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Rating: Chuck Schuldiner is a magnificent character, the true father of death metal, capable of composing "Scream Bloody Gore" at only 15 years old, which is considered the genesis of this genre. He then gave life to other pillars of both pure, raw, and direct death metal like "Leprosy," and the more thoughtful, technical, and at times philosophical works like "Spiritual Healing," "Human," "Individual Thought Patterns," "Symbolic," and "The Sound Of Perseverance," revolutionizing the history of metal in just over ten years both with Death and with Control Denied with whom he wrote "The Fragile Art Of Existence"... Sometimes I am shocked when I think about how a man like him managed to see music and change it in his own unique way, and I'm even more amazed when I open my CDs and read the phrase "All music and lyrics by Chuck Schuldiner."
Unfortunately, after a long battle with cancer, this great man left us on December 13, 2001, creating an unfillable void in the hearts of his supporters. There were many attempts to save him, among which I want to remember the release of two live albums: "Live in L.A." and "Live in Eindhoven".
It is precisely the latter that I would like to analyze, the concert held by Death at the Dynamo Open Air in the Dutch city in 1988. Unfortunately, Nuclear Blast, which had printed it both in CD and DVD to raise funds for Schuldiner's medical expenses, decided to release it only three years after its recording, just months before Chuck's death, which happens when a label cares more about money than about the musicians who make it for them.
I would like to immediately note that this was the very first concert held by the band in two years after the temporary breakup in 1996, and on the Eindhoven stage, the brand new lineup fresh from the recording of "The Sound Of Perseverance" performed, so there are certainly no shortages of mistakes by all the members, but in general, the live performance doesn't seem to suffer much, even though the production is not the best.
The setlist is quite similar to "Live In L.A.", although here, the most heavily featured album is no longer "Symbolic" but "Human", from which half of the songs are taken. As usual, "The Philosopher" kicks things off, effectively warming up the Dutch audience and followed by "Trapped In A Corner," closing the songs taken from "Individual Thought Patterns"... Sure, the absence of Steve D. on bass is noticeable, but this is certainly not what lowers the level of the record. The inevitable "Crystal Mountain" arrives now, played really well, also because in my opinion, Chuck's new singing style fits it very well, which I believe is not the case for the songs of "Human," like the heavy duet formed by the splendid "Suicide Machine" and "Together As One," where surely the warmer voice that Evil Chuck had fit perfectly with the granite riffs of the songs...
After the beautiful "Zero Tolerance," comes the time for the sensational "Lack Of Comprehension," monumental from the first to the last note, which leaves room for a beautiful moment when Schuldiner introduces the first song taken from Perseverance, which had not yet been released, so it was heard for the first time by the fans, who for the occasion fell silent listening intently to the over eight minutes of "Flesh And The Power It Holds," truly a blast.
Towards the end, we hear Richard Christy's drumming, who would accompany Chuck in Control Denied, open the wonderful "Flattening Of Emotions," in my opinion, one of their best songs ever, which makes way for another pillar from the new album, "Spirit Crusher," which truly gives another taste to the live performance.
But could it end like this in your opinion? No, absolutely not; what is missing, essential like air for the closure of the show, is the great "Pull The Plug," now used to covering this role, representing the true cherry on the cake...
In conclusion, it may be inferior to "Live In L.A.", but every time you listen to it, you will surely be pleasantly surprised by how this record manages to transport you directly among the crowd moshing to the notes played by one of the greatest bands in history, with a smile, but also with a teardrop falling, knowing that you can no longer savor the legendary Death live, led by none other than Chuck Schuldiner...
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 The Philosopher (04:21)
Do you feel what I feel, see what I see, hear what I hear
There is a line you must draw between your dream world and Reality
Do you live my life or share the breath I breathe
Lies feed your judgement of others
Behold how the blind lead each other
The philosopher
You know so much about nothing at all
Ideas that fall under shadows of theories that stand tall
Thoughts that grow narrow upon being verbally released
Your mind is not your own
What sounds more mentally stimulating is how you make your Choice
So you preach about how I'm supposed to be, Yet you don't You know your own
Sexuality
Lies feed your judgement of others
Behold how the blind lead each other
The philosopher
You know so much about nothing at all
02 Trapped in a Corner (04:39)
I want to watch you drown in your lies
The end of your masquerade, A matter of time
Interwining lies, Domination, control
Feed his twisted nature
It is sickening to see dreams die
A word of advice, Fate's patience is growning short
Fake down to your mind and appearance
You will fall short of the dreams to destroy
In time you will find yourself trapped in a corner
These four words my friend, I promise you will not forget
I am one of many that see through your lies
Hiding will do you no good, many seek revenge
Soon to become a victim of what you live to create, And cannot have
It is sickening to see dreams die
A word of advice, Fate's patience is growning short
Fake down to your mind and appearance
You will fall short of the dreams to destroy
03 Crystal Mountain (05:01)
Built from blind faith
Passed down from self-induced fantasy
Turn a page to justify
Conjuring power - It opens wide
On seventh day
Is that how it's done?
Twisting your eyes to perceive
All that you want
To assume from ignorance
Inflicting wounds with your
Cross-turned dagger
Inside crystal mountain
Evil takes its form
Inside crystal mountain
Commandments are reborn
All the traps are set to confine
All who get in the way of the divine
In sight and in mind of the hypocrite
A slave to the curse forever confined
Shatter the myth
Don't cut yourself
On your words against
Dreams made of steel
Stronger any faith
That inflicts pain and fear
Is that how it's done?
Twisting your eyes to perceive
All that you want
To assume from ignorance
Inflicting wounds with your
Cross-Turned dagger
04 Suicide Machine (04:19)
Controlling their lives
Deciding when and how they will die
A victim of someone else's choice
The ones who suffer have no voice
Manipulating destiny
When it comes to living, No one seems to care
But when it comes to wanting out
Those with power, Will be there
Prolong the pain
How long will it last?
Suicide machine
A request to die with dignity
Is that too much to ask?
Suicide machine
How easy it is to deny the pain
Of someone else's suffering
Robbed of natural abilities
In death they now seek tranquility
In a confused state of mind
Extending agony, They must be blind
Manipulating destiny
When it comes to living, No one seems to care
But when it comes to wanting out
Those with power, Will be there
Prolong the pain
How long will it last?
Suicide machine
A request to die with dignity
Is that too much to ask?
Suicide machine
05 Together as One (04:04)
Labelled a creation of evil
Ridiculed for their shocking appearance
Sharing both please and pain
Two minds, Two hearts, One soul
Separating mentally
An illusion of privacy
Together - They absorb each other's lives
As One - They will live and they will die
A living hell has begun
Displayed as a nightmare
Criticized through words and eyes
As they stare
To the normal it seems grotesque
Connected by a bond of flesh
Two minds, Two hearts, One soul
Separating mentally
An illusion of privacy
Together - They absorb each other's lives
As One - They will live and they will die
A living hell has begun
06 Zero Tolerance (04:50)
In the dark of night...
Abusing a portion of light
While others are sleeping
And some are escaping
A serpent spews out fantasy
Unjustified blasphemy
That cannot be condoned
It must be strange to not have lived
So far into existence
This is not a test of power
This is not a game to be lost or won
Let justice be done
There will be zero tolerance
For the creator of hallowed intentions
There will be zero tolerance
Fate is your deciding God
Karma comes crashing down
Leaving a very deep scar
Exposing a door to the
Source of a verbal whore
Machines supply the altar
Where virtuous lives are sacrificed
It must be strange to not have lived
So far into existence
This is not a test of power
This is not a game to be lost or won
Let justice be done
07 Lack of Comprehension (03:46)
A condeming fear strikes down
Things they cannot understand
An excuse to cover up weaknesses that lie within
Lies
Laying your guilt and pain
On people that had no part in the molding of a life
That creates its destruction
Lies
Right before your very eyes
A reflection of the mistakes
To the end you will deny
Your part in the demise of a life
Lack of comprehension
Thriving on your cliche
Compelled by self-resentment
Reaching into the minds of those that created
The depression in which they
In which they drowned their flesh and blood
Lies
So easy to blame the
Everlasting fear on a pathetic attempt
To justify the ending of life
Lies
Right before your very eyes
A reflection of the mistakes
To the end you will deny
Your part in the demise of a life
Lack of comprehension
Thriving on your cliche
Compelled by self-resentment
09 Flattening of Emotions (04:26)
Where is the person that could have been
Who, what took over, when did the end begin
Should we not prepare for the uncertain
Mysteries of our life, of our destiny
See things that are not there
Intruding voices
What went wrong to their picture perfect life
They once knew - Flattening of emotions
A mind shared by an uninvited stranger
Which comes and goes as choose to appear
Should we not prepare for the uncertain
Mysteries of our life, of our destiny
See things that are not there
Intruding voices
What went wrong to their picture perfect life
They once knew - Flattening of emotions
10 Spirit Crusher (06:55)
It comes from the depths
Of a place unknown to the
Keeper of dreams
If it could then it would steal
The sun and the moon from the sky
Beware
Human at sight, Monster at heart
Don't let it inside it could
Tear you right apart
No guilt, It feeds in plain sight
Spirit Crusher
Stay strong and hold on tight
Spirit Crusher
Speaking in killing words
The vicious kind that crush and kill
No mercy, Its pleasure to taste
The blood that it bled
When it's time to feed to fulfill
The need to consume a breath
Some will rise standing tall
Breathing out all the breath from
The voice of a soul
11 Pull the Plug (05:20)
Memory's all that's left behind
As I lay and wait to die
Little do they know
That I hear their choice of life
End it now, it is the only way
Too cruel, that is what they say
Release me from this lonely world
There is no hope - Why don't you
Pull the plug
Let me pass away
Pull the plug
Don't want to live this way
Once I had full control of my life
I now behold a machine decides my fate
End it now it's all to late
What has now been days, It seems like years
To stay like this is what I fear
Life ends so fast, So take your chance
And make it last
End it now, It is the only way
Too cruel, That is what they say
Release me from this lonely world
There is no hope - Why don't you
Pull the plug
Let me pass away
Pull the plug
Don't want to live this way
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