The Sound of Perseverance

The Sound of Perseverance is the seventh and final studio album by American death metal band Death, released on August 31, 1998, by Nuclear Blast. The album features a whole new lineup of members except Chuck Schuldiner; it is the only album to feature guitarist Shannon Hamm, drummer Richard Christy, and bassist Scott Clendenin. It is also Death's final commercial release, as Chuck Schuldiner would die due to brain cancer-related issues in 2001, and Death would subsequently disband.

Overview
In an interview done in March 1999, Chuck Schuldiner stated that the acoustic guitar-driven "Voice of the Soul" was actually written during the Symbolic sessions. Death has produced only two instrumentals (the other being "Cosmic Sea" from Human).

"A Moment of Clarity" was expected be the title track on the first Control Denied album; other tracks from the album would have included "What If" and "Cut Down to Size", which were all worked on in 1997, though the first song was retooled as a Death song and released on The Sound of Perseverance. Schuldiner stated in an interview with Metal Maniacs the following year that none of his compositions for Control Denied had been used to fill space for a Death album. The former singer of Control Denied, Tim Aymar, confirmed in December 2010 that a few of the Control Denied songs had been, in his words, "'Deathized' and recorded on TSOP."

The Judas Priest song Painkiller was intended as a bonus track for Japan, but Nuclear Blast recommended that it be included on all releases.

Deluxe editions
Nuclear Blast 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 and a revised cover by original cover artist Travis Smith.

Reception
The Sound of Perseverance has received critical acclaim and is considered by fans and critics alike as one of Death's greatest albums. Jason Hundey of AllMusic described it as "a truly glorious metal release, certainly Death's finest hour, and easily one of the top metal albums of all time". Chronicles of Chaos reviewer Paul Schwarz said the album "excels in all the right places. Great thrashings, technical solos, memorable choruses and clear vocals are the order of the day".

Death

 * Chuck Schuldiner - vocals, lead and rhythm guitar
 * Shannon Hamm - lead guitar
 * Scott Clendenin - bass
 * Richard Christy - drums

Additional personnel

 * Steve Di Giorgio – bass on 1997 and 1998 demos
 * Chris Williams – drums on 1996 demo
 * Paul Payne – vocals on 1996 demo
 * Shannon Hamm – vocals on 1996 demo

Production

 * Chuck Schuldiner – producer
 * Jim Morris – producer, engineer, mixing, mastering
 * Travis Smith – artwork
 * Jay Speis – art direction, graphic design
 * Eric Greif – Legal & IP management
 * Alex McKnight – photography