Biography

Around the 70's Black Sabbath, led by the riffs of Toni Iommi, had successfully laid down the foundations of what would become metal. It would not be wrong to call them the godfathers of all metal. Along with early 80's acts of the likes of Venom, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and others from the British wave of heavy metal, they led way to a next generation of speed/thrash metal bands. 1983 saw the release of Metallica's "Kill 'Em All", an album that certainly brought out thrash to a wider audience. Others included Slayer and Exodus.

Meanwhile in Florida in 1983, Mantas took birth as the brain-child of the fifteen year old Chuck Schuldiner. The band consisted of a three school boys line up that featured: Kam Lee as the drummer and vocalist, Rick Rozz and Chuck Schuldiner as guitarists. Mantas recorded a four track demo "Death By Metal" in 1983. About the same time four high-schoolers in San Francisco formed Possessed. With their Swiss counterparts HellHammer(later to become Celtic Frost) and Venom , these four bands were among the pioneers of the heaviest, fastest music that had yet been played. Some time after their first demo Mantas changed names to Death.

By 1984, Possessed, Celtic Frost and some others had all put out demo's and death metal was growing strong on the underground. Death metal, initially however failed to win any large audiences or attract much attention from any labels. As Chuck Schuldiner stated, music and musicians were too ... bad to be taken seriously. A demo tape by Possessed made its way to Brian Slagel who then got the band featured on "Metal Massacre vol. 6" with their song "Swing Of The Axe". This eventually led Possessed to sign up with Combat. Sadly, however, Death remained unsigned for quite some years.

In 1984 Possessed released "Seven Churches" their historical debut on Combat . An album that was truly the first of its kind to have been released, and became an influence to many. With fast aggressive guitars and outrageous vocals this record was the crude creation of a new kind of metal ,a precursor form that was later perfected by Chuck Schuldiner on "Scream Bloody Gore" and deservingly categorized into a separate, established genre, now called death metal. Years later ,in an interview Chuck Schuldiner cited "Seven Churches" as a major influence for the Death's debut album.

Even though musically tuned out, death metal still, had a not so good reputation. A consequence of the dark morbid public images and morbid lyrics of the earlier acts Venom, Possessed, HellHammer and others. Death metal immediately became notorious for Satanism. Most of what was happening in Scandinavia had nothing to do with the music, rather music was being used by cults promote Satanism and anti-Christianism.

On the Florida scene things were quite different and the two scenes moved apart as years progressed. There were still bands in Florida whose lyrics were about Satanism but not in the form of preaching or promoting it, rather in the form of entertainment.

Anyway, returning to Death, the three piece outfit released another demo "Reign Of Terror" in October '84, this time the vocals being handled by Chuck Schuldiner. Another came in March '85 under the title "Infernal Death". The same year Possessed returned with their second full length album, and the Brazilian band Sepultura debuted with their EP "Bestial Devastation". Among the earliest, yet unfortunately, Sepultura were never exactly a big influence to death metal in the evolution years, however, except maybe for the local Brazil scene. Death metal was really beginning to grow, yet Death had no label.

There were a few more demo's by Death in '85, following which Chuck Schuldiner moved away to San Francisco, California. He wished to shift the band there but the other two members opted to stay in Florida. Kam Lee and Rick Rozz then teamed up with Terry Butler and Bill Andrews to form Massacre. Meanwhile in California, Chuck Schuldiner found new band members in Chris Reifert and John Hand. With Chris on the drums, John as rhythm guitarist, Chuck Schuldiner handled the vocals and guitars. The band was lacking a bassist, which was in jamming sessions often made up for by Steve DiGiorgio (from Sadus, who later eventually worked on two Death records). However, Chuck Schuldiner ended up doing the bass himself for the debut recording. Death recorded a few demo's in 86. The last one of which "Mutilation", helped Death finally land a deal with Combat records.

Death forever changed the death metal world with the release of "Scream Bloody Gore" in '87. The first album by Death that simply blasted its way through with unseen aggression. Although a bit poor on production and technicality compared to later works, this album made up for all with its shear brutality. Chuck Schuldiner's cut-throat growls alternated with guttural screams set a top notch standard of intense death metal vocals, that in a certain perspective , was never again achieved, not by any other band, not by Chuck Schuldiner himself. (It would be unfair however, not to mention Obituary's John Tardy and Asphyx's Martin Van Drunen, both of whom have certainly made a mark of their own too). The lyrics on the album however, much lacked depth and intelligence. Most of the songs seem to have been inspired by stories from horror movies. It must however be realized that Chuck Schuldiner was about 18 years old when Death's debut was made. And it was, musically, an achievement strong enough coming from someone of such age (in such an era when death metal was still taking birth) to prove his genius purely on musical grounds, even totally disregarding the lyrics. In the words of Gene Hoglan a few years later: "I know Chuck wrote super gory lyrics for "Scream Bloody Gore". He grew up on horror flicks, and that was considered heavy at the time. After all, when you're 18, you say 'what can I say to shock people'."

This three piece line-up was soon disbanded. Chuck Schuldiner, writing new material for the next record, was joined by Massacre (that had also recently split) band members: Terry Butler (bass), Bill Andrews (drums) and Rick Rozz, the former guitarist of Death. A year after their first release, Death shook the world again with the phenomenal "Leprosy" in '88. The music had vastly improved, the riffs were more faster and richer. The arrangements on the songs were more striking. The drumming is just what an album like it should have had. Long runs of non-stop double bass drumming teamed up with the same tempo of crunchy riffs makes this album a forty minute ride through headbanger's heaven. And the lyrics were already beginning to improve. The title song intelligently uses the disease leprosy as a metaphoric reference to the dying sense of grace and kindness among the human race,

"Sense of feeling soon to be gone
Life will never last"
"Open Casket" is a thought provoking one about the imminence of death and the volatility of life,

"Death is oh so strange
The past no one can change
What you can't predict
Is how long you'll exist"
Others include "Left To Die", an immensely sarcastic note upon the futility of war and how soldiers are used like disposable pawns,

"Bodies fall onto the ground
Blood flies through the air
Shredded victims lie in pain
Death is never fair"
and "Pull The Plug" debates in favor of a man's right to choose to his own fate, rather than to live the decisions made by others,

"Once I had full control of my life
I now behold a machine decides my fate
End it now it's all too late"
As an ensemble, the album has all the elements present to make it the reference standard of classical death metal. Among the very few albums to have been recorded, on which each and every song is not just good but excellent.

This line-up again did not last long, as Rick Rozz left the band sometime after the release of "Leprosy". Rick was replaced by James Murphy, an accomplished guitarist (who later also worked with Obituary and Testament), who helped in writing the music for Death's new LP to come in 1990. The result was "Spiritual Healing", a powerful sound that pushed the guitar work one step further than the previous Death stuff. With this album the solos got a lot more melodious than the previous album. The riffs from the title song, "Defensive Personalities", and "Low Life" are fast and really catchy. The general richness of the music had proven Chuck Schuldiner's skill to expand and grow while remaining intense as ever. The music explored rapid alterations between slow paced grinding riffs and fast intricate ones, exemplified most strikingly on the title song, and "Low Life". At the same time Chuck's power of expressing of anger and sarcasm in the lyrics, and the topics themselves were getting as deep and upto reality as ever. The title song condemns narrow-minded fanatics and the exploitation of blind-faithed people by them in the name of religion.

"Blinded by the twisted ways you live
Kill for religion, will the Lord forgive ?
Idiocy has stricken your mind"
"Living Monstrosity" talks about drug addict mothers that pass on the monstrosity to their babies. And "Altering The Future" raises ethical questions on abortion,

"Death and life taken so easily
Right or wrong, whose choice will it be ?"

People who get along in life by faking themselves and using others become the topic of "Low Life",

"Fake is a word you represent
Your existence on earth I resent
At the cost of others you get by
Each word that you speak is a lie"
"Within The Mind" preaches the power of the human individual and inspires one with strength and self-confidence.

"Spiritual Healing" in many ways marked the turning point in the career of Chuck Schuldiner and Death. From this album on Death proved themselves to be simply the best, not just one of the earliest. With each successive release from then on, Death pushed death metal one step further into a technical progressive realm that left other bands light-years behind. The technical prowess of Chuck Schuldiner's compositions has grown exponentially with each next released, as the limits to death metal have been stretched wide. He has brought out more melody and emotion into a powerful expression. The music has turned more and more complex, as the number of riffs per song has increased to a level where each album encompasses so much amount of music. Making a progressive cut while maintaining the ferocity all the while.

At the same time Chuck Schuldiner suffered one of the lowest moments of his life. At their European tour, things were turning sour in the Death camp. Soon after returning from tour, Terry Butler and Bill Andrews decided to break up with Death and join up Rozz with their original band Massacre. James Murphy went on to join Obituary for the recording of their second LP "Cause Of Death". Chuck Schuldiner abondoned, was yet surrounded by vicious rumors from the media, that were cheaply raising questions on Chuck Schuldiner, the man; To this end that Chuck almost, at one time, was about to scrap up the band, Death, altogether.

Eventually, however, Chuck Schuldiner's strength shined through and he opted to carry the Death legacy on, as his words later vented it out on the "Human" CD sleeve, "Also, thanks to those people that support my music and not the rumors. This is much more than a record to me; it is a statement, it is revenge ".

He managed to coerce band members from Miami based Cynic, and Sadus to work with him for the new Death album. The new line-up being Sean Reinert (drums), Paul Masvidal (guitar), Steve DiGiorgio (bass) and of-course Schuldiner himself. This did not, however mean that this line-up was going to be the future ingredients of Death, rather, they were just working on one record together. Paul and Sean were able to help Chuck with the writing by giving him input, something which had been lacking on the previous Death records. Meanwhile Combat's contract with Relativity went out, and the label Combat came to an end, so Death were now on Relativity.

1991 saw the release of Death's fourth record, philosophically titled "Human". This is the most brutal music by Death yet, marked by heavy, fast and intricate riffs. The guitar sound has a thicker, heavier, more solid, pounding touch to it. Backed up by powerful bass and fast, complex packed drums that sound like a thunderous gallop. All this makes "Human" a very aggressive recording indeed. Although the album is riddled all over with great rhythm and lead guitar works, most mentionable the riffs from the choruses of "Together As One" and "Suicide Machine", and from the pre-choruses of "Lack Of Comprehension" and "Vacant Planets" are what exemplify the powerful, fast guitar accent of "Human". It soon had critics admitting that Death is the definition of technical guitar playing. The opening to "Lack Of Comprehension" and Death's first instrumental "Cosmic Sea" both showed the band's growing progressive sense. Among the lyrics "Suicide Machine" addresses the same topic that Chuck had earlier covered on "Pull The Plug", only with more acidic sarcasm this time,

"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 ?"
"Lack Of Comprehension" talks of the human ego, that turns a blind eye even in situations of severe guilt,

"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"
The cunning human society, in which often, people are betrayed by the ones they trust, is speculated on "Secret Face",

"Vulnerable through trust
Life is a twisted maze of obstacles
Presented by people with a secret face"
"Vacant Planets" prophetically explains how the human race's greed for power, domination and control will lead to its own destruction,

"Limiting our passages of thought
Are they examples of regression
A life form's abusive progression"
"See Through Dreams" narrates the agony of lesser privileged, and inspires us into appreciating what we have,
"Close your eyes and imagine to be without
What we take for granted every time we open our eyes"

By this time death metal had grown into a quite a big scene. "Human", along with one of the greatest technical death metal recording ever, Sepultura's "Arise", helped death metal reach out to more listeners around the world, including Asia, where previously thrash acts like Metallica and Slayer were the heaviest stuff available. "Human" helped break out Death to a much wider audience, while "Lack Of Comprehension" became the first video by Death, that was aired on MTV's Headbanger's Ball all over the globe.

The same year "Human" came out, Cynic were planning to make their debut on RoadRunner, and then after that go touring with Chuck Schuldiner for Death. For some reason though they went straight on to the European tour after "Human". Sometime in '92 Cynic were scheduled to go to the studios, but unfortunately a hurricane destroyed the house of Jason, a band member of Cynic, and with it the band's rehearsing facilities that were placed there. This interrupted Chuck Schuldiner's plan for the next Death LP for, which Sean was his first choice for the drummer. Meanwhile, the band Dark Angel had split after the vocalist Ron Rineheart called it quits. Their drummer, Gene Hoglan, disappointed and reluctant to have to start all over again also opted out. He coaxed one of the guitarist with him and formed his own band, but nothing much came out of it. A month later Chuck Schuldiner called up Gene, and he agreed to handle the drums for Death. Steve DiGiorgio from Sadus returned for bass duties. And this highly potent outfit was perfected with the joining up of King Diamond's guitarist Andy LaRocque. With the whole band's line-up filled with excellent musicians in each slot, the stage was set for something apocalyptic.

"Individual Thought Patterns" was unleashed in '93, and with it a whole new dimension to death metal was opened. As if death metal wasn't different enough already, this was a different kind of death metal in itself. Arguably Death's most complex album to date, it rose above all reference standards and created its very own criteria of what great music should be like. Expectations abolished, and all rules lays aside "Individual Thought Patterns" makes its cut in a very special way. Some parts on the album are so progressive that they simply transcend generic death metal to a point where deservingly another genre name should be coined for it. Complex and diverse drumming, accompanied by phenomenal bass playing that at lot of instances is very much in the foreground and breaking away from the main rhythm with mini solo-like flicks. Toned done with lesser of the open-E chords, yet, the rhythm guitars are one step ahead of "Human" in complexity, examples are the riffs on "Overactive Imagination" , "Mentally Blind" and the title song. And there are also quite a number of riffs arranged up per song. This time out the lead guitar work is stronger than ever, the solos more melodic and emotional compared to any previous work by Death. To some, the music might sound lighter after "Human", but it's the brutal, angry vocals (among Chuck's best to date) that never let the intensity fade. "The Philosopher" is among the most progressive stuff by Death, that later also became Death's second video single. Truly an intricate record, this album is a testament to the band's ability to expand and grow, in a genre that is becoming stagnant. As the title might suggest, a lot of the lyrics focus on twisted psychology, the human mind and motives. "Overactive Imagination", a double edged sarcasm that targets defective psyche and at the same time the fake people who never learn to admit what they are, but just fool themselves and others with lies,

"Mastering the art of deception
That increases your sick addiction
It's an overactive imagination that enslaves your empty shell"
The abuse of power, and knowledge by 'holier than thou' authority figures, against those whom they find 'inappropriate' is speculated on "Mentally Blind",

"You see your visions and no one else's
Your every word filled with sarcasm
Crucify people with invisible knowledge"
"The Philosopher" is again, about people who think they know all, and go around pointing their fingers at things they don't understand anyway,

"Lies feed your judgment of others
Behold how the blind lead each other
The Philosopher
You know so much about nothing at all"
And last but not least, one of my favorites: the strength inspiring "Destiny",

"I believe behind confusion awaits the truth for us
Past the obstacles we face"

Steve DiGiorgio and Andy went on to pursue work with their own bands. Meanwhile Chuck Schuldiner and Gene stuck along for further writing on Death. Following the negligence by Relativity, Chuck Schuldiner pushed on to transfer Death to the Roadrunner label. And while the record companies were busy with paper-work, Chuck and Gene were left with ages of time to rehearse for the new material. A lot of the writing had been done by mid '94, and the two of them rehearsed for about nine months before entering the studio. Infact, the last three months were spent rehearsing tirelessly, five days a week. One month before the recording Kelly Conlon (bass) and Bobby Koelble (guitar) joined in.

On March 21st, the world witnessed the personification of musical perfection as Death's sixth full-length record "Symbolic" blessed the world with it's divinity. And with it, were shattered any remaining concepts of comparison. "Symbolic" to a lot of us, not only became the best Death record, but the best death metal album ever. It is best described by an adjective that is rarely ever used for music so aggressive: 'beautiful'. They get very progressive on this album, yet without losing their identity. The sound is still unmistakably "Death". What has changed vastly is the atmosphere, thanks to excellent production and studio work. There is a definite hum to it. The tone of the rhythm guitar is more soulful, melodic and 'filled', yet without losing Schuldiner's signature buzz-saw crunch. The music itself is rich in emotional solos. The whole is album filled with excellent riffs all over. Here each and every riff, chord, and note is perfectly composed and arranged to form unblemished musical beauty. The emotion in the compositions follows natural flow of emotion as human nature would need it to. For the first time Chuck has used echo with his vocals on the title song, with an effect that amplifies the nostalgic mood of the lyrics. Then there is the opening to "Empty Words", and an acoustic solo played upon the background of death metal riffing near the end to "Crystal Mountain". The one of a kind pre-chorus solo on "Without Judgment" sounds like a lead guitar played with a violin bow - awesome. "1000 Eyes" and "Misanthrope" show that Death are still aggressive as ever, and proves that making it more melodious does not take away the intensity from death metal. The lyrics, although lesser angry with the words are realistic as ever, contemplating on more deeper thoughts this time. The title songs yearns for childhood as an age of care-free innocence, and has an angry Chuck complaining about the loss of childhood innocence,

"When did it begin ?
The change to come was undetectable
The open wounds expose the importance of
Our innocence
A high that can never be bought or sold"
There's the sarcastic "Without Judgment" that mocks at the flaws of the justice system,

"Guilty until proven innocent
We condemn your soul and fate
Nevermind the possibilities
Too busy for logic or to calculate"
"Crystal Mountain" again criticizes the manipulation of blind-faithed masses in the name of religion,

"Inside crystal mountain
Evil takes its form
Inside crystal mountain
Commandments are reborn"
And among my personal favorites "The Perennial Quest", which in a way might be narrating Chuck Schuldiner's struggle through his career supported by his fans. But more importantly, it sums up the whole essence of human existence in an inspiring way and teaches us how to remain positive, while filtering out the negative. To go out and face life with strong beliefs and aspirations, (I wish I could quote the whole song here)

"Filtering out the bad that holds us back...
Take hold of what is true to your hunger"

Soon after the tour for "Symbolic", Death suffered another break-up. Too much disappointed Chuck Schuldiner opted to put aside Death, and join up a new band called Control Denied. In the opinion of many, the legacy of Death had come to an end. By the mid of '96 Control Denied had their first demo tape out, which featured Chuck as the vocalist. Chuck wished to get Warrel Dane (Nevermore) or James Rivera (Helstar) to do the vocals for Control Denied, however eventually Tim Aymar (PsychoScream) was to replace Chuck in the vocals department. Control Denied had non-death vocals. Although sounding a bit like the European styled metal, Control Denied was quite technical. The band debuted with "A Moment Of Clarity" in early '97. The band however came to end, when Chuck Schuldiner decided to terminate the project and return to Death because he felt that songs written for Control Denied sounded too much like Death. He wanted a different sound. 

After Chuck put an end to the Control Denied project, him and the other members of Death went into the studio to record The Sound of Perseverance. Chuck took a few of the songs that he had written for Control Denied and updated them a little bit and he wrote additional music.

One year after the release of The Sound of Perseverance Chuck decided to revive the Control Denied project. Chuck got back together with vocalist Tim Aymar and long time friend Steve DiGiogio, along with Shannon Hamm and Richard Christy of Death to record The Fragile Art of Existance.

Schuldiner was diagnosed with pontine giloma, a rare type of brain tumor, in 1999 and struggled to afford treatment. The guitarist eventually underwent surgery for the tumor in January of 2000, and appeared to be recovering well in the months following the operation. Earlier this year, however, Schuldiner's condition worsened as his tumor continued to grow and proved inoperable.
The seminal metal figure passed away on December 13th 2001 at the age of 34.