# Human (Death album)

Human is the fourth studio album by Florida death metal band Death, released on October 22, 1991, by Relativity Records. This is the only album to feature Cynic members Paul Masvidal on guitar and Sean Reinert on drums, both 20 at the time, and the first to feature bassist Steve DiGiorgio.

## Background and release

Bassist Steve DiGiorgio left after the recording of the album (though he would later return to record Individual Thought Patterns). He was replaced by Scott Carino, who toured with the band in 1991 and 1992. Carino also recorded additional bass overdub on "Cosmic Sea" after a couple of issues were discovered during the mixing stage. The rest of the song (including the bass solo) was recorded by DiGiorgio.
According to Guitar World, "Chuck had never needed an excuse to fight for his music. Now handed one, he responded with devastating force. Human, his followup to Spiritual Healing, was a calculated retaliation to his former bandmates, who claimed he was washed up; to the media, which painted him as a narcissistic monster; and to anyone deluded enough to believe his detractors. 'This is much more than a record to me,' he told Metal Hammer’s Robert Heeg in the December 1991 issue. 'It is a statement. It’s revenge.'"
In 2011, Relapse Records and Perseverance Holdings Ltd. re-issued the album to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the original release. This edition was remixed by Jim Morris of Morrisound Recording Studios, includes bonus tracks, and was authorized by Schuldiner intellectual property lawyer Eric Greif. The reissue of Human was remixed, as Sony had lost the master tapes of Scott Burns' original mixes.

## Composition and music

The album marked the beginning of a major stylistic change for Death, being more technically complex and progressive than the band's previous efforts. Shaun Lindsley of Metal Hammer said Human was an "exponential leap forward in innovation" for the band. Chris Krovatin of Kerrang! assessed, "On the one hand, the album sees Death, arguably the genre's birth mother, exploring progressive sonic ground and lyrical themes that were completely new for them, much less any other artist within this branch of music. On the other hand, naming your album Human – after the ultimate symbol of frailty in death metal, whose destruction, demise, and sheer repulsiveness are the subject of most great death metal songs – has a reductive brilliance to it." Described as a "swirling, progressive shred-fest," the album makes use of odd time signatures and complex rhythms. Session musicians Sean Reinert and Paul Masvidal, who had performed in Cynic, were influenced by progressive rock, jazz and jazz fusion. Masvidal employed shred-style guitar solos that have been described as "paradigm-shifting." Some of the textures on the album have been described as "spacy". Joe DiVita of Loudwire said the album contains "complex melodies" accompanied by "hook-bound grooves". Additionally, the album contains melodic guitar riffs that are reminiscent of the New wave of British heavy metal, and have drawn comparisons to Iron Maiden. Steve Huey of AllMusic described Chuck Schuldiner's harmonized guitar riffs as "strange" and "dissonant", and argued the album's back side is "actually almost subdued by death metal standards." Marcus Jervis of About.com assessed, "Although firmly rooted in death metal, by this stage of its career, Death had little in common with the gore drenched grind of Cannibal Corpse or the satanic blast beats of Deicide, instead choosing to explore increasingly progressive avenues, expanding the boundaries of what was considered possible in death metal." Schuldiner's lyrics on the album explore themes such as existentialism, abuse of power, and betrayal.

## Reception and legacy

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| About.com | |
| AllMusic | |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 7/10 |
| Exclaim! | favourable |
Human was released to critical acclaim from music publications, and has since been commended as a "masterpiece" in death metal. Additionally, it is considered to be a highly influential release in the development of the technical death metal subgenre, and on extreme metal in general. In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine placed the album as the 70th greatest metal album of all time. According to Matt Mills of WhatCulture, Human "singlehandedly gave credence to the “technical death metal” niche, while also signalling that Death had fully spread their wings beyond what was first thought possible". Gregg Pratt of Exclaim! said "the one-two opening punch of "Flattening of Emotions" and "Suicide Machine" is easily one of the best double-hitter openings of a death metal album [in 1991], and the competition was stiff." According to Marcus Jervis at About.com, Human "was undeniable proof that extreme metal was capable of being about something more than angry kids pretending to worship the devil. It was crushing but cerebral and the precursor to an era where technicality is seen as a given in extreme metal."
Human is a highly influential extreme metal album, according to Jeff Wagner in his 2010 text on progressive metal, Mean Deviation. It is Death's best-selling album, having sold 100,000 copies in the United States by 1995. It was ranked number 82 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time. The track "Lack of Comprehension" has an accompanying music video, which received airplay on MTV and helped boost the sales of the album.
As of 2011, Human had sold 94,000 copies with the U.S., according to Soundscan.

## Track listing

All songs written by Chuck Schuldiner except where noted.

## Personnel

All information is taken from the CD liner notes of the original 1991 release and the 2011 reissue.

### Death

* Chuck Schuldiner – guitars, vocals
* Sean Reinert – drums
* Steve Di Giorgio – bass
* Paul Masvidal – guitars

### Additional personnel

* Scott Carino – additional bass (on "Cosmic Sea")
* Bill Andrews – drums (August 1990 rehearsal)
* Terry Butler – bass (August 1990 rehearsal)

### Production

* Chuck Schuldiner – production
* Scott Burns – producer, engineer, mixing
* Michael Fuller – mastering (original release)
* Jim Morris – remixing (2011 reissue)
* Alan Douches – mastering (2011 reissue)
* René Miville – artwork
* Tim Hubbard – photography
* David Bett – art direction
* Jacob Speis – layout