The Sound of Perseverance si the Seventh album by Death. It was also their last. Chuck Shuldiner Was apparently obligated to release another album under the Death moniker before being able to focus on his other band, Control Denied. He passed away in 2001 from brain cancer.
And what an album it is! I haven’t heard what went on with his other band Control Denied when I write this but I’m sure gonna seek them out and give it a listen. But if it’s something close to this, which I don’t find too far-fatched it must be really good. The Sound of Perseverance is the best album by Death in my opinion. The production is better, the songs are better, the composition is better. Well, maybe, that’s the same thing as the songs…
But the point is that this is an evolvement from the previous albums and even more progressive and “less” Death Metal if you like. I know there are people going to disagree with me on this, and I don’t claim to be any authority on Death Metal. But my prejudices says that the stereotype of Death Metal is fast and ruthless and quite monotone in tempo variations.
The Sound of Perseverance is quite the opposite. It’s full och advanced guitar part. At least they sound advanced to me. The structure of the songs is advanced and I think the vocals is better than ever on this album.
Chuck wrote all the songs of course. All except one since there’s a cover of Judas Priest’s Painkiller on The Sound of Perseverance too. I don’t know, I think Death couldn’t really make it justice. It’s played in a lower key and the tempo is somewhat slower. But I think some of the energy gets lost in the process. And there is always the eternal question about how you create a good cover. Should it be as close to the original as possible och as different as it can be? I personally like it when band take the songs and transformers them into something completely different, And Painkiller isn’t that much different. It sound more as a filler.
Shannon Hamm adds an extra guitar and the bass is played by Scott Clenedin. Drums are handled by Richard Christy. I wonder what could have been if Chuck was still alive and still made music. I think it would be unstoppable!
