The Sound of Perseverance
Encyclopedia
The Sound of Perseverance is the seventh and final album by American metal
band Death. The album was released on September 15, 1998 through Nuclear Blast
.
than the earliest Death releases, although since Human and the albums following it, the band had been developing more toward this style. The average song length on this album is around six minutes. Also, it was a breakthrough album for drummer and later radio star Richard Christy
, in the tradition of previous drummers like Gene Hoglan
and Sean Reinert
.
The album features "Voice of the Soul", an instrumental track that contrasts with every other work of the band in its inclusion of softer guitars and lack of percussion. In an interview done in March 1999, Chuck Schuldiner stated that Voice of the Soul was actually written during the Symbolic sessions. Death has produced only two instrumentals (the other being the considerably heavier "Cosmic Sea" from Human). The album also featured a cover of Judas Priest
's "Painkiller", which shows Schuldiner attempting a different, high-pitched style of death growl
more reminiscent of Rob Halford
's original vocals and also singing for the first time with a clean voice through the end of the song.
Some of the song names and music on The Sound of Perseverance were originally going to appear on the first Control Denied
album. Schuldiner himself denied this in an interview with Metal Maniacs
in 1998 by saying that none of his compositions for Control Denied had been used to fill space for a Death album. However, Tim Aymar, in December 2010, confirmed that a few of the Control Denied songs had been, in his words, "'Deathized' and recorded on TSOP." When Death was signed on to Nuclear Blast
, Schuldiner agreed to make one last Death album before moving forward with Control Denied.
"Spirit Crusher" was the single
from this album. It featured a music video
that was taken from their Live in Eindhoven
performance.
released a deluxe edition in December 2005. It contains the original album as well as the DVD Live in Cottbus '98
and press pictures. It was also released as a DualDisc
.
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.
Additional musicians
Production
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
band Death. The album was released on September 15, 1998 through Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
.
Overview
The album, in particular, employs a style more akin to progressive metalProgressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
than the earliest Death releases, although since Human and the albums following it, the band had been developing more toward this style. The average song length on this album is around six minutes. Also, it was a breakthrough album for drummer and later radio star Richard Christy
Richard Christy
Thomas Richard Christy is an American musician and radio personality who currently works on The Howard Stern Show. Christy began to work on the show after winning the "Get John's Job" contest on July 1, 2004. He is known for his prank calls, song parodies, personality, and stunts performed on the...
, in the tradition of previous drummers like Gene Hoglan
Gene Hoglan
Eugene "Gene" Victor Hoglan II is an American drummer. He is acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including usage of odd devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms...
and Sean Reinert
Sean Reinert
Sean Reinert is the drummer of Cynic and Æon Spoke. He is known for his technical, original and creative drumming technique....
.
The album features "Voice of the Soul", an instrumental track that contrasts with every other work of the band in its inclusion of softer guitars and lack of percussion. In an interview done in March 1999, Chuck Schuldiner stated that Voice of the Soul was actually written during the Symbolic sessions. Death has produced only two instrumentals (the other being the considerably heavier "Cosmic Sea" from Human). The album also featured a cover of Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
's "Painkiller", which shows Schuldiner attempting a different, high-pitched style of death growl
Death growl
A death growl, also known as death metal vocals, guttural vocals, death grunts, and harsh vocals among other names, is a vocalisation style usually employed by vocalists of the death metal and black metal music genre, but also used in a variety of heavy metal and hardcore punk subgenres.Death...
more reminiscent of Rob Halford
Rob Halford
Robert John Arthur "Rob" Halford is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead vocalist for the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Judas Priest. He is nicknamed the "Metal God" as a tribute to his influence on metal, and after the Judas Priest song of the same name from 1980's...
's original vocals and also singing for the first time with a clean voice through the end of the song.
Some of the song names and music on The Sound of Perseverance were originally going to appear on the first Control Denied
Control Denied
Control Denied was a band formed by Chuck Schuldiner to create progressive heavy metal, mixed with elements of power and death metal . The band started in 1996 as Schuldiner wanted to procure a more melodic style than was possible with Death...
album. Schuldiner himself denied this in an interview with Metal Maniacs
Metal Maniacs
Metal Maniacs was a heavy metal magazine founded in 1989 by Mike G. and Katherine Ludwig of Metal Shop. It was focused largely on covering extreme metal, with emphasis on the black and death metal genres...
in 1998 by saying that none of his compositions for Control Denied had been used to fill space for a Death album. However, Tim Aymar, in December 2010, confirmed that a few of the Control Denied songs had been, in his words, "'Deathized' and recorded on TSOP." When Death was signed on to Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
, Schuldiner agreed to make one last Death album before moving forward with Control Denied.
"Spirit Crusher" was the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from this album. It featured a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
that was taken from their Live in Eindhoven
Live in Eindhoven
Live in Eindhoven is the second live album by American band Death. It was recorded in Eindhoven, Netherlands at Dynamo Open Air in May 1998 and released on October 30, 2001 through Nuclear Blast. The album was also released in DVD format. The performance of "Spirit Crusher" was released as a music...
performance.
Track listing
Deluxe editions
Nuclear BlastNuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
released a deluxe edition in December 2005. It contains the original album as well as the DVD Live in Cottbus '98
Live in Cottbus '98
Live in Cottbus '98 is a DVD by American band Death. It was recorded in Cottbus, Germany in 1998 and released on November 11, 2005 through Nuclear Blast...
and press pictures. It was also released as a DualDisc
DualDisc
DualDisc was a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group and later under the aegis of the Recording Industry Association of America...
.
Relapse Records
Relapse Records
Relapse Records is an independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990.-History:The label was started by Matthew F. Jacobson in August, 1990 in his parents' basement in Aurora, Colorado...
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.
Personnel
Death- Chuck SchuldinerChuck SchuldinerCharles Michael "Chuck" Schuldiner was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.Schuldiner was the singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the band Death, which he founded in 1983, initially under the name Mantas. He also recorded as guitarist and songwriter with his other band, Control Denied...
leadLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, rhythmRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, and acousticAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
guitar; vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the... - Shannon HammShannon HammShannon Hamm is a heavy metal guitarist who played in Death from 1996 until their break-up in 1999. He then joined Chuck Schuldiner's second band Control Denied, which ended with the death of Schuldiner in 2001. Before Death, he was a locally well known guitarist in the Texas underground metal scene...
lead and rhythm guitar - Scott ClendeninScott ClendeninScott Clendenin is a death metal bassist. He played with Death from 1996 until their breakup in 1999. In 1997, he joined Chuck Schuldiner's second band Control Denied as well, which he was replaced by Steve DiGiorgio in 1999 as the band's bassist.- References :...
bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Richard ChristyRichard ChristyThomas Richard Christy is an American musician and radio personality who currently works on The Howard Stern Show. Christy began to work on the show after winning the "Get John's Job" contest on July 1, 2004. He is known for his prank calls, song parodies, personality, and stunts performed on the...
drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Additional musicians
- Steve DiGiorgioSteve DiGiorgioSteve DiGiorgio is an American bassist and musician.DiGiorgio has played bass guitar in heavy metal bands such as Death, Autopsy, Control Denied, Testament, Vintersorg, Iced Earth, Sebastian Bach, Charred Walls of the Damned, Obituary, and is a founding member of Sadus. He is widely renowned for...
bass on 1997 and 1998 demos - Chris Williams drums on 1996 demos
Production
- Chuck Schuldiner producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Jim MorrisMorrisound RecordingMorrisound Recording is an audio recording facility in Temple Terrace, Florida, owned and operated by brothers Jim and Tom Morris. Since its opening in 1981, Morrisound has been responsible for the popularization of genres such as heavy metal and death metal, but of course caters to every genre of...
producer, engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
, masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced... - Travis SmithTravis Smith (artist)Travis Smith is an American graphic artist best known for designing heavy metal album art. He has been called "renowned" by Alternative Press and "unquestionably one of the most talented graphic artists in metal today" by Chronicles of Chaos...
artwork - Jay Speis art directionArt directorThe art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
, graphic designGraphic designGraphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience... - Eric GreifEric GreifEric Greif is a lawyer and entertainment personality known first for a management career within the heavy metal musical genre in the 1980s and later within the legal profession...
Legal & IP management - Alex McKnight photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...