano i virtuosismi di Andy La Roque (Individual Thoughts Patterns), ma c'è sempre il grande, unico Chuck, ed il suo inconfondibile marchio di fabbrica... A parte le perfette esecuzioni dei brani (concepiti come brani jazz, come struttura e complessità), bisogna segnalare il maniacale lavoro compositivo di Chuck Schuldiner (voce/chitarra) e del grandissimo ed iper-tecnico Gene Hoglan alla batteria. Conlon lascia il segno come bassista (...ci fosse stato Di Giorgio...!), mentre Koeldle alla seconda chitarra alterna impeccabilmente gli assoli con Schuldiner. Risultato: da brivido.
Con questo lavoro egli espresse un concetto straordinario: suonare con la testa, col cuore e con tanta rabbia, bilanciando le tre cose. Questo significa (anche) suonare death-metal: affiancare al lato oscuro, fatto di riff pesantissimi e disturbanti, un lato più progressive (nel senso più ampio del termine). In definitiva, i Death hanno scritto un pezzo di storia del metal.
PS: Questa rece era stata scritta nel 2003, spero che mi perdonerete per la ripetizione, in particolare "The_Bassist" che l'aveva egregiamente scritta: ho parlato di uno dei dischi che amo di più, a prescindere da tutto... e scusate se ho divagato(per una volta)!
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Symbolic (06:33)
I don't mean to dwell
But I can't help myself
When I feel the vibe
And taste a memory
Of a time in life
When years seemed to stand still
I close my eyes
And sink within myself
Relive the gift of precious memories
In need of a fix called innocence
When did it begin?
The change to come was undetectable
The open wounds expose the importance of
Our innocence
A high that can never be bought or sold
Symbolic acts - So vivid
Yet at the same time
Were invisible
Savor what you feel and what you see
Things that may not seem important now
But may be tomorrow
Do you remember when
Things seemed so eternal?
Heroes were so real...
Their magic frozen in time
The only way to learn
Is be aware and hold on tight
I close my eyes
And sink within myself
Relive the gift of precious memories
In need of a fix called innocence
When did it begin?
The change to come was undetectable
The open wounds expose the importance of
Our innocence
A high that can never be bought or sold
02 Zero Tolerance (04:48)
In the dark of night...
Abusing a portion of light
While others are sleeping
And some are escaping
A serpent spews out fantasy
Unjustified blasphemy
That cannot be condoned
It must be strange to not have lived
So far into existence
This is not a test of power
This is not a game to be lost or won
Let justice be done
There will be zero tolerance
For the creator of hallowed intentions
There will be zero tolerance
Fate is your deciding God
Karma comes crashing down
Leaving a very deep scar
Exposing a door to the
Source of a verbal whore
Machines supply the altar
Where virtuous lives are sacrificed
It must be strange to not have lived
So far into existence
This is not a test of power
This is not a game to be lost or won
Let justice be done
04 Sacred Serenity (04:26)
Wherever we go, whatever we do
Your shadow is not far behind our steps
And our breath
Protecting and watching all...
Observing spirits on the wall
What are they telling you?
Following all instincts that are pure
Oblivious to time that may be the cure
[Chorus:]
Sacred is the gift that they
have without knowing
Serenity is knowing it's safe
from destruction of time
[Solo: Schuldiner]
Maybe we could take a step back
And discover what leads us to attack
Time that is short - distance unknown
For them, each day life has just begun
Observing spirits on the wall
What are they telling you?
Following all instincts that are pure
Oblivious to time that may be the cure
[Repeat chorus]
05 1,000 Eyes (04:28)
Crossing the line into the other side
Emerging as prisoners
To the emptiness of time
To the left and to the right
From behind - They're out of sight
Plunging into a new found
Age of advanced observeillance
A worldwide, Foolproof cage
Privacy and intimacy as we know it
Will be a memory
Among many to be passed down
To those who never knew
Living in the pupil of 1,000 eyes
Was it overlooked in front of all our faces?
Now, All the mistakes and secrets
Cannot be erased
Viewing the blind complexity
By which laws were justified
To erase simplicity
To the left and to the right
From behind - They're out of sight
Plunging into a new found
Age of advanced observeillance
A worldwide, Foolproof cage
Privacy and intimacy as we know it
Will be a memory
Among many to be passed down
To those who never knew
We are enslaved now...
07 Crystal Mountain (05:07)
Built from blind faith
Passed down from self-induced fantasy
Turn a page to justify
Conjuring power - It opens wide
On seventh day
Is that how it's done?
Twisting your eyes to perceive
All that you want
To assume from ignorance
Inflicting wounds with your
Cross-turned dagger
Inside crystal mountain
Evil takes its form
Inside crystal mountain
Commandments are reborn
All the traps are set to confine
All who get in the way of the divine
In sight and in mind of the hypocrite
A slave to the curse forever confined
Shatter the myth
Don't cut yourself
On your words against
Dreams made of steel
Stronger any faith
That inflicts pain and fear
Is that how it's done?
Twisting your eyes to perceive
All that you want
To assume from ignorance
Inflicting wounds with your
Cross-Turned dagger
08 Misanthrope (05:03)
From above and around,
observations are collected
Knowledge is taken in by curious life forms
That may bring hope from beyond
Beneath the giver of life, our sun
An examination of another kind is done
A view from those who stood high
And breathed the sky
An opinion from below and from above
Some were decided, some were not
A few looked away, but none forgot
[Chorus:]
Misanthrope
Hater of all mankind
There is some hope
For those who own their mind
They came, they saw and acknowledged
Some good, some bad
Opinion: Dangerous
[Solo: Schuldiner]
Stay where you are, don't get consumed
By what they created from sheer neglet
In denial of years and years of
shattered souls
That were lost to the power of
Fragile, frightful minds
A view from those who stood high
And breathed the sky
An opinion from below and from above
Some were decided, some were not
A few looked away, but none forgot
[Repeat chorus]
09 Perennial Quest (08:18)
The journey begins with curiosity
And envolves into soul-felt questions
On the stones that we walk
And choose to make our path
Sometimes never knowing
Other times knowing too much
Filtering out the bad that holds us back...
Take hold of what is true to your hunger
A hunger that will not go away
Plans for tomorrow, They will remain
Won't you join me on the perennial quest
Reaching into the dark, Retrieving light
Search for answers on the perennial quest
Where dreams are followed, And time is a test
No time for mental crutches
The maker has moved on
I will take it raw and be on my way
Those that stood beside me
I'm glad you understand
Behind these written words
I share the simple plan
To hang on to the way that we feel
From rivers of sorrow
To oceans deep with hope
I have travelled them
Now, There is no turning back
The limit, The sky
I ask my questions Why? What today?
When tomorrow?
Filtering out the bad that holds us back...
Take hold of what is true to your hunger
A hunger that will not go away
Plans for tomorrow, They will remain
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di The_Bassist
Una fine perfetta, insomma, non dettata da un declino ma da un' evoluzione.
Lo sviluppo di una melodicità che ricorda il Death Svedese mette in difficoltà anche Hoglan e tutta la sua mastodontica abilità tecnica.
Di symbolic_eye
Chuck Schuldiner ci ha regalato un lavoro di immensa portata, un'evoluzione del tipico Death-sound.
"Crystal Mountain è la perfezione musicale, l'apoteosi di ciò che Chuck ci ha donato con la sua Arte."
Di LUGREZZO
"In questo album ogni canzone ha qualcosa da offrire e nessuna è messa lì per caso o peggio ancora per riempire un buco."
"Perennial Quest è l'incarnazione perfetta della 'Ricerca continua', un finale più che incantevole."
