Search - Death :: Sound of Perseverance

The last material of a true metal guitar hero.

Sweden Is God | 10/17/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Chuck was and is one of the best guitarists/songwriters to ever grace the detah metal genre. Having almost single-handedly created the genre from within back in the 80's, his influence is endless within the genre. This album somehow goes above and beyond the utterly astounding Symbolic, which in its time was simply genre-defining. This album does even more to bring metal to the next level, more even than probably Chuck could have envisioned. It won album of the year in almost every metal publication around at the time and that alone should tell its worth.



As one of the reviewers said, this album is full of wacky tempo changes, incredible cymbal work on the part of Cristy, double-bass beats that I have still never heard splashed beneath the rest of the kit as they are on this cd, and every piece of it drives the songs straight into your gut. His work on this album is as beautiful as death metal drumming can get and certainly on par with the stuff from Symbolic.



The guitar work is endlessly creative and fresh, completelly driven by Chuck's dynamic guitar whine and tone that near pierces your skull at points(during possibly the best acoustic metal song I've ever heard on this album, I swear you can feel him playing and it literally gives me chills every single time I hear that song to this day as it almost stands as a tribute to a person who died much too young). His forward-thinking approach to melodies and meter/tempo is something I've still not heard done all that well since its release. His love for Judas Priest gleans true at least 3 times on the album as well as he churns out some perfect melodic thrash riffs that make me want to hit the gas pedal and punch it every time I hear them.



Even the basswork is something to behold at points as Chuck acutally makes it part of the foreground in many of the compositions. If this album is prog, then the bass is surelly the keys of this album as it almost always drive the time changes and odd sounding riffage.



There is so much to say about this album, especially seeing as how it was a mere glimpse into the mind of a man who really sought to drive metal into a new place in the hearts of music fans. He successfully blended melody, technicality, brutality, and accessibility with this album, if the listener gives it enough chance. It has speed, finesse, and flash and doesn't comform to metal trends. Every note has its place, even if it sounds out of place. Many bands have tried to do this again, and I've read time and time again in cd reviews "The new successor to Death has finaly arrived!" or "The Sound of Perserverance part II!" and it is never even close to the real deal. This album should honestly go down in the annals of musical history as one of the top 5 metal albums of all-time. Personally, I place both it and Symbolic at either #2 or #3 all-time.



The saddest part is that such a great person in Chuck Schuldiner had to leave this earth so soon and take with him the potential of an entire musical genre. He was someone people probably wouldn't associate with death metal if they ever spoke to him as he was a truelly remarkable and intelligent person, which so plays into how the music was created. If he were here today, I would thank him for music that will go with me until the end. This cd is simply the culmination of a man's dream, and a damn fine one at that. R.I.P Chuck, wherever you are.



"