The Fragile Art of Existence is the only studio album by Control Denied, a progressive metal band founded by Chuck Schuldiner.
This was also Chuck Schuldiner's final studio album before he died of brain cancer on December 13, 2001.
Background and recording
The lineup that recorded Death's album The Sound of Perseverance (TSOP), in addition to singer Tim Aymar, was originally intended to release the Control Denied album (and had completed the recording process in April 1999), Schuldiner remarked in a January 2000 Metal Maniacs interview that Clendenin "just didn't seem into it, I don't know if it was the material or what, but he didn't seem happy with what was going on, so we had to just let him go."
Release history
The album was initially expected to be released in September 1999.
Music and lyrics
The album's musical style retains the "progressive musical prowess" of Death's later output. Tim Aymar's vocals have been likened to those of Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden and Rob Halford of Judas Priest. The album's overall style has been categorized as hybrid of power metal and progressive metal, and has been characterized as "[tearing] down the conventional walls" of the former. The album's guitar solos have been described as "free jazz meets metal guitar God."
Critical reception
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Jason Hundey of AllMusic called the album "powerful, brilliant, and subversively catchy" and said that it was Steve Di Giorgio's "finest hour behind the bass."