I cannot imagine that there is a metalhead out there who is not familiar with the name of "Chuck" Schuldiner and the impact he had in the Metal scene with his legendary brainchild DEATH. The only excuses for not knowing this band and his name are: a). you haven't heard the term Death Metal and b) you are very young in this music genre. Any other excuse would be pathetic and would probably erase your name from the Metal followers. Seriously speaking, DEATH was the spearhead for the homonymous Metal genre, while Chuck gave another definition to the term aggressive vocals. But, DEATH was not the only contribution to the Metal scene two years before his tragic passing from brain cancer (R.I.P. 13rd December, 2001) when he released the one and only album under the CONTROL DENIED moniker.

In 1991, DEATH took a different step in their discography releasing "Human" that yet again added another sub-genre to the Metal scene. Chuck and his impressive guitar skills (I believe he was such an underestimated guitar player) took DEATH into the next level added the term "Progressive" beside Death Metal. The result was almost shocking even for the die-hard fans. Clearly, Chuck was ahead of his time, a fact that was realized a few years later with the birth of so many bands that followed his lead. But, that was not all with the charismatic song writer; he put together a side-project band in order to escape all the boundaries from DEATH's direction and gave the CONTROL DENIED name.

Musically, CONTROL DENIED are not that far away from the post- "Human" DEATH dates they sound very different due to the melodic almost power Metal vocals ofTim Aymar that in times reminded of OMEN'S J.D. Kimball (R.I.P 03rd October, 2003). The result is simple amazing; the guitars are everywhere with killer leads that define the term 'progressive' and massive fast breaks in the vein of the legendary DEATH's "Spirit Crusher". The guitar distortion walks the same path with DEATH's sounds while Steve DiGiorgio does his magic on the bass, giving more depth to CONTROL DENIED. While listening to this re-release, I understood that the music is pretty much described by the band's name. Indeed, there is no control here (denied) and you can actual feel Chuck taking advantage of the existing degrees of freedom his guitar had given him. Just listen to the magnificent "Breaking The Broken" and try not to snap your head during the fast break or then focus on the guitar/ bass work that follows. There is no point in trying to find the highlights of an album that is in its entity a highlight. I can imagine many late 90s bands getting inspired for Chuck's songwriting ideas. Just listen the self-titled track and mark down all the sub-genres lurking behind every riff and tempo change and you will get my point.

The regular edition of this reissue contains one bonus CD featuring demo versions of songs that either are without vocals or have Chuck behind the mic singing way differently from DEATH. It is extremely moving listening to his vocals in such a raw recording. With the instrumental tracks one can finally enjoy the guitar and bass to the fullest leaving aside the very good vocals from the album versions. As a side note, I have to say there will be a special edition with another CD with more demo versions that I believe will be of interest for die-hard Chuck lovers. The Metal scene is still mourning the passing of this great musician who left way too early... we miss you, Chuck.