The album featured guitarist Shannon Hamm, drummer Richard Christy, and bassist Scott Clendenin for the first time. It was also Death's final studio album, as Chuck Schuldiner died due to brain cancer-related issues in 2001, and Death subsequently disbanded.
Composition
The Sound of Perseverance is considered to be the most experimental and "expansive" Death release by critics and journalists, containing lengthier tracks and increasingly sophisticated songwriting.[5][6] Music journalist T Coles referred to the album as "death metal in an advanced form."[7] The album has been characterized as combining the "best aspects" of the band's three previous albums, and "[taking] them one step further." The tracks have been described as "more aggressive, more progressive, and certainly more melodic." The album has been characterized by "sheer ferocity" and "raw emotion".[8]
Chuck Schuldiner's vocals on the album have been described as "falsetto death metal shrieks.<"ref name="auto" /> AllMusic described his vocals on the album as his "eeriest performance ever." His scream in the intro of the Painkiller cover has been likened to power metal.[8]
Jason Hundey of AllMusic said the album's third track, "Spirit Crusher," contains "one of the most terrifying, blood-curdling choruses ever."[8]
Background and recording
In an interview done in March 1999, Chuck Schuldiner stated that the acoustic guitar-driven "Voice of the Soul" was actually written during the Symbolic sessions.[9] Death has produced only two instrumentals (the other being "Cosmic Sea" from Human).[10]
"The Moment of Clarity" was expected be the title track on the first Control Denied album; other tracks from the album would have included "What If" and "Cut Down to Size", which were all worked on in 1997.[11] Schuldiner stated in an interview with Metal Maniacs the following year that none of his compositions for Control Denied had been used to fill space for a Death album.[12] Several Control Denied songs were reimagined as Death songs and released on The Sound of Perseverance.[13][14]
The Judas Priest song Painkiller was intended as a bonus track for Japan, but Nuclear Blast recommended that it be included on all releases.[15]
Relapse Records released a second deluxe edition on February 15, 2011. The album was remastered and reissued in deluxe 2-CD and 3-CD formats, with the additional CDs containing unreleased demo material[17] and a revised cover by original cover artist Travis Smith.[18]
The Sound of Perseverance has received critical acclaim and is considered by fans and critics alike as one of Death's greatest albums. Jason Hundey of AllMusic described it as "a truly glorious metal release, certainly Death's finest hour, and easily one of the top metal albums of all time".[4]Chronicles of Chaos reviewer Paul Schwarz said the album "excels in all the right places. Great thrashings, technical solos, memorable choruses and clear vocals are the order of the day".[20] Paul Schwarz of Chronicles of Chaos stated that while he was impressed with Death's cover of Painkiller by Judas Priest, he questioned its use as the closing track on the album.[24]
Music journalist T Coles said The Sound of Perseverance is "the final divide between death metal's older style and the sounds yet to come."[7]
^Dennis Gulbey (Spring 1997). "Death no more! Control Denied is here!!". Sentinel Steel. Retrieved July 20, 2024. The tentative title for the record is The Moment of Clarity. That's, I think, going to end up being the title. Also, a song called "What If", another song, "Cut Down to Size".
^"Reincarnation". Metal Maniacs. November 1998. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
^published, Jonathan Horsley (June 18, 2021). "5 songs guitar players need to hear by… Death". MusicRadar. Retrieved December 31, 2024. a bunch of ideas originally for his Control Denied project that eventually got repurposed for the final Death album
