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CONTROL
DENIED
Review: The Fragile Art Of Existence Webzine: Foundry Music / USA Written by: Marc Bogojevic Published: December 2002 |
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| The sad
passing of death metal legend Chuck Schuldiner will forever leave
a void in the metal world. The man single handedly defined a genre
with his legendary group Death, which he formed in 1983 and released
many albums of brutal, yet musically intense music over the course
of 15 years. But somewhere along the way, Chuck wanted to turn to
a more melodic venture and explore his more straight ahead metal
roots. And thus, he gave us the amazing band Control Denied (which
odly enough featured all the current Death members from the final
lineup). The one really good thing Chuck did was hire a new vocalist
Tim Aymar, who had the range, power and attitude to deliver the
type of classic metal Chuck intended. His voice is a cross between
classic Rob Halford, Bruce Dickenson with a flare all his own. Not
only did this combination succeed, but Control Denied managed to
produce one of the finest metal releases of the past 10 years. Sadly,
Chuck passed away on December 13, 2001 from a brain stem tumor and
the metal world lost one of it's brighest flames. This album is
being reviewed in hopes that some of you will discover the greatness
of Chuck Schuldiner and that his music will live on for generations
to come.
Control Denied's one and only album, released in 1999 was the last output made by Chuck and holds some of his best guitar playing, compositions and lyrics ever. The concept was to make a top notch metal album with terrific songs and musicians and to show that Chuck was not only a death metal guy, but a true fan of metal. Each track brims with his amazing, fleet fingered playing along with co-guitarist Shannon Hamm, these guys gave us a guitar assualt not seen since the glory days of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Each track, from the opening opus "Consumed", to the catchy "Breaking the Broken" and the multi-layered and dynamic "When the Link Becomes Missing", has a soul and attitude all it's own. The songs weave in and out with a dizzying and sometime frantic pace, but the more you listen, the more you will hear the intense dynamic songs that not only capture the progressive edge of metal seldom heard in other genres, but the classic metal style that is missing from todays 'metal' acts. This disc is a few years old, but it stands the test of time and will always be one of the finest metal albums ever created. We can only hope that Chuck is in a better place, making music again with the long lost brothers of the metal world. Chuck: you are missed and we will
always remember the music you gave from your heart, soul and your
mind. Rest in Peace. |
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