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Rest in peace, Chuck. |
A passionate homage to 'The Father of Death Metal', by Andrew Oliver.
Everyone
has at least one real defining moment in their life. One instance
that comes out of nowhere and, whether it be subtle and cause gradual
change, or abrupt in its delivery unto oneself, helps shape who you
are for years to come, help makes you who you are. One moment that
hits you from out of sight and makes you change gears completely,
open your eyes, and assess your situation in a whole new light.
Now,
let me start by saying that when I was young, my exposure to music
was limited to boring singer-songwriters, your James Taylors and John
Denvers, etc. And, even being as young and impressionable as all
children are, this music bored and annoyed me, therefore, leaving me
to dismiss all music altogether as being frustratingly simple, and
plain. In my house, it was all acoustic, all the time.
Then
it happened. Out of the blue and completely unexpected as all of
these moments tend to be. I was eleven years old at the time, and
staying at my cousin’s house while my parents were away. My cousin
always had some sort of program on his television playing music, but
I never really paid any attention to it when I was over there, and my
distaste for music had not yet changed, but on that day, my cousin
actually made a point to call me into the room and show me what was
on the T.V. What I saw was none other than Chuck Schuldiner himself,
playing a live show with Death, shredding a solo on his sleek, sharp
B.C. Rich Stealth. It was like nothing I had ever seen. A guitarist
playing notes so high and so fast, and on an electric guitar that was
slick and sexy, not some big hunk of hollow wood.
That
moment, something clicked in my head. I wanted to do what this guy
was doing. Playing this incredible fast music, so loud and distorted,
and have it enjoyed by huge crowds of people while I did it. It was
an epiphany, a revelation. I was to be a heavy metal guitarist. And
it was all thanks to this man, whose name and identity, at the time,
was unknown to me. So I went home, and got my hands on as much metal
music as I could. CDs by Metal Church, Nuclear Assault, and Flotsam
and Jetsam soon graced the shelves in my room. I had found a music
that inspired and liberated me, and it was all thanks to that one
video of Chuck playing his solo.
Eventually,
and to no real surprise, I found out about the legendary Death metal
band, and who Chuck Schuldiner was, the visceral lead guitarist and
vocalist behind the first real Death metal band, the man who inspired
me to take up guitar and join a band, both of which are activities
that I am very active in to this day.
It’s
true, in a very indirect way, Chuck Schuldiner changed the way my
life was headed, but my life story is not what I’m aiming to write
here, so I’ll expound upon myself no further. December 13 was the
tenth anniversary of Chuck’s untimely death due to brain cancer,
which he fought through violently to the bitter end, always
continuing to write and play music for his fans, and for himself, but
what I want to accomplish with this article is not to write yet
another sad story about the death of Chuck Schuldiner, but rather, to
focus on how great he was while he was still here. How important he
was as a musician, as a vocalsist, a guitarist, and as a person as
well.
When
Chuck formed Death, I’m sure he had no idea the influence he would
have on Heavy metal, and really, on music as a whole, by inventing,
unknowingly, one of the most infamous forms of music around still to
this day. Many people, including myself, consider Death to be the
first Death metal band. Some may say Possessed came first, but I
disagree, and find them more on the Black/Thrash side of metal, but
Death was the real deal as far as Death metal was concerned.
Spear-headed by the young and talented Chuck, he created a debut
album, Scream Bloody Gore, that was raw and visceral, taking
influence from the early works of Metallica, Anvil, and Motorhead,
and taking it ten steps further in the speed and aggression
departments. It was like Thrash, but faster, like Black metal, but
more raw (at the time), and with Chuck’s guttural growls,
down-tuned riffs, and frantic, speedy solos, it was like nothing
before it.
Chuck
had come from humble beginnings, taking these classic metal
influences that he so loved, and wanting to add his own chapter to
the book, with his own music, and in the process, created something
entirely new and innovative, but of course, this music labeled Death
metal, a label Chuck himself never liked, a name like Death, and
campy, gory lyrics, the music, and the band themselves, were met with
obvious scorn by those who didn’t listen, and didn’t understand
what the band was trying to accomplish.
“I
consider the name to definitely be just a name,” Chuck commented on
the band name during an interview in 1991, shortly after the release
of Human. “I wanted a name to describe the music. An extreme
name for extreme music.” While he held this belief firm, he still
garnered many stereotypes to the Heavy metal genre, but did his best
to smash just as many or more than he attracted and created.
Chuck
was a damn good musician and songwriter, as we all know, but he was
just as good a person. He tried constantly to show the public that
just because you’re a heavy metal musician, it does not also make
you some Satan-worshipping delinquent who wants to kill babies and
burn down churches (unless you’re a Black metal musician in Norway,
that is). He was always trying to make people see deeper than just
the name, to try and make people see that judging based on aesthetics
is not the way to go.
“I’m
a very positive person,” he said in an interview with MTV. “Towards
life, towards friendship, towards love, towards, you know, all
certain things that we’re made up as, as being human.”
It
was always important to Chuck to believe music, not rumors (his own
words, there), and tried to clear up the ever-popular negative
connotations associated with his the type of music he played. His
music, extreme as it was, was a positive outlet, a way for him to
create art, and just because the lyrics are growled, and the guitars
are fast and distorted, does that make it wrong? Chuck certainly
didn’t think so, and he wanted to voice his opinion.
“I’m
not satanic because I’m in a band called Death. I’m not a violent
person or anything. I’m just a person who has a name of a band, and
I’m trying to just make everything fit together, you know? It
wouldn’t work having a band called Pink Flowers.”
“We
did write gore lyrics, but it was more like kind of tongue-in-cheek,
horror-movie type level. Nothing like encouraging people to go out
and hurt themselves or anything stupid like that. It's pure
fantasy-movie type, scary stuff.”
To
make matters better for himself, after the release of Leprosy
(1988),Spiritual Healing (1990), which even contained a controversial
track on his stance on abortion, and of course, the album that
launched Death into the spotlight, Human (1991). Chuck began abandoning his humorously gratuitous
and gory lyrics for the politically and morally charged verses on
But
it Death wasn’t just evolving lyrically. Chuck was a creative
genius, an artist who wanted his art to grow and change and evolve,
not at all content with an interchangeable discography of boring
musical consistency. With every passing album, the music started
becoming more technical, “more musical,” as Paul Masvidal (former
Death guitarist during Human and long-time Cynic guitarist)
said in an interview. Riffs became more complex, and time signatures
started getting crazier as Progressive influences started finding
their way into Death’s music and Chuck’s songwriting. Intros and
interludes were starting to be introduced, and melody was becoming
more and more prevalent in the riffs and solos.
By the time Symbolic was released in 1995, following the frantically
technical and wildly melodic Individual Thought Patterns
released in 1993, many thought Chuck had reached a creative and
technical peak. His songwriting was superb, a perfect balance of
extremity and melody, raw speed and memorable hooks, but despite the
seemingly unbeatable brilliance of this release. Chuck kept writing,
and kept evolving his music to new heights when he released his final
album, and his most ambitious and progressive work to come, in 1998,
The Sound of Perseverance, released a year before he was
diagnosed with brain cancer on his 32nd birthday.
After initial treatment, Chuck was in recovery and looking good, but
the cost of the operations were more than he and his family could
afford, and they were put in massive debt, and they were, as a result
of their financial issues, unable to continue the treatment that
could have saved Chuck’s life.
Now, I know I said that I wasn’t going to focus on the sad stuff
here, but what, if any, positivity you can take from this is that, at
the first notice that Chuck’s life was in danger, bands in the
metal community, as well as bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers
began hosting massive fundraisers and benefits to raise money for
Chuck and his family.
In 2001, however, his cancer returned, and the chemo-therapy drug he
was given weakened him greatly, and he soon took ill with pneumonia
as well, leaving him dead on December 13, 2001, leaving behind him a
legacy that can be matched by few others as musicians, and as people
as well, for Chuck was not only striving to push himself musically,
but was always trying to better the lives and conditions of his
fellow musicians, disparaging the negative stereotypes placed upon
them, and actively trying to encourage the idea of equality and that judgement was the real evil, not the music.
While Chuck may be gone, we still have him here with us in the music
that he created while he was alive. Even after his death, he
continues to inspire people, such as myself and countless others with
his music. Like so many before him, Chuck was an innovator, who was
able to create so much in his short time here, to crush stereotypes
and break boundaries never before crossed.
This is how we should remember Chuck Schuldiner when we think of him.
Not just as the raw and guttural frontman of the very first Death
metal band, and not just as the Father of Death metal, but as a
positive lover of friendship, love, and animals, someone who believed
in the power of creativity and art.
“Believe in music, not rumors.” That’s what he would be saying
if he were still here, and while I’m sure, if you’re reading
this, that you know who Chuck Schuldiner and Death is, and that
you’re probably not someone who associates metal music with such
negative stereotypes, maybe, in remembrance, of Chuck Schuldiner, you
can help carry on what he tried to do until his dying day. Show this
to your family, your friends, anyone who may look upon these
musicians and artists in distaste, and show them that their judgment
is skewed, that playing music that’s faster, more extreme, or
different than what they’re used to hearing doesn’t make it bad
or wrong or evil. Help them open their minds the way Chuck tried to
get people to.
