Spiritual Healing was the first of Death's albums to show Schuldiner's lyrics moving away from the gore and horror themes of previous works, focusing instead on themes of society and "real life horror", including serial killers, drug addiction, genetic reconstruction (influenced by a story on That's Incredible!), and faith healers.[8]
The musical content is more obviously melodic, a facet highlighted by James Murphy's characteristic lead guitar playing. The material also consists of slower doom-inspired riffs. The members of Death and their manager Eric Greif stayed in a single motel room at the Safari Inn, near Busch Gardens, for the entire six weeks the album was recorded and mixed, although bassist Terry Butler and drummer Bill Andrews frequently went home as they lived in the Tampa area.
This was the final Death album cover painted by Ed Repka. This period was one of massive controversy for Death, as Butler and Andrews toured Europe without Schuldiner (who refused to do the tour on the basis that it had been badly organized), with vocalist Louis Carrisalez in his place. Butler and Andrews left the band following the tour.
Greif played a Kawai K1 keyboard part in the middle of title track "Spiritual Healing".[8]
The "joke & jam" tracks on the Spiritual Healing re-issue were a result of heat exhaustion, as the band was practicing in a mini warehouse in summer with no air conditioning. The band would play a few songs then stop, as they would be close to passing out from the intense heat.[8]
The album had been out of print, but was reissued by Relapse Records in November 2012.[9]
Butler and Murphy, along with Gus Rios and Matt Harvey, featured at The Brass Mug in Tampa, Florida on December 11, 2021, playing all of Spiritual Healing and "commemorating" 20 years since Schuldiner's death.[10]
