Symbolic
by Death (Metal)

Overall rank: 1,088th | 1990s rank: 204th | 1995 rank: 18th
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).(Last updated: 7 hours ago)

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Year	Source	Chart	Rank	Rank Score
2026	Untitled	Top 20 Music Albums of 1995	2/20	5
2026	ExTeaSea	Top 96 Music Albums of 1995	11/96	4
2026	Cronostalksmetal	Top 39 Greatest Music Albums	10/39	75
2026	deadhouse	Top 100 Greatest Music Albums	33/100	66
2026	sunnydhamm	Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s	76/100	5
2026	vruslov	Top 74 Music Albums of 1995	3/74	5
2026	AAL2014	Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s	8/100	19
2026	RockyRaccoon	Top 53 Music Albums of 1995	2/53	5
2026	Steppenwolf666	Top 100 Music Albums of 1995	38/100	3
2026	LedZep	Metal - Holy Wars, Strongholds & The Thousand Lakes	34/95	-
		Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in.		211
		Total Rank Score: The total rank score.		1,607

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Symbolic collection

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Symbolic ratings

Average Rating:

81/100 (from 257 votes)

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Album ratings	Avg. album rating
95/100 !	05/26/2026 00:50	stareaterogni0n	577	71/100
100/100 !	05/25/2026 03:07	pinkfreud1981	644	81/100
60/100 !	03/09/2026 19:57	Exist-en-ciel	15,670	70/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 81.1/100, a mean average of 79.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 19.1.

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Symbolic favourites

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Forum mentions

This album has been referenced 45 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.

From

BestEverAlbums 09/16/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5437): By Untitled

“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Untitled () 1. (1989) 2. by (1979) 3. by (1998) 4. by by (1996) 6. by (2000) 7. (2005) 8. by (1994) 9. by (1975) 10. by (1985) 11. (1991) 12. (1966) 13. (2001) 14. by (1959) 15. by (1999) 16. by (1965) 17. (2008) 18. by (1966) 19. (1977) 20.…”

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From

BestEverAlbums 08/15/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5405): By AAL2014

“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by AAL2014 () 1. by (1976) 2. by (1975) 3. by (2015) 4. by (1969) 5. by by (1965) 9. by (1999) 10. by (1966) 11. by (1998) 14. (1973) 16. by (1971) 18. by (1973) 19. by by (1972) 21. by (1975) 22. (1984) 23. by (2012) 24. by (1984) 25. by…”

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From

BestEverAlbums 07/20/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5379): By pinkfreud1981

“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by ) 1. (1977) 2. by by (1963) 4. (1971) 5. by (1999) 6. by (2000) 8. by (1975) 9. by (2011) 10. by (1976) 11. by (1969) 14. by (1979) 15. by (1994) 16. by (2019) 17. by by (1993) 19. by (1973) 20. by (1985) 21. by by (1971) 23. by (1965) 24.…”

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Symbolic comments

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Rating:

95/100

From mv3k 12/01/2023 21:23 | #300249

I am totally surprised with how much I enjoy this album, because I don't consider myself death metal fan, but this is close to a masterpiece. (Edited)

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Rating:

90/100

From bobnickmad 04/11/2022 16:38 | #284027

Probably their best in terms of composition but it lacks atmosphere, so I will always prefer Leprosy.

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Rating:

100/100

From wizardslayer 10/04/2020 10:04 | #258988

Death metal for intellectual savages

Favorites
+Symbolic
+Perrenial quest
+Crystal mountain

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Rating:

100/100

From

AAL2014 06/29/2020 02:11 | #254693 | TOP COMMENT

Symbolic was a game-changer for me.

This album intrigued and inspired me to keep going further down the rabbit hole as far as heavy music was. I've been a fan of a number of metal (and other forms of heavy) bands nearly since I got into music as a whole, but when I first heard this a couple of years ago, it flipped a switch. A drummer of 10 years at the time, I heard Gene Hoglan's playing and just kinda went ".......Oh.....". What an uncompromisingly brilliant set of drum performances.

Chuck's writing was never more consistently gripping than here as far as I'm concerned, and I say that having a lot of love for nearly the entire Death discography. His lyrics on Symbolic are sharp, poignant, and in some cases pertinent to what we are experiencing 25 years after the record dropped.

A blistering beauty and one of the most complete and completely engaging albums I can reference. (Edited)

Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

From alvinrowab 03/12/2018 09:34 | #210727

Seguía Chuck Schuldiner en su particular travesía hacia la perfección musical dentro del Death Metal de corte técnico y progresivo, y lo rozó con los dedos en 1995 acompañado de Bobby Koelble, Kelly Conlon y el mítico Gene Hoglan en la batería. No nos engañemos, Death siempre fue la banda de Chuck y hacía con ella lo que quería cuando quería. El padre del Death Metal nos ofrecía en 'Symbolic' un disco excelente, capaz de dividir a la crítica entre los que consideraban esta obra como una genialidad y los que tachaban a Schuldiner de fabricar un trabajo demasiado accesible para tratarse de Death Metal. Por suerte, el tiempo puso cada cosa en su sitio, y canciones como "Crystal Mountain", "Zero Tolerance" o "Symbolic" forman parte de una interminable lista de temas imperiales que Chuck Schuldiner dejó para la posteridad. Genio y figura hasta la sepultura. El más grande.

Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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