The Sound of Perseverance

The Sound Of Perseverance is the reason why the frontman Chuck Schuldiner should be considered as the Jimi Hendrix of death metal. The solos are outstanding and nothing can compare: Chuck's guitar can literally talk, period. It's like sharp and warm steel shredding your soul to pieces. Everything about this album is a milestone in its own way: right from the start you will get blown away by the surreal and never-before-heard drumming and the tightest riffage ever. All the album is enhanced by an outstanding, unforgettable, gloomy but vibrant bass and one of the best screaming you can possibly find in death. It's the turning point of metal, it's the peak of the genre and every single album from that point on has to confront with this monolith. Most of the times, it's better to ignore it cause it's something so rich and complex that you'd have better luck trying becoming a book writer: too bad the lyrics kick as much ass and are just as brilliant as the rest.

It's technical death metal and every musician show off insane skills in each track but don't expect crazy and convoluted song patterns; it is in fact, in some way, rather simple in structure, especially if compared to more modern albums. The jazz influence is there and you're sure to feel it as much as the progressive's but the songs are kind of linear: in other words, the guys don't overdo it with weird time signatures or choppy riffs so expect solid and mostly straightforward songs. It's hard to pick highlights cause there are no weak tracks, no fillers, you never have the impression that a song is going adrift: you just have to pick your favorite among eight steel masterpieces enriched by one of the best and craziest covers ever made by any band: Judas Priest's Painkiller.

So, is it perfect? No, it's not and I'll tell you why but keep in mind that this album's value goes beyond any criticism cause it threw so many new and polished things on the table of metal that saying anything remotely bad about it is nit-picking. First of all, as much as the singing is top-notch and well-suited it is sometimes somewhat weaker than the lower, thicker scream we were accustomed to in the previous entries of the discography: switching occasionally to an heavier scream could have been a better choice. Secondly, the verse-chorus form can get tiresome considering that this album could have thrown in awesome outros in the cauldron but that's probably just me being eager. Other than that, trying to find more flaws is a real task. If I really, really had to pick the lowest ranked song I'd say "To Forgive is To Suffer" cause after six songs that add each something unique to the game, it comes as a "standard" which, I admit, is kind of paradoxical. It's like they defined said standard and "To Forgive" is the encore to it.

I know I've rocketed your expectations to the moon but every word in this review is carefully weighted and, as much as it is opinion based, I really think that if you are a metal fan of any kind you will agree if I simply say that "The Sound Of Perseverance" is special and a must-have. Everything that made and will make metal great, triumphs in this album.