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Individual Thought Patterns does an excellent job following up the masterful Human while expanding the band's sound slightly. I believe this is the period where the band peaked and performed their most balanced overall music. The songs on this work are loose and have room to breathe. However, the band manages to blend progression and straight-ahead death metal better than anything in their discography, barring perhaps Human. The solos complement the music excellently as well.

Gene Hoglan continues the trend of excellent drumming in his replacement for the great Sean Reinert. Several songs here stand out amongst the pack, including "Overractive Imagination", "Trapped in a Corner", the title track and one of their absolute best songs, "The Philosopher", which closes off the proceedings. The band adds touches of technicality without being indulgent and it results in an overall album that is ridden with class. Of course, the impact of Chuck Schuldiner on the material here is one of the strong points as well. The album has a more consistent quality than the slightly overrated Symbolic, I believe. It absolutely storms from start to finish with very little room for weakness. There is also a thoughtful aura that permeates every note to be found here.

Individual Thought Patterns should go down in history as a progressive death metal classic and one of the greatest reasons to remember the legacy of Death and Chuck Schuldiner. It doesn't seem to get as much attention as some of their other releases, which is really a shame. The music on this release is among the most intelligent and well crafted that you'll find in the metal genre. Absolutely a must have.