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This is a part of the comments we gathered 5 years ago (December 2006) from journalists, musicians and friends of the late Chuck Schuldiner. The Greek version is much richer, but even this, is one of the most in-depth tributes ever done for the “Godfather of death metal”. The whole article was issued on the Greek edition of ROCK HARD exactly 5 years ago. It contains exclusive quotes and interviews with (amongst others):
Kelly Schaefer, Sean Reinert, Eric Greif (former manager), Terry Butler, Kam Lee, Tim Aymar, Tony Choy, Steve DiGiorgio, Donald Tardy, Michael Amott, Craig Locicero and many more! READ CAREFULLY!!!
Chuck is simply the Godfather of Death metal end of story.
He put his ass on the line with a band name like Death, and backed it up with quality death metal, especially the latter years, with Gene Hoglan and Sean Reinert on drums.
Chuck as a person was very competitive, and also slightly paranoid.
I think he held death metal so close to his heart, that when others started playing this kind of metal, he was a little over protective.
I think if he had known that his place in metal history was quite secure, he would have been less worried about someone stealing his crown. i am just being honest, i have tremendous respect for what he accomplished, however we did have a bit of a heated debate for a few years, and yes Bori did have a role in it mainly cause he was chucks close friend in the early days, and he(Bori) got us our first record deal, and once again chuck being competitive and defensive, I think was a little concerned about losing Bori’s respect so he slammed Atheist pretty hard in the press, and I of course never being short on words, came to my bands defence. The problem he had with us was our jazz influences, and our incorporation of these different influences and musicianship in death metal music. He subscribed to the philosophy that jazz influence had no place in metal, but as time would go on to tell he would change his opinion, when he acquired my buddies Sean and Paul from cynic, he realised i think how important musicianship would be to the survival of death metal, and he soon followed suit and i think that the “Human” record was incredible.
While he was recording that record i went up to visit Sean and Paul at Morrisound and we all sat and squashed the beefs, and smoked some killer pot, and listened to the roughs of human, and at that moment we were cool with one another. i am glad we had the chance to do that before we lost him. All of you people who are just diving into this genre need to appreciate and thank Chuck Schuldiner cause if Venom and Bathory had remained the brick layers, death metal might be a lot less evolved and perhaps would have never made it to the 20 year history it now enjoys. Thanks for including my humble opinion! Cheers Kelly. Chuck R.I.P.
Kelly Schaefer (ATHEIST, ex-NEUROTICA)
Greetings Rock Hard readers….
I only have cool memories of jamming with Chuck….I joined Death when I had just turned 17 years old and what a fucking honour….I had been listening to and ordering Death demo tapes for the previous couple of years and I was very surprised to find out Chuck had moved to my area and was looking for band members….I was in between thrash bands at the time and jumped at the chance to join Death!….when I first met Chuck he had just written the song “scream bloody gore” and played it for me….of course I loved it and couldn’t wait to play it loud!…..next thing you know we recorded the “mutilation” demo in April ’86 and then that November recorded the “scream bloody gore” album which is my favourite Death album….yeah, of course it’s because I drummed on it and also it has some of my favourite Death demo songs on it….playing those was a fucken blast!…..I know a lot of people have said working with Chuck was hard and stressful and all that shit but for me it was all a good metal time….he was easy going and his family even put up with my teenage punk-ass for a whole summer in Florida…I would never let me stay anywhere that long!…so cheers to them and to Chuck’s memory and now I think I’ve got to go crank up “scream bloody gore” loud as fuck and let the metal be heard down the block!!!
…Bbblllluuuuaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
Chris Reifert (ex–DEATH/AUTOPSY/ABSCESS)
“I toured with Chuck and DEATH on 3 different tours between 1990 and 1993, this is when I was playing with CARCASS. We always had a good time hanging out and we shared many of the same musical heroes and influences. Chuck was a 100% metal freak and record collector, always looking for vintage metal vinyl! Chuck definitely left his own mark on music history and metal. He remains an influence on myself and thousands more metal
musicians and fans. He is greatly missed. Why is it always great ones that leave us too early?”
Michael Amott (ARCH ENEMY/SPIRITUAL BEGGARS, ex-CARCASS)
As far as my memories of Chuck… the one thing I will say is that
Chuck was Metal! His ideals and beliefs was all metal, not just death metal, but all kinds of true metal! He always pushed himself as an artist and as a musician. Even though our ideas conflicted with each other… I never felt the rivalry that “so many rumours” were spread about us by the fans.
He just had different ideas as I did… I still like Horror and Gore…
Chuck later changed that image of DEATH into different types of political ideas. And later still with his band ‘Control Denied’.
He may have not liked me… I will never know, I personally did not hate the guy.
As I said we just did not share the same ‘core’ beliefs in what the “music” should represent!
I am an old horror punk fan… THE MISFITS, SAMHAIN, 45 GRAVE, and DANZIG… Chuck was an old metal fan – MERCYFUL FATE, JUDAS PRIEST, and KISS fan.
I want to write about monsters and madmen, he wants to write about more political stuff. In the early days of DEATH – SCREAM BLOODY GORE & LEPROSY albums… he kept the lyrics more horror and gore like the original lyrics I wrote and sang when I was in DEATH, but when SPIRITUAL HEALING came out… you can see his lyric direction start to change.
As far as me taking the frontman position as vocalist….this is I always intended to be… the vocalist! Even in DEATH I only played the drums and did the vocals, because back then we could not find a drummer.
Later in MASSACRE, I changed the face of death metal… I created the death-growl, death-vomit style of vocals that all the death metal bands of today now do.
Back then no one was doing the deep growling voice I was doing… so many have taken influence from me… just ask guys like Mark Greenway of NAPALM DEATH or the band BENEDICTION from the UK… George “Corpse Grinder” Fischer of CANNIBAL CORPSE… Were do you think the term Corpse Grinder started… From the song I wrote back in 1984 while playing in DEATH!
All death metal bands of today have both Chuck and me to thank for our influence on the genre… we were the true innovators of the scene!
Bands like DEATH, MASSACRE, POSSESSED, NECROPHAGIA, and MASTER. We pathed and forged the path in blood , sweat, and gore for death metal!
THANX
Kam Lee (ex–MASSACRE/MANTAS)
DEATH was an important influence for us when we formed the band, especially the first two albums which were spinning constantly in our rehearsal room. We never met Check, nor did I get the chance to catch the band live (the closest thing, which still was great, was watching the Canadian tribute band SYMBOLIC that opened up for us in Montreal this spring), but the legacy and importance of their music can’t be overstated. Both the early releases as well as their later more technical and progressive stuff were pioneer albums in every sense of the word.
Niklas Sundin (DARK TRANQUILLITY)
Chuck was a good, very sensitive guy and a musical genius. We were good friends since the first mantas demo and met regularly about once or twice year. Things became more complicated, though, after chuck cancelled several european tours. He was a very shy person and had a hard time talking to his audience when he was on stage. weed smoking (and probably his illness, too) made him a little paranoid, i think, which led to chuck believing that people wanted to harm his career and reputation. his old manager contacted rock hard one day telling us that it was more and more difficult to work with chuck and that several tours had to be cancelled because of his behaviour. We printed this in the magazine as an explanation to our readers who were very disappointed not being able to see death live. Chuck was mad about us because his manager hadn’t told him about his actions. I met up with chuck to talk about this problem and offered him to print his side of the story, too (which we did). Still chuck never got over this matter and accused (not only) us of bad-mouthing him. in the end we were still friends I think as we never lost contact – but it was obvious to many people close to chuck that he took matters much too personally. He wasn’t easy to get on with when he felt attacked or criticized. Still I have to say that I always genuinely liked him – both as a person and a musician and I listen to his brilliant music a lot, too!
Götz Kühnemund (Rock Hard)
I had the honour of chatting/meeting with Chuck Schuldiner a few times during his treasured, albeit brief career. His passion for the music was unmatched in the metal world and his passing hit hard. As a metal fan with an open mind, you could relate to Chuck’s daring musical vision, inventing/nurturing a style dubbed Prog-Death. Given his genius, his output was just the tip of the iceberg … he had years of material to offer us, but a deadly disease cut his life short. It’s hard to choose the definitive Death release as Chuck’s writing abilities matured with each release. His brutal beginnings with Scream Bloody Gore and the “crushing”(he used the word numerous times in interviews!) Leprosy was the primal side of Chuck’s brilliance. Undoubtedly, he’ll be most remembered by the string of releases in the ’90s: Human, Individual Thought Patterns and Symbolic. All three embodied death-defying scope and intrigue as his heart was limitless. Much of his material has easily stood the test of time given its technicality and pristine production. Chuck’s presence will be forever felt and his legacy will remain an inspiration to all.
“Metal” Tim Henderson (President/CEO – BW&BK Family)
My girlfriend Heather and I were good friends with Chuck. She was one of his closest friends. Here is our memory of Chuck and what he meant to us and the music world.
As a musician or fan, I think one thing we all noticed over the years is how much Death, and Control Denied, showed such an evolution in all aspects of the music, lyrics, and concepts that Chuck worked so hard to materialize in his truly advanced form of metal as a musical art. Those who knew Chuck also witnessed this evolution as a person. I think we all were more primative back in those old metal days…. and Chuck matured as a very kind and compassionate person, just as his music matured. One who loved animals and his pets very much, and even during his illness, a man who cared about his friends and family regardless of his own battle. The way that Chuck did things mattered very much to him, whether it was his lyrics or recording principles, and that same level of care was very evident in his relationships with friends and family. Chuck had a commitment to what he felt was right. He will be missed, as a person, and has left an indelible mark in metal history.
Donald Tardy (OBITUARY) and Heather Wienker
I did not know Chuck personally but I had the honour to meet him when we played with Emperor at the Millwaukee metal fest. I also think that Death was the first band that introduced technical death metal with a lot of melodies and oriental themes. He was a pioneer of bringing different themes and making the arrangements to a new level. I have always been a huge Death fan, and the loss of Mr. Schuldiner was a very sad moment. But his music will live stronger than ever. I salute and thank Chuck Schuldiner for what he did for the metal music.
Trym (ZYKLON/EMPEROR)
I remember Chuck being a really cool, laid back kind of guy, we used to smoke weed together whenever we hung out, which was not very often. I had heard in the underground before I met him that he could be an asshole and was hard to get along with but when I met him I realized this was bullshit. He was cool as hell.
My favorite Death release will always be Scream Bloody Gore, not the most technical Death album of course but that’s why I like it, I prefer straight-forward brutality myself. Chuck’s influence on the scene was tremendous, Mantas/Death was one of the first ever death metal bands and was a huge influence on the death metal scene that evolved from thrash metal. Chuck’s vocal style was also very pioneering, and has been often imitated but never equaled…
Dan Lilker (BRUTAL TRUTH/NUCLEAR ASSAULT, ex-S.O.D.)
I have a lot of fond memories of Chuck. Chuck, Bill and I were very close. We would hang out a lot and go record collecting (vinyl).we would rehearse all the time, we were a tight unit. He was very easy to work with and open to lots of ideas, but at the same time he would get very upset if things didn’t go his way. He was very dedicated to his band and his music and if you interfered with that he would hold a grudge for a long-time.
We had a 9 week tour with Kreator co-headlining in Europe. It was a very big important tour for Spiritual Healing was doing very well at the time. We had just finished a tour of the U.S.A. and we had 10 days off before the Kreator tour. Chuck is the type of person that if he turns his back to something he thinks it will go away. We were to rehearse before the tour but Chuck locked himself in his house and would not come out or to practice. His girlfriend broke up with him before the U.S.A. tour and he was having a hard time dealing with it, plus he was getting tired of Death metal in general he wanted a change he hated the real low types of vocals and blast beats. So he stayed home and we went on tour with out him. We had signed contracts for the tour so we wanted to do it. You might think how could we on tour go without the main guy in Death? But at that time we were all equal in the band we all had a say in what the band did. It turned out to be a very successful tour. I wish he would have gone with us. I think he would have had a blast! To me his greatest asset was his song writing and his passion for his music. I think of him often, he is greatly missed.
Terry Butler (SIX FEET UNDER, ex–DEATH/MASSACRE)
Well what I remember about chuck:
Lets start with his character to me he looked like a very easy going guy I had very little time to actually know him as we speak but since my band members Paul and Sean of Cynic were playing with him at the time I got to see quite a bit of him. His music refined the way metal was done well I mean to the extent that death metal was actually focused around him I mean the guys band was named Death so that tells you a lot. I think his legacy will be around for a very long time and that is the purpose of us being in this world right to leave something when you’re gone and that’s exactly what he did.
Tony Choy (ATHEIST, ex-CYNIC/PESTILENCE)
“Out of respect for Chuck, who is no longer with us and is unable to defend himself, I will not address any negative issues that may have been raised by other people, including Kelly from ATHEIST, that may or may not involve me.
At some point later on, I may choose to discuss it publicly, but it doesn’t feel right to do so right now.
“My favourite memories of Chuck are corresponding with him and spending time with him in the early years of our friendship — in 1984-1986. I used to exchange letters with him and talk to him on the phone frequently, eventually going down to Florida during the summer of 1985 and again the following summer (1986) to spend some time with him at his parents’ home in Altamonte Springs. Both of us were diehard fans of extreme music – bands like SLAYER, VENOM and POSSESSED — and it was exciting to be involved in the scene during its formative years, before ‘death metal’ became the influential, wide-reaching sub-genre of heavy metal that it eventually turned out to be. Spending two weeks with Chuck and Chris Reifert (early DEATH drummer) in the summer of 1986 at Chuck’s house in Florida was some of the best times I ever recall having — mostly because it happened before Chuck got a taste of the dog-eat-dog music industry, which inevitably affected him greatly and took a toll on his friendships, including those with his bandmates.
“Chuck loved extreme music and was very passionate about being able to create a brutal band of his own. He had his heart in the right place and he followed his dream — to make a living from playing heavy music. He is rightfully perceived as one of the pioneers of ‘death metal’ and he took this style of music to places that weren’t previously thought possible, at least in musical terms.
“If I have one regret, it’s the fact that I never made peace with Chuck before he passed away in December 2001. He called me a couple of times about a year before he died (around December 2000) and he left messages for me to call him back, but I never did. As I learned later, he wanted me to send him my copies of the early MANTAS and DEATH demos/live/rehearsal recordings because he wanted to possibly release them in order to raise funds to cover his medical expenses. Apparently he no longer had his own copies of these recordings and he thought that I probably had the best versions out of anybody, which is why he contacted me about it. At the time, I didn’t know that Chuck’s health was deteriorating and I didn’t want to swallow my pride and call him back — which I now definitely feel was a mistake on my part.
Whatever issues and disagreements I might have had with Chuck in the years before he died, it was not worth holding a grudge over. In the end, it cost me my chance to rebuild my relationship with him and it’s something I will have to live with.”
Borivoj Krgin
Can you tell me what you remember about him, his character…,
The first thing I always think of when I remember Chuck (which is every single day)is his voice, and especially the smile in his voice. He had such a compassionate and sincere tone to his voice, whether he was just asking how I was doing, or explaining how pissed off he was about something, and when he was happy you knew it too. On that level, as far as being honest and real and true to one’s self we really clicked personally. We bonded immediately and although we only had the chance to know each other for a few years, it seemed as though we had been best friends for all our lives; like we had been brothers in some past life or something. Any time I’f think of calling Chuck, even if months had gone by, my phone rang and it was him on the other end when I answered. He took good care of himself and the people around him as well as the pets he treated more like children. His music may have sounded like it was full of hate, but Chuck was a very loving person. He was a very down to earth, reachable, hippy-ish, but strong and ethical person. He knew exactly who he was and what his purpose in life was. The only thing in his life that wanted and did not accomplish was marriage and children. Instead, he dedicated 18 years of his life as a slave to the music business and the record companies he was signed to, and although he was totally let down by the negativity of the industry, and ripped off time and again, he always stood tall and gave every ounce of energy he had to his music for the sake of his fans, even until the very last time he picked up his guitar and played it, he gave it everything he had. He had the utmost integrity, a quality I respect most sincerely. He had wisdom as well as extraordinary intellect, and a great sense of humor as well. We had so much fun working together and we worked so well together. There was no power struggle ever between us because of respect for each other that never needed any mention, it was obvious. I’ve butted heads with a few co-workers before, as most musicians will tend to at least a little, with band mates and managers and producers, but with Chuck, there was a strong sense of unity and trust. Even if we disagreed, which was very seldom, we could still understand each other and accept any differences we might have had. We both had the exact same goal, which was to make music that had integrity and told of our true selves; the pain the joy the sadness, the pity, the struggle, contempt for injustice. Their was nothing contrived or hidden about Chuck’s demeanor, you knew where he stood no matter what the issue might have been. The music was the star in our band, not any of the members. He was an awesome dude. I wish there about 4 billion Chucks in the world, but unfortunately, now there are none.
his music, as well as your favorite DEATH album?
Oh God!!!, I can’t think anything he did that I didn’t like. His music was so strong and inspiring and so organic that you can’t compare it to anything else. I remember the very first time I heard Death, which was years before I had any idea I’d be working with them. I was between sets at a gig and watching the Headbangers Ball on MTV, and I looked up at the TV to see what these guys looked like, and there was Chuck, screaming his guts out and shredding away. It was funny because my band had recently taken the Best Metal Band award from the local media, and when I saw Death on MTV I said “now THAT’S FUCKING METAL!” to the band. This was about 1990. Six years later Chuck called and asked me to sing for him. I also remember driving home from rehearsals with Jim Dofka and listening to Death in total amazement of how tight the band was, how unique the sound was, and how great the production was. I was never very impressed by death metal bands because a lot of them were just not very good musicians, but Death was the exception. I know all the Death albums and I have to say that “The Sound Of Perseverance” is by far Death’s greatest accomplishment. The record just never let’s you down, no matter how many times you listen to it. I think Jim Morris has a lot to do with that. The performances he gets out of the band really hit home, and the character the music takes on because of his production skills is mind blowing. “The Sound Of Perseverance” gets my vote for the best death metal record of all time. And by the way, I have to go buy another copy of it because my personally autographed copy was stole and the one I bought to replace it just turned up missing a couple of months ago. What sucks though is that I know that Chuck’s estate won’t make a fucking penny from the sale.
It must have been really great working with him in a pure heavy metal project as it was his dream!!!
Yes, it certainly was. And it was something I had always wanted too. I love the extreme styles of metal, but the sound of my voice is too ….well… for a lack of a better word, good. My ears are trained so I can’t wander around off key, and my vocal cords are suited more for midrange and high end shredding. I had always heard myself singing to that kind of music in my minds ear though, and conversely for Chuck, he had always heard the vocal melody in his creative mind when he wrote, but could never find anyone who actually sounded like what he imagined. He told me the first time we talked on the phone that he had always from the very beginning wanted a voice like mine on his records but couldn’t find one anywhere. I was a little frightened at first that he might want me to growl and bark (which I love, but not as much as screaming with perfect pitch) more than sing, but what he wanted was exactly what I sound like. I’m not really sure what anyone means though when they say Control Denied was a pure metal project. Maybe it’s because it’s too exhausting to try and find a pre-manufactured box to put it in. Precursor semantics have no place in the true metalhead world anyway. It was an experiment by all means, taking the exact same progressive death metal approach and applying traditional metal “sounding” vocals. I’ve never heard any other vocals like the ones on our record (I mean previous to our record because since then a lot of clones have sprung up; and I mean that in a good way, because a lot of band give credit for the inspiration). The cadence of the words and the oddity in the melody is not typical of any style of pure metal, it’s a hybrid between death metal and NWOBHM styles really. But it was really a crowning achievement for Chuck to invent such a sound. What a fucking awesome sound!
What is your opinion of what followed his death regarding CONTROL DENIED?
It was really a kick in the balls what happened with the second record. I get so mad I could eat horseshoes when I think about it. Chuck wanted that record finished so badly. He worked on it up until his body would not work any more. Then he died, and before we could finish it, the fucking record company confiscated it and released it so they could cash in on his death before the novelty wore off. The president of the company kept insisting he get his advance money back or he wanted the masters, and there is no record of the guy ever paying anything out. They went to court over it and the guy still had no proof that he ever paid Chuck anything, not a fucking nickel, and somehow he still won the case and has control of the rights. It really pisses me off how fucking greedy people are. What led to him winning the case was that, nobody wanted to shut up about it long enough to let the problem be resolved. Everyone knows that Chuck hated rumors more than anything in this world, but any news that was given about the situation immediately turned into slander and lies, so within a few months after he died, mentioning anything at all was too much of a risk to even consider. There were people saying “Jane said ‘this'” or “Jane said ‘that'” when in fact, Jane said nothing, except ‘thank you for loving my son, it really hurts badly to have lost him, and how could they do this to us?’ Ultimately, all the gossip and rumors from outsiders led to the Schuldiners losing the court case. All the fans wanted was that record, and some of them had no shame in blasting me right the face about it. They didn’t care that it was a preliminary demo that Chuck would be rolling in his grave over if he knew that’s what the bastards released instead of letting us go ahead and finish it. They didn’t care that the record company stole the rights from Chuck’s estate, and that his family was suffering from it. Time and time again, people were asked to donate to help his family recover from all the medical bills and legal fees to try and save that record and Chuck himself, and a lot of people took advantage of it and kept the donation money for themselves. Maybe a lot of people wanted to help, and a lot of people said they did, but very few really did. Then, to add insult to injury, people were accusing his family of keeping the record from being released, which is a total distortion of the truth. It wasn’t held up, it was snatched by the record company before we could even get organized to finish it. They didn’t even offer to help us get it finished for them, they just took it and put it on the market despite the fact that we wanted to finish it, even if we had to spend our own money to do it. I was being constantly hounded for news about the situation when I wasn’t being told anything except that Jane (Chuck’s Mom) was under a restraining order from the court, and she was not allowed to talk about what was happening. It got to the point where people would ask me when the record would be out just because they knew it would make me want to beat the living shit out of them. I had quit talking to fans because that’s all they wanted to talk about. It was a huge fucking mess and it makes me very upset that Chuck worked so hard to please the fans and put together the band of his dreams, and he was totally let down. Nuclear Blast let him down, Hammerheart let him down, and the fans might have tried, but the music industry jackals negated any good anyone tried to do. THAT is my opinion, my friend. Thank you for asking. I’ve needed to get that off of my chest for a long fucking time. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it though, and neither will his family.
Tim Aymar (CONTROL DENIED/PHARAOH)
When did you first meet Chuck and what do you remember most about him?
The first time I met Chuck was at Ruthies Inn, in ’86. We we’re both a couple of kids pushing Demo’s. We hit it off great! I remember thinking to myself, “This guy sure does sound like he’s from California, but he says he’s from Florida?!?” Every other word that came from him was ‘totally!’ That worked well with my ‘Hella’s’.
Anyway, the next time we met was the day before the filming of The Ultimate Revenge II in Philly. That was in late ’88. I walked into a Hotel room to find all of the guys from Death and Dark Angel. I looked to my left and saw Chuck, looked right and saw Gene. Gene was dropping Piss Bombs out the window! Chuck was being mellow and getting high. My speed exactly! We were so happy to see each-other, we just kept repeating how cool it was to meet again under such great circumstances. See, in Forbidden’s minds we were making it! We had never been out of the State! Chuck was exactly the same as I remembered him.
How did you end up playing with DEATH on the “Individual thought patterns” tour?
One day in late ’93, I received a phone call from Steve DiGiorgio. I had never talked to him on the phone before that, so was very curious. He told me that Chuck and Gene wanted me to go to Europe and play with Death. That meant I would be taking Andy LaRoque’s spot! He was way out of my league! I was a songwriting first kinda player, Andy was a PLAYER!
I told Steve I’d think about it and that my band probably wouldn’t like it because we were just about to record a Demo, the one that got us signed to GUN. So I asked the guys what they thought, they all gave the blessing as long as I pushed Forbidden. When I called Steve and said yes, he told me they would come out to the Bay Area to practice. Beyond Cool!!! That’s when I realized it was gonna happen, and also it sank in how great of a band Death had turned into over the years.
I barely had a day to learn any of the material, because Forbidden was so busy recording up until the day they all arrived. So when I went to practice I had so much anxiety it was ridiculous! They all put me right at ease, Chuck said to me “You’ll be great, we know how good you are. Let me show you the songs.” So he sat down and taught me each song. One by one, until I had them all. I had learned them all in 3 days, that left one day of actually playing them in a set.
That was when the true Genius of Chuck’s writing style sank in. I was blown away by how complex the songs sounded, but they were fairly easy to play. That takes work! Forbidden songs are much more difficult, but that doesn’t mean a thing to the ear that listens to them. I was very impressed, my respect shot off the charts. They were so cool to me, we all got along perfectly on the whole tour. That was a new experience, Forbidden would always had a drama!
Had Chuck asked you to stay at the band after the end of the tour?
Towards the end of that tour, Chuck did ask me if I was interested in staying out on tour into the U.S. leg. I had to decline because of the promises I had made to my band. I was tempted, but my baby was Forbidden, as Chucks was always Death. I think everyone made the right choice, Symbolic was an amazing record, Ralph did just fine!
The last thing I would like to say about Chuck is this- I had always heard that he was difficult to work with previously to getting my chance. The same things were said about myself. But in our relationship, that couldn’t be further from the truth. He was a gentleman and we respected each-other a great deal. I believe that Chuck was a very drivin Human Being that had a clear vision of what he wanted. That is often looked upon by other musicians as overbearing. In my experiences in music there are leaders and followers, even within bands. Chuck was simply a great leader!
Thank you for giving me a chance to pay my respects to my Metal Brother!
Craig Locicero (ex-FORBIDDEN, SPIRALARMS)
Can you tell me what you remember about him?
There are many things I remember about Chuck – some are private memories, but many can be shared with fans. I remember lots of little things, like Chuck had a small car and an iguana (or some sort of Florida reptile) crawled inside the air conditioning unit and died. The smell inside his car was ghastly – absolutely putrid. No matter what Chuck did he couldn’t seem to find the dead animal to remove it! And Chuck was actually quite into keeping himself ‘clean’ (as opposed to some other heavy metal people) and his living space tidy, so this bothered him that he couldn’t remove the animal and that awful smell. Another thing I remember was our ‘chicken wing wars’ – we’d order the hottest, most intense and spicy chicken wings (called Buffalo Wings in America) and see who could endure the most brutal. All around the USA we’d collect recipes for the most insane Buffalo Wings, which I believe we found in Atlanta, Georgia. Chuck is well-known for his temper, but what few know is that he was also extremely kind and fair. Many are aware that I took Chuck to court for breach of contract (after he fired me post-Spiritual Healing) but what a lot of folks don’t know is that a few months later, when Chuck wanted to fire Bill Andrews and Terry Butler, he actually contacted me (through my lawyer) to say he wanted to settle the case, pay me what he owed me, and he wanted me back as Manager. I was so shocked that I rang him up right away, and in our conversation it was as if none of the bad shit had ever happened! Within a few days we met at my Grandmother’s house in New York City to work things out and to plan the whole Human assault.
His character?
Chuck Schuldiner was a complex individual, and this was for a lot of reasons. He was mellow a lot of the time, but also he had an unpredictable streak inside him, which made working with him or for him sometimes difficult. I would figure that this probably got easier as he matured and grew older, but remember that I managed him from when he was around 21 until 25, so it was still a rather chaotic time in his life, as it certainly was for me (I was just a few years older than he was). There were members of the band to fire, tours to change, record companies to scream at, and lots of other things to cause panic and create pressure. This was of course long before he began to have any health problems, and his mother told me that when the trouble with his cancer started, the ‘chaotic’ Chuck disappeared entirely and he became very focused, and patched things up with many people he had fallen out with over the years – to me that is a sign of a mature, sincere character. My greatest regret is that I wasn’t a close friend of Chuck’s at the time of his death, and I remain honoured to still be in touch with his mom and to be a very small part of preserving his legacy.
His music?
From the moment I first saw & heard Death live (Summer 1987 at Milwaukee Metalfest) I knew that what Chuck was doing was special. Like others I was familiar with Possessed, Venom and of course Slayer, but Chuck Schuldiner was doing something different musically – minor-key, horror movie theme music with doom-laden rhythms. And he only got better as time progressed…his talent as a guitarist and musical arranger knew no bounds, and I was amazed at how far he came from Scream Bloody Gore to Human, the last album I worked with him on. An amazing talent and the creator of the death metal genre – without doubt, without challenger.
Can you remember something strange of the tours you had organized for the band?
I went on the road with Chuck during two tours – the last half of the Leprosy tour and for the entire Human tour. There are simply too many stories to possibly tell! There were many high points on the road – funny things that we did or that happened to us. I remember we did a tour of Mexico in June of 1989 and we were staying at quite a fancy hotel in Mexico City. Back then Bill and Terry were extremely silly kids and we always tried to ‘dare’ each other into doing something really stupid. At one point I was ‘dared’ to pull down my shorts to my ankles and run around the hotel’s restaurant. Chuck, Bill and Terry laughed and laughed…but the owner of the hotel and his wife surely weren’t laughing! The promoter of the tour had to find us another hotel. Another tour story I have is from that same tour: we were leaving Florida for Mexico and our substitute guitarist Paul Masvidal (who was filling in for the recently-fired Rick Rozz) got on the wrong plane! The plane he got on was bound for Costa Rica, an entirely different country, and a nice stewardess walked him off the plane and found all of us! We couldn’t believe it. During the Human tour there were some cool times as well: there were a couple of times when new equipment arrived…we had ordered all new gear for the band, and when it all arrived it was like a holiday! I remember that when we first got on the road on the US east coast, we had some problems, and the guy in Wisconsin who had arranged everything gave us the name of a music store in Washington, DC to go to – so we made our way there in the tour bus and, like magic, everything that had a problem was taken away and new gear handed to us. It was great when things worked out smoothly like that. We also really loved horror movies, and whenever we were anywhere that a movie had been filmed, we’d find it. In Pittsburgh we made sure to bring the tour bus to the mall where ‘Dawn of the Dead’ was filmed, and in Washington, DC we went to the house and the long steps from ‘The Exorcist’, even managing to chip away at the stairs and get a little souvenir. We’d also collect the most bizarre films and watch them at the back of the bus – among our favourites were ‘The Devils’, directed by Ken Russell. Of course I read all the negative stuff about the Human tour in the metal press – the fights, the tantrums, the lawsuits, the bad shit – but what I’ll always remember are these little, cool things that very few people know anything about. They are the positive, uplifting memories of Chuck Schuldiner that I’ll carry with me always, and the reason that I miss Chuck my friend.
Can you tell us in brief, your point of view of what happened during this European tour that Chuck was left behind and to me eyes it seems the “root of all evil” for his “strange personality” after this? I mean, since then he stopped trusting people so much and co-operating with musicians in a steady basis… can you tell us what happened back then? It’s important for us to “sketch out” somehow, his personality…
You must be referring to the Spiritual Healing tour in which Chuck decided at the last minute not to go to Europe and, instead, Bill Andrews and Terry Butler replaced him and did a bogus Death tour in which many people would chant ‘fuck Chuck’. Well, I can tell you directly what happened, and recalling Chuck’s specific and personal feelings on the subject. Before that, however, you must go back a couple of years to the first tour of Europe that Death did. This was an exhausting nightmare for the band – it had been organised by a Belgian gentleman named Johan from a company called Metalysee and Chuck had vowed never to return under the same circumstances – bad conditions, bad equipment, no breaks between gig days, etc. So, with that in mind, Chuck was apparently getting nervous when he discovered that a similar confused set of arrangements had been made in Europe. At that time, I had recently been fired as Manager by Chuck and the weight of managing Death was on Chuck’s shoulders alone. I knew Chuck very well at the time and I can say that, whatever his faults, ‘letting down the fans’ wasn’t one of them – that would never in a million years be his intention. Yes, he had a temper, and yes that temper had resulted in his firing me over the telephone in a bizarre episode of rage. But as 
I’ve stated publicly over the years, a person had to know Chuck to realise what a tremendous burden was on him – on many different levels: personal, business, creative. Anyway, from what Chuck told me recently following the incident, as soon as he became aware of discrepancies with the European tour, and being unable to resolve them on his own with the band’s agent Mitchell, at the last minute Chuck pulled the plug. Bill and Terry immediately rebelled, blaming Chuck personally for stopping the tour and, wanting to travel, they went ahead anyway and got roadies to fill in. Now, I really must ask myself: what in hell were Bill and Terry thinking? They must have realised right then and there that, once they returned home to Florida, they were finished with Death. Imagine replacing Tom Araya at the last minute and calling it Slayer – or John Lennon and calling it The Beatles. Simply ridiculous, anyway you look at it. To make matters worse, Bill and Terry took every opportunity to slam Chuck wherever they went – to blame him for everything. What about the fact that Death was his band? His creation? His vision? Everyone knew that Chuck was Death. So, once the whole, awful fake Death tour was over and all the bad press had been printed, that is when I received a telephone call from my lawyer saying he had heard from Chuck who wanted to apologise to me and work things out. As I’ve said many times, I was shocked but immediately arranged to speak with him and we both flew to New York City immediately to meet and plan strategy. Bill and Terry were immediately, formally fired from Death. I remember Bill Andrews mother, who had been very important in this whole saga because she was acting as Bill and Terry’s ‘manager’ over this whole tour thing, got on the phone with me and I said ‘either sign the release forms or we’ll go to court, and you know we’ll win’. Your boy made his choice, and that’s that.’ Terry and Bill were then out of the band, and Chuck and I began to build the whole Human plan, including a massive world tour that he promised would take place – and it did. Now, do I think this whole Spiritual Healing tour mess was the start of some sort of manifestation of Chuck’s ‘strange personality’? In this case I must say no. Chuck had doubts about organisation, and other people exploited those doubts – and at a time when Chuck was running things on his own, with all of the pressures that come with that. Eventually Chuck did succumb to the pressures, and yes he fired me for a second and final time after Human, but I don’t refer to this behaviour as strange – instead it is the behaviour of a ‘genius under pressure’. As for working with other musicians, it did seem as if there was a revolving door of people in & out of the ‘band’ – but actually this isn’t a fair observation. I would consider the last, real Death line-up as a ‘band’ to be the one from Leprosy. From that point, the new people either were aware that they were ‘hired players’ or it was obvious that the band Death was actually Chuck, and the players he surrounded himself with were important but not integral. Rick Rozz was fired because the other guys felt he was not progressing musically, which was actually very true. James Murphy was an odd fellow who never fit in. Bill Andrews and Terry Butler were fired because they replaced Chuck on a fake Death tour and did everything possible to ruin his name. Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert never ‘joined’ Death (as they made it clear their loyalty was to Cynic), and the others all knew they were hired for a tour or for an album. And did Chuck have such a bad reputation with other musicians from different bands? I think in his interviews he always went out of his way not to slag or say bad things about other bands. Although I knew Chuck very well, watched him work, watched him laugh – well, I still don’t have any idea what it was like to BE Chuck Schuldiner: the creative energy, the pressure from fans and critics alike, his constant need to expand & grow…these were things that added to Chuck’s personality, and sometimes not in the best way. This is how I would describe him, and this is how I would characterise his response to the ill-fated fake Death tour.
Eric Greif (former DEATH’s manager)
16 Dec 01
I can see that news travels fast. Everyone knows by now. Also I want to thank all of you for your kind words of caring and support. So what do I have to add? We have lost an icon in the metal music world. More importantly, I have lost a good friend of many many years. He was born the same year as me and we had a lot in common. It’s obvious that I played my best around him, somehow he brought out the sickest bass lines in me. He always pushed me to do more, think of more, pushing the boundaries and find the most innovative things…but to still keep it within the formula. I have lost an inspiration to my own personal musical quest, I will miss him forever. We were in the middle of doing the next record, and it’s sad beyond belief that he never saw it to it’s completion. We will try our best to finish it in his honor, but will never know if it lives up to his standards. That’s the least we can do for someone who gave so much and cared so much about what he did and how it effected those who belived as well. Though I am glad in some small way the the suffering is over for him…that he would not be able to play his guitar again, reorganize his massive vinyl collection, work around the house, go to the beach, go to concerts…the things he loved to do. He didn’t deserve a life without those things that made him who he was. Because he was, what he loved. He very much loved his family, never being too far away from his mother, father, his sister and his nephew. He loved animals and his pets were his family too. He loved the outdoors, barbeques, beaches, hikes, and canoeing took up a lot of time when we weren’t writing new tunes. Of course he loved music, he made it his life…and we made it ours. It’s true he had something very serious, and possibly something that would ultimately take him. But I want you to ignore all the rumors, all the hearsay, all the bullshit…and know that he never accepted his fate. He never gave up trying to overcome it. He went down swinging and was a true fighter until the end. He was told by his first doctor he didn’t have long to live, so he went to another. When those doctors told him the same thing, he did it again – he went to find the answer he wanted, not the answer he was given. He traveled all over the country looking for someone to help in his fight. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. His will to live was strengthened by the resolve of those around him. His family most of all who didn’t hesitate to do what was neccessary for him. His friends who tried to pitch in whatever possible. And the fans and supporters all over the world, who’s words and contributions kept the spark alive when things seemed the darkest.
Be proud of his work, his heart still beats for us every time we listen to his songs, because his heart is in his work.
Goodbye for a while Metal Brother, I’ll miss you more than words can say.
Steve Di Giorgio (ex-DEATH)
Chuck Schuldiner is one of the most important people in the history of death metal. The musical style he created on albums like Scream Bloody Gore and Leprosy helped to define the sound of death metal.
Although we had the great fortune to play more than a dozen shows with Death over the years, I did not know Chuck well enough personally to comment in depth about his personality. All I can say is that he was always kind and friendly to me when I spoke with him, and he was a dedicated, completely professional performer.
My favorite Death album is Scream Bloody Gore. This album really made a big impact on me, with its gory lyrics and aggressive and dark sounding riffs. It is a true death metal classic, and it is one of the best examples of what death metal should sound like.
Alex Webster (CANNIBAL CORPSE)
