Band:	Death
Album:	The Sound Of Perseverance
Style:	Progressive thrash metal
Release date:	August 1998

Disc I
01. Scavenger Of Human Sorrow
02. Bite The Pain
03. Spirit Crusher
04. Story To Tell
05. Flesh And The Power It Holds
06. Voice Of The Soul
07. To Forgive Is To Suffer
08. A Moment Of Clarity
09. Painkiller [Judas Priest cover]

Disc II [Remastered version - CD 1] [2011 reissue bonus]
01. Spirit Crusher [No bass] ['98 demos]
02. Flesh And The Power It Holds [No bass] ['98 demos]
03. Voice Of The Soul [No bass] ['98 demos]
04. Bite The Pain ['98 demos]
05. A Moment Of Clarity ['98 demos]
06. Story To Tell ['98 demos]
07. Scavenger Of Human Sorrow ['98 demos]
08. Bite The Pain ['97 demos]
09. Story To Tell ['97 demos]
10. A Moment Of Clarity ['97 demos]

Disc III [Remastered version - CD 2] [2011 reissue bonus]
01. Bite The Pain ['96 demos]
02. Story To Tell ['96 demos]
03. A Moment Of Clarity ['96 demos]
04. Bite The Pain [Paul Payne vocals version] ['96 demos]
05. A Moment Of Clarity [Paul Payne vocals version] ['96 demos]
06. A Moment Of Clarity [Chuck vocals version] ['96 demos]
07. Story To Tell [Chuck vocals version] ['96 demos]
08. Bite The Pain [Shannon Hamm vocals version] ['96 demos]
09. A Moment Of Clarity [Instrumental] ['96 demos]
10. Bite The Pain [Instrumental] ['96 demos]
11. Story To Tell [Instrumental] ['96 demos]
12. Voice Of The Soul [Instrumental] ['96 demos]
13. A Moment Of Clarity [Instrumental] ['96 demos]

I'm not going to start this review with whining about how unfortunate we are for having lost Chuck Schuldiner back in 2001 and The Sound Of Perseverance being the last Death album. Chuck was a great musician indeed, but fate was too cruel to him, and he passed away. The legacy in form of his music though is with us, so let's talk about it.

After a regular - or almost conventional - line-up change in 1996, could you expect a bad album from Death in 1998? Of course not. Indeed, The Sound Of Perseverance is a decent continuation of their previous album Symbolic, maybe a little different, but definitely not disappointing, and a great album to savour every now and then. The progressive sound is still there, but the overall feel is that there is more aggression in music, lyrics, and vocals performance. Nonetheless, the lyrics traditionally remain very ambiguous, vague and with a lot of imagery, yet as usually they carry something that is deep, profound, and meaningful. Chuck's screaming has become "cleaner," more intense, and tighter compared to Symbolic, where it was deeper and more growl-like: an alteration noticeable enough to be mentioned. The production itself has become a little cleaner on this record (which is what Chuck zealously strived for), and is not too bad since the general sound is very qualitative. What hasn't undergone any changes is Chuck's sick (in a positive way) style of riffs, solos, and melody twists, which are all as brutal as ever. For instance, the first ten seconds of "Scavenger Of Human Sorrow," the first track on the record, already blow you away by the drum intro and berserk guitar riff.

The two real novelties on The Sound Of Perseverance are the presence of an instrumental entitled "Voice Of The Soul" and a cover. The last and only instrumental in the Death discography up until The Sound Of Perseverance was "Cosmic Sea" from the Human album, which was a very moody and depressive track with some keys overdubs. "Voice Of The Soul," on the other hand, is a song with an acoustic intro and rhythm sections, but a great distorted lead. This instrumental was a step to another level of the progressive sound of Death taken by Chuck. As far as the cover is concerned, Judas Priest's "Painkiller," it is so well played and sung that it's still hard to believe it was Chuck singing; plus, the sweeping part right before the first solo is just amazing and played differently than in the original piece. If you ask me "can there be a classic cover?", I will say yes because Death's cover is one.

By some considered as Death's best album, The Sound Of Perseverance is a good one to start listening to this legendary band from. Great riffs, incredible solos, insane drumming, violent and expressive lyrics, a few all-time favourites: these things are a concise description of this eminent creation of Chuck & co, but regretfully the last one. All we are left with is to enjoy it and "keep the metal face alive."

P.S. I can't help but say this: "R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner (05.13.1976 - 12.13.2001)"