He is often called the “Godfather of Death Metal”, he once preferred to describe himself as “A Lover of Life, Friendship and Animals”. Chuck debtor It was not just one of the most important Death Metal musicians, but one of the most important instrumentalists and composers in the metal. Like only a few others, he shaped the death metal genre-and the metal in general-to play guitar with its very own way: technically brilliant, melodic thought, heavy, raw and full of precision and full of emotion. With his band Death he kept out limits, freed the Death Metal from many clichés and did pioneering work. Chuck Schuldiner was highly valued by many completely generous people for his work and his person. Unfortunately, Schuldin died much too early. We take a look at the life and death of a true pioneer.
Chuck Schuldiner: childhood and beginnings
Chuck Schuldiner was born on May 13, 1967 in Long Island, New York, when Charles Michael Schuliner. His mother Jane Schuliner was a teacher, his father once a debtor worked in the real estate industry. His childhood was largely protected; In 1968 the family moved to Florida, where Chuck was to spend most of his life.
“Chuck was really a cheerful and good -natured child and the joy of his older brother and older sister. They read him, played with him, watched cartoons on TV and over time they also moved into the construction of a fortress in the forest at the end of the street,” said his mother Jane in an interview with the fansite “Voiceesfromthedarkside.de“.” As a family, we always went hiking and tents in New York and Florida. We had a very good family life, and Chuck told me that he had a wonderful childhood, “his mother continued.
His first musical influences were bands like Kiss, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. At the age of nine, he took the guitar for the first time after his parents offered him the instrument as a means to process the death of his brother. Jane Debiner: “I am sure that we have talked about the purchase of this guitar for him for his grief for his brother, and I was always grateful for it. Shortly afterwards he wrote some of the texts for his first album and continued. He said it was a therapy for him to be able to express his feelings in this way. “
In 1983 he made his first musical attempts with projects such as Mantas, from which Death emerged a little later – the band with which he was supposed to write metal history.
Chuck Schuldiner: The foundation of Death
Death founded himself in 1984. The first band line -up consisted of Kam Lee on the drums and vocals, Rick Rozz on the second guitar, Chuck Schuldiner on guitar and vocals as well as later changing bass players – initially Chuck also took over the bass himself. The first demotape “Death by Metal” appeared in the founding year 1984 under the band name Mantas a little later.
In 1986 the band was contracted by Combat Records. You started working on the debut album. This was called “Scream Bloody Gore” and appeared in 1987-a work that is the first real death metal album today. Other albums followed: “Leprosy” (1988), “Spiritual Healing” (1990), “Human” (1991), “Individual Thought Patterns” (1993), “Symbolic” (1995) and “The Sound of Perseverance” (1998).
Successes and status
The story of Death and her success is a steady. Album for album, live gig for live gig, the band and its reputation grew. With “Leprosy”, the band made an important death metal album in 1988, at that time still relatively classic. This found a large fan base, especially in Europe. In 1990 it continued with “Spiritual Healing”. Debters changed the style, especially in terms of texts, a little. At the beginning, people were relied on shocking topics and brutality, debtors soon dealt with socially critical issues, religion and manipulation.
A milestone in Death’s discography finally came in 1991 with the album “Human”. The music became a lot more complex and technical. Death now sounded as you should remember it later. The debtor was not only a grandiose front man and a creative composer, but also a brilliant guitarist. He now worked with musicians such as Gene Hoglan, known as “The Atomic Clock”. Steve Digorgio was on the bass.
Albums like “Individual Thought Patterns” and “Symbolic” followed. Death established itself as one of the big metal bands of her time. Progressive song structures met here on brutal riffs, technical precision for atmospheric, socially critical and well thought -out texts. This not only liked Death Metal supporters, but also fans of more progressive varieties of the metal.
The occupation at Death kept changing – and yet: Death remained creative, continuous and consistent. One signed at Roadrunner Records. The band celebrated international successes with the album “The Sound of Perseverance”. Death had established themselves-as a large metal band, as a pioneer and as a cross-border commuter.
Control Denied
However, debtors had other plans, other ideas. Already during work on the album “The Sound of Perseverance” he decided to start a new project. This was called Control Denied. Debters wanted to break out of the narrow genre boundaries of Death Metal – which he had already postponed. He wanted to give his melodic ideas more space that further develop progressive elements in his music.
With musicians such as Richard Christy (drums), Steve Digorgio (bass), Shannon Hamm (guitar) and Tim Aymar (vocals), he recorded the album “The Fragile Art of Existence”. It was released in 1999 and instead of classic death growls on clear, powerful vocals-a brave and visionary step that brought him a lot of respect.
In his fan base, debtors estimated that his ideas were always open to his ideas. In an interview with “Metal edge“:” I think most death fans are very open-minded because Death is so melodic and progressive and exaggerated in many ways. When we were on tour last year, I saw all kinds of metal t-shirts in the audience-from Metallica to Slayer and Panta to Iron Maiden and King Diamond. have a wide range of listeners, ”said the musician.
“Even if Death, as I said, is a very extreme band, it is very melodic. So I think the fans will definitely enjoy this album. So far, people have said: ‘Wow, the music is very death-like, but the singing lifts it to a new level.’ And that’s exactly what I wanted to hear from the people, ”he also said.
Chuck Schuldiner: Cancer
Then came the terrible news: In May 1999, Chuck Schuldiner was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Not only his family and friends, his fans also hit the news like a shock. In order to finance the high treatment costs, fans and musicians from all over the world collected. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Korn and Kid Rock picked up in their own pockets and shouted-this shows how popular debtors were outside of the death metal genre. With the help of this support, debtors were able to undergo several operations. Despite the setbacks, he remained combative and optimistic. He spoke of a second Control-Denied album, even announced new songs for Death. But that should no longer happen. His state of health deteriorated dramatically.
Chuck Schuldiner: Death
On December 13, 2001, Chuck Schuldin died in his home in Florida at home in Florida at the age of only 34. His family was with him.
He is one of the great metal guitarists and composers in music history. His band Death remains a fixed reference point for extreme metal. Numerous musicians and bands rely on debtors, continue his ideas – and keep his legacy alive.