Death
Live in L.A. (Death & Raw)

THE REVIEW

I want to introduce you to this live album, recorded on the night of December 5th, 1998 at the historic Whiskey A Go-Go in Los Angeles, with the aim of guiding you towards death metal horizons.

Performed during the "The Sound of Perseverance Tour", the album was released on September 17th, 2001 to support the expenses of the surgery that Schuldiner, at the time in the throes of a deadly illness, was supposed to undergo once again, trying to combat the tumor.
The production is adequate, but it is immediately clear that it is undoubtedly a bootleg, marketed by Nuclear Blast with the intention of passing it off as a live album. An operation that didn't succeed, but which is justified by the good intentions in an attempt to save Chuck from an unjust and ignoble end.

The band's frontman, considered by many as the greatest songwriter of the genre ever, is not as impeccable as usual, but continues to unleash his infinite guitar skill and his majestic infernal voice, always accompanied by growls and harrowing screams. His guitar along with Shannon Hamm's, appears subdued in the overall sound, not due to his own fault, but because of suboptimal recordings. Accompanying him is Scott Clendenin's bass, perceived in a mediocre way.
On drums is Richard Christy, a name that is a guarantee. Indeed, the drummer doesn't miss a beat, giving the performed pieces violence and great precision. The comparison, much more than positive, between his live performance and the studio works, is not at all heresy.

It is needless to repeat that the album lacks a bit in raw sound, but the monstrous tracklist of the album will leave you pale! The concert begins with the intricate "The Philosopher", preceded by a ghostly intro. The tour line is followed with "Scaravenger of Human Sorrow", which I personally consider the most beautiful episode, "Spirit Crusher" and "Flesh And The Powers It Holds". Moving beyond, we encounter other historic albums of the group: the evolved "Symbolic" ("Zero Tolerance," the terrifying "Empty Words," "Crystal Mountains," and the title track), the initial "Human" ("Together As One" and the lethal "Suicide Machine") and the intricate "Individual Thought Patterns" (the opening track and "Trapped In A Corner").
In the catastrophic tracklist, we also find the old "Zombie Ritual" and "Pull The Plug". This last song marks the conclusion of a fantastic show, made memorable by the fact that it was one of the last of the myth Chuck Schuldiner.

I consider the grateful audience, present on that unforgettable night, very fortunate and full of emotions.
Those emotions experienced in seeing live the greatest representatives of the genre: the never too much regretted Death.