The Fragile Art of Existence

The Fragile Art of Existence is the only studio album by Control Denied, a progressive metal band founded by Chuck Schuldiner. It was released worldwide on Nuclear Blast America in 1999. Metal Mind Productions reissued the album on April 15, 2008 (February 11, 2008 in Europe). The release was digitally remastered and limited to 2,000 copies. The album was again re-released in 2010 by Relapse Records, available in two-disc and three-disc editions. The three-disc edition was limited to 1,000 copies.

This was also Chuck Schuldiner's final studio album before he died of brain cancer on December 13, 2001.

Track listing
All songs written by Chuck Schuldiner.

Credits

 * Tim Aymar – vocals
 * Chuck Schuldiner – lead and rhythm guitar
 * Shannon Hamm – lead and rhythm guitar
 * Steve DiGiorgio – bass
 * Richard Christy – drums

Additional musicians
 * Scott Clendenin – bass on 1996 and 1997 demos
 * Chris Williams – drums on 1996 and 1997 demos
 * Chuck Schuldiner – vocals on 1996 and 1999 demos

Production
 * Produced by Jim Morris & Chuck Schuldiner
 * Engineered, mixed & mastered by Jim Morris

Production
The lineup that recorded Death's album The Sound of Perseverance (TSOP) (along with singer Tim Aymar) was originally intended to release the Control Denied album (and had completed the recording process), though bassist Scott Clendenin was let go in April 1999. Schuldiner contacted frequent Death collaborator and bass player Steve DiGiorgio and requested that he record new basslines to replace the ones recorded by Clendenin. In some instances, DiGiorgio kept the bass lines recorded by Clendenin; he viewed it as a way to "return the favor", as Clendenin kept some of the bass lines that DiGiorgio played on the demos for TSOP. Schuldiner remarked in a January 2000 Metal Maniacs interview that Clendenin "just didn't seem into it, I don't know if it was the material or what, but he didn't seem happy with what was going on, so we had to just let him go."