Released	October 22, 1991
Genre	Death metal, Technical death metal, progressive metal
Length	33:53
Label	Relativity, Relapse Records
Producer	Scott Burns, Chuck Schuldiner

Human is the fourth album by death metal band Death, released in 1991. The album marked the beginning of a major stylistic change for Death and the playing on the album is more technically complex and progressive than Death’s previous efforts. The lyrics are more introspective when compared to the gore-based lyrics of Scream Bloody Gore and Leprosy or the social commentary on Spiritual Healing. This new style would continue to evolve on all following Death albums.

Bass player Steve DiGiorgio left after the recording of this album (though he would later return to record Individual Thought Patterns). He was replaced by Skott Carino, who toured with the band in 1991 and 1992. Carino also recorded a few seconds of bass on “Cosmic Sea”, and the rest of the song (including the bass solo) was recorded by DiGiorgio. The album also features guitarist Paul Masvidal and drummer Sean Reinert, both of the bands Æon Spoke and fellow technical death metal pioneers Cynic.

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,^[1] and was authorized by Schuldiner intellectual property lawyer Eric Greif.^[2] Greif stated that it was necessary to remix the album since “unbelievably Sony lost the original tape of the album mixes and any attempt to remaster from a CD would be a ripoff”.

Track listing

All songs written by Chuck Schuldiner except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	“Flattening of Emotions”	4:28
2.	“Suicide Machine”	4:19
3.	“Together as One”	4:06
4.	“Secret Face”	4:36
5.	“Lack of Comprehension”	3:39
6.	“See Through Dreams”	4:26
7.	“Cosmic Sea (Instrumental)”	4:23
8.	“Vacant Planets”	3:48
9.	“God of Thunder” (Paul Stanley) (KISS cover, originally a Japan-only bonus track,[5] but included on the Relapse remixed reissue, June 2011)	3:56
Total length:		33:53

Lyrics

1. Flattening Of Emotions

Where is the person that could have been
Who, what took over, when did the end begin
Should we not prepare for the uncertain
Mysteries of our life, of our destiny
See things that are not there
Intruding voices
What went wrong to their picture perfect life
They once knew – Flattening of emotions

[Solos: Schuldiner, Masvidal]

A mind shared by an uninvited stranger
Which comes and goes as choose to appear
Should we not prepare for the uncertain
Mysteries of our life, of our destiny
See things that are not there
Intruding voices
What went wrong to their picture perfect life
They once knew – Flattening of emotions

2. Suicide Machine

Controlling their lives
Deciding when and how they will die
A victim of someone else’s choice
The ones who suffer have no voice
Manipulating destiny
When it comes to living, no one seems to care
But when it comes to wanting out
Those with power, will be there
Prolong the pain
How long will it last?
Suicide machine
A request to die with dignity
Is that too much to ask?
Suicide machine
How easy it is to deny the pain
Of someone else’s suffering

[Solos: Schuldiner, Masvidal]

Robbed of natural abilities
In death they now seek tranquility
In a confused state of mind
Extending agony, they must be blind
Manipulating destiny

When it comes to living, no one seems to care
But when it comes to wanting out
Those with power, will be there
Prolong the pain
How long will it last?
Suicide machine
A request to die with dignity
Is that too much to ask?
Suicide machine

3. Together As One

Labelled a creation of evil
Ridiculed for their shocking appearance
Sharing both pleasure and pain
Two minds, two hearts, one soul
Separating mentally
An illusion of privacy
Together – they absorb each other’s lives
As One – they will live and they will die
A living hell has begun

[Solo: Schuldiner]

Displayed as a nightmare
Criticized through words and eyes
As they stare
To the normal it seems grotesque
Connected by a bond of flesh
Sharing both pleasure and pain
Two minds, two hearts, one soul
Separating mentally
An illusion of privacy
Together – they absorb each other’s lives
As One – they will live and they will die
A living hell has begun

4. Secret Face

There is a mask
That covers up one’s true intentions
Once removed, things become very clear
Analyze behavior patterns to see beneath
The person that is presented to you
Vulnerable through trust
Life is a twisted maze of obstacles
Presented by people with a secret face

[Solo: Schuldiner]

What’s on the outside
Is not always all that is real
Live by caution, what I feel
When things are reversed
People are shown for what they are
The truth is revealed
Banish the false
Pacifying moments with an acquired disguise to obtain
The things they want
By the anguish of someone else
Materialistic motives are fulfilled
Cherish the true
Vulnerable through trust
Life is a twisted maze of obstacles
Presented by people with a secret face

5. Lack Of Comprehension

A condemning fear strikes down
Things they cannot understand
An excuse to cover up weaknesses that lie within
Lies
Laying your guilt and pain
On people that had no part in the molding of a life
That creates its destruction
Lies
Right before your very eyes
A reflection of the mistakes
To the end you will deny
Your part in the demise of a life
Lack of comprehension
Thriving on your cliché
Compelled by self-resentment

[Solo: Schuldiner]

Reaching into the minds of those that created
The depression in which they
In which they drowned their flesh and blood
Lies
So easy to blame the
Everlasting guilt on a pathetic attempt
To justify the ending of a life
Lies
Right before your very eyes
A reflection of the mistakes
To the end you will deny
Your help in the ending of a life
Lack of comprehension
Thriving on your cliché
Compelled by self-resentment

6. See Through Dream

Born into darkness
Where sounds portray the images that are out
Out of reach from my sight
Which has been denied
Hands change into my eyes
Body senses intensified
Sight so close yet far away

In dreams my thoughts take their form
To give memories identity
Through dreams I obtain
The ability to connect sight with sound

[Solo: Schuldiner]

Close your eyes and imagine to be without
What we take for granted every time we open our eyes
A permanent shadow to never step away
Feel the dark in the cold
Feel the warmth of the light
Which has been denied
Hands change into my eyes
Body senses intensified
Sight so close yet far away
In dreams my thoughts take their form
To give memories identity
Through dreams I obtain
The ability to connect sight with sound

7. Cosmic Sea

[Instrumental]

[Solos: Schuldiner, Masvidal]

8. Vacant Planets

Mysterious object of flight on a voyage
To correct what they have done, what we are doing
Perhaps submerged, living in the inner most
Recesses of the planet – no choice but
To adapt to an underground world
Limiting our passages of thought
Are they the examples of regression
A life form’s abusive progression
In a realm so vast, we sit among the Vacant Planets

[Solos: Masvidal, Schuldiner]

So many worlds yet to be seen that once have shared
The same effects that come from greed, mass production
Perhaps submerged, living in the inner most
Recesses of the planet – no choice but
To adapt to an underground world
Limiting our passages of thought
Are they the examples of regression
A life form’s abusive progression