Death
Spiritual Healing (Relapse) The late Chuck Schuldiner may not have invented death metal, but with 1990’s third strike Spiritual Healing, he gave the genre its mighty hammer of tempo changes, its bloody battle axe of thrash-derived riffs, and its severed head of social consciousness, all filtered through clean, dry production today’s metal producers ought to hearken. Atop melodies grounded in metal classicism, his solos burn while remaining musical, and his roar stays surprisingly articulate, making SH more Master of Puppets than Morbid Angel. A cornerstone not only of extreme metal, but metal in general, this latest entry in Relapse’s laudable catalog restoration expands onto a second disc of raw demos and work tapes. 
This article appears in February 8 • 2013.
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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.
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