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Review: Death - The Sound of Perseverance
Death
www.emptywords.org
The Sound of Perseverance

Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Year released: 1998
Duration: 56:13
Tracks: 9
Genre: Death Metal

Rating:
3.5/5


Review online: April 24, 2010
Reviewed by: Hermer Arroyo
Readers' Rating
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Rated 4.34/5 (86.9%) (87 Votes)
Review

This was Death's last album, and it came in the process of Chuck Schuldiner forming Control Denied but the label at the time convinced him to do another album. So The Sound of Perseverance came out. Right out of the bat when you compare it with the Control Denied one you'll see some striking similarities. The progressive tendencies of that band are shown in full force making a drastic departure from what Death did previously in the past. Long songs, odd tempo changes and times signatures, tight musicianship, all of those traits make a significant impact here.

The record starts out with "Scavenger of Human Sorrow" and I didn't waste any time detecting those changes. The one that struck me the most was Schuldiner's voice, much more high-pitched than in the past, sounding more like a Black Metal singer. That is a definite minus in my book, as I liked his vocal work in Symbolic a lot. But that is not the only thing that I didn't like as the songwriting, most of the time, is frankly a mess. Most of those songs are composed of good parts but rarely transforming into a coherent piece. I don't know where the song is going and because most of them are longer than necessary, I got lost in the process. Of course, there are exceptions like "Spirit Crusher" and the emotional instrumental "Voice of the Soul".

For me, the only true highlight on this album was the musicianship. Here, Chuck hired a bunch of unknown musicians and each of them makes a big difference. I am not going to say that that was the best lineup he's ever had but it's right at the top. However, at the end of the day I felt that this was an inferior album compared to Symbolic, but that to me was expected since there was only one direction to go, and it wasn't up. In the end, I think that this is Death's weakest record but having said that, it is better than most of the Death Metal out there. If you are a fan of this band, this is a worthy addition, just don't start out with this if you have never heard of them (I just can't imagine who hasn't).

More about Death...
Review: Chuck Schuldiner - Zero Tolerance (reviewed by Lars Christiansen)
Review: Human (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Individual Thought Patterns (reviewed by Adam McAuley)
Review: Leprosy (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Live In L.A. (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: Scream Bloody Gore (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Symbolic (reviewed by Hermer Arroyo)
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