Death was an American death metal band formed in Altamonte Springs, Florida, in 1983 by guitarist Chuck Schuldiner (who later became the band's sole vocalist), drummer/vocalist Kam Lee and guitarist Rick Rozz. Formed out of what would become the Florida death metal scene, Death is considered to be among the most influential bands in heavy metal music and a pioneering force in death metal. The band's 1987 debut album, Scream Bloody Gore, has been widely regarded as one of the first death metal records, alongside the first records from Possessed and Necrophagia.
Death had a revolving lineup, with Schuldiner, aside from a European tour, being the sole consistent member.[1] The group's style also progressed, from the raw sound on its first two albums to a more complex one in its later stage.[2] The band disbanded after Schuldiner died of glioma and pneumonia in December 2001, but remains an enduring influence on heavy metal.[3]
Together with Kam Lee, and Rick Rozz, Schuldiner started to compose songs that were released on several rehearsal tapes in 1984.[5][4] These tapes, along with the Death by Metal demo, circulated through the tape-trader world, quickly establishing the band's name. In 1984, Schuldiner dissolved Mantas and started a band under the name Death with the same members. Tim Aymar, in an article written in December 2010, states that Chuck Schuldiner renamed the band Death in order to turn his experience of the death of his brother Frank years earlier into "something positive".[7] Its members again included Rick Rozz and Kam Lee. Another demo was released, called Reign of Terror.[4]
In 1985, the Infernal Death tape was recorded and released. Rick Rozz was out of the band by early 1985. Schuldiner and Lee played with Scott Carlson and Matt Olivo, bassist and guitarist respectively, of the band Genocide (later to be renamed Repulsion) for a short time. However, Kam had some "personal problems" that caused him to be ejected from the band. Combat Records had offered the band a deal if they recorded another demo, though the band was unsuccessful in convincing Kam to rejoin. Olivo and Carlson left soon afterward.[4] Schuldiner moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and recruited former Dirty Rotten Imbeciles drummer Eric Brecht,[8] then recorded the Back from the Dead demo. However, Chuck was not happy with this incarnation of Death and moved back to Florida without a band. In 1986, Schuldiner got an invitation from early Canadian thrash metal band Slaughter to play on their album, which he accepted, moving to Canada. However, this only lasted two weeks, and he returned to the States. He returned to Florida, then moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area again, where he joined with 17-year-old drummer Chris Reifert.
Schuldiner and Reifert recorded the Mutilation demo in April 1986, which led to a deal with Combat Records. That summer, they began recording their first album, which was abandoned and written off as a mistake after Combat was not satisfied with the recording, which Reifert blamed on the studio engineers. In November 1986, the band was sent to Los Angeles to re-record the album at The Music Grinder with Randy Burns, which the band felt optimistic about due to his work on Possessed's Seven Churches. The basic tracks were recorded in a couple of days, while the bass, lead guitars and vocals were recorded by Schuldiner at Rock Steady Studios, which was also in L.A.[9]
Scream Bloody Gore was released in 1987, widely considered a genre template for death metal. The band briefly had a second guitar player, John Hand, but he did not appear on the album (though his photo did). Schuldiner and Reifert recruited Steve Di Giorgio of Sadus and rehearsed in Concord[4] for live shows, which never took place as Schuldiner decided to move back to Florida.[10] Reifert had chosen to remain in California, where he went on to form Autopsy. Once back in Florida, Schuldiner teamed up with former bandmate Rick Rozz and two members of Rozz's band Massacre, Terry Butler and Bill Andrews.
Mid-era (1988–1992)
In 1988, that line-up recorded Leprosy. After much touring in support of the album, including a quick and ill-planned tour of Europe, Rick Rozz was fired in 1989. After a tour of Mexico featuring guitarist Paul Masvidal (later to re-emerge in the Death lineup), a replacement was found in James Murphy, with whom the third album Spiritual Healing was recorded in Tampa in the summer of 1989. Murphy left the band relatively quickly.[11] By this time Schuldiner abandoned the "gore" lyrical theme for more social critique and melody was added to the band's sound.[12]
Chuck Schuldiner in an interview in 1991, about youth, money, record labels and death.
In 1990, on the eve of a European tour, Schuldiner decided against traveling, claiming at the last minute that he felt the tour was not adequately organized (and citing the group's previous disorganized European tour in 1988) as well as having some personal problems. Andrews and Butler continued with the tour of Europe as 'Death' to fulfill the band's contractual obligations, and recruited roadies Walter Trachsler (guitar) and Louie Carrisalez (vocals) to replace Schuldiner, much to Schuldiner's shock and disgust.
Schuldiner abandoned the idea of a band set-up altogether and began working with session musicians only. Schuldiner recruited Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert from underground Florida band Cynic and hired Steve Di Giorgio from California band Sadus. In 1991, Death released Human, which is considered a more technical and progressive album than their previous works, incorporating complex rhythms, riffs and song structures. Human was Death's best-selling album yet, receiving many accolades and some MTV play for the group's first video, directed by David Bellino, for the track "Lack of Comprehension". Due to obligations with his primary band Sadus, Di Giorgio departed after the recording of Human and new bassist Scott Carino[13] did Death's extensive world tour, from October 1991 until March 1992, in addition to appearing in the music video for "Lack of Comprehension".
Final years and Schuldiner's death (1993–2001)
In 1993, Reinert and Masvidal left the group to continue with the band Cynic, as they were working on Cynic's debut full-length album at the time, Focus. Schuldiner then enlisted drummerGene Hoglan of the recently dissolved thrash metal band Dark Angel,[14] and Andy LaRocque from King Diamond guesting on guitar for Individual Thought Patterns in addition to Steve Di Giorgio returning to the band. Since LaRocque was obligated to his band, Schuldiner hired a then-unknown Ralph Santolla as touring guitarist. Death was arguably at the peak of their commercial and popular culture success, and the video for the track "The Philosopher" even made it on to an episode of Beavis & Butt-head in 1994 (Beavis also parodies Schuldiner's vocals in a mock 'drive-thru' order of 'tacos, to go!' in death-metal style). Also in 1994, Death abandoned its eight-year relationship with Relativity and signed with Roadrunner Records, their European distributor. For 1995's Symbolic, Santolla and Di Giorgio were exchanged for underground Florida musicians Kelly Conlon and Bobby Koelble. For the Symbolic tour Brian Benson was brought in on bass[13] (Conlon was let go from the band prior to the tour).[15]
After the album and two supporting tours, Schuldiner put Death aside to pursue Control Denied with Christy and Hamm. Clendenin was dropped in favor of Steve Di Giorgio, who was once again available, and an underground power metal singer named Tim Aymar. Although the line-up and writing style was largely the same, Schuldiner created Control Denied in large part because he was displeased with the harsher vocals for Death. He opted to create a new band in order to avoid betraying what Death meant and sounded like to fans, remarking: "For me, it is just a matter of evolving, doing it the right way. I didn't put out a Death record with this stuff on it. I made the right choice and changed the name of the band. I tried to do everything the right way."[18] As Schuldiner finished Control Denied's debut album, he was diagnosed with brain cancer, forcing the band to scrap plans for a U.S. and Canadian tour. As he worked on the second release, Schuldiner's condition improved, but the tumor left him in a weakened, vulnerable state. He contracted pneumonia and was placed in a hospital. On December 13, 2001, Schuldiner was released and returned home. An hour after arriving home, he died.
Aftermath (2001–onwards)
The second Control Denied release was not completed. Mired in legal problems involving its Dutch label, the musicians and Schuldiner's sister Beth, the former of whom have publicly stated their desire to complete the album, and former manager Eric Greif representing the Estate. In 2004, Hammerheart Records released a two-part bootleg made up of old, pre-Scream Bloody Gore demos, along with partial demos of the unfinished album and live Death recordings from 1990. This was issued under the name Chuck Schuldiner, not Death or Control Denied, but its markedly unfinished state and lack of vocals led to the release not being successful, aided by Schuldiner's mother Jane's pleas for fans to stay away from it. In October 2009, Greif litigated against Hammerheart, representing Schuldiner's estate, and all matters were settled by December, theoretically allowing for the Control Denied album to be completed by the other musicians.
Members of Death have since stayed active as musicians. Gene Hoglan from Dark Angel and Andy LaRocque from King Diamond had already made a name for themselves, with LaRocque continuing to work with King Diamond while Hoglan has done stints with a wide variety of bands including Strapping Young Lad, Old Man's Child, Opeth, Zimmers Hole, Unearth, Pitch Black Forecast, Dethklok, Fear Factory, and most recently, Testament. Paul Masvidal found success with Cynic alongside fellow Death member Sean Reinert, who continue to release albums and tour in the present. Richard Christy went on to gigs with Acheron and Iced Earth before joining The Howard Stern Show, though he has recently resurfaced on the metal scene with Charred Walls of the Damned and guesting on a Crotchduster album. Ralph Santolla has also played with Iced Earth, as well as Sebastian Bach; both are bands which Steve DiGiorgio played in as well. Santolla was in Obituary and he was previously in Deicide. Di Giorgio also played for Testament and is still active with his original band Sadus. Bobby Koelble founded the Orlando rock-funk-Latin fusion group JunkieRush in 2000. He joined the Jazz faculty of the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2007, and performs and records with The Jazz Professors. James Murphy was also in Testament, formed projects such as Disincarnate, as well as having stints with death metal bands Obituary and Cancer. Murphy was also stricken with a noncancerous brain tumor, for which he received treatment, and, along with Deron Miller of CKY, attempted to organize a Death tribute album. Kam Lee became well known as the frontman and face of the band Massacre, and formed the band Denial Fiend with Terry Butler, who has also found success in Six Feet Under and is currently in Obituary. Lee also continues to perform and record today with numerous underground projects, including Bone Gnawer and The Grotesquery. Scott Clendenin died on March 24, 2015, at the age of 48.[19]
On May 12, 2010, it was announced that Perseverance Holdings Ltd. had partnered with Relapse Records to re-master and re-issue the Death and Control Denied releases, as well as his earlier work in Mantas.[20] On December 13 of the same year, it was announced that The Sound of Perseverance would be the first Death album to receive this treatment, and was released February 2011 in a 2-CD and 3-CD format.[21] The Human album has been remixed, with Schuldiner's intellectual property lawyer Eric Greif stating that Sony had lost the tapes of the original mixes,[22] and was reissued in 2-CD and 3-CD formats as well as a digital release. Shortly after, the Individual Thought Patterns album was reissued. In February 2012, Relapse Records released a 2 CD live album entitled Vivus! that included the previously released 1998 concerts Live in L.A. and Live in Eindhoven, including liner notes by drummer Christy and manager/lawyer Greif. The Relapse deal does not include Death's acclaimed 1995 album Symbolic, whose rights are still retained by Roadrunner Recordsas of 2008[update].
On March 16, 2012, it was announced by Sick Drummer Magazine and the Schuldiner's corporation, Perseverance Holdings Ltd, that musicians who previously played in Death would take part in a benefit tour titled "Death to All" for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.[23] The former Death members slated to participate were drummers Gene Hoglan and Sean Reinert, bassists Steve Di Giorgio and Scott Clendenin, guitarists Paul Masvidal, Shannon Hamm and Bobby Koelble. It was later announced that Obscura vocalist Steffen Kummerer and Abysmal Dawn/Bereft frontman Charles Elliott would assume vocal and guitar duties for the tour,[24] but visa issues made Kummerer's participation impossible and he was replaced by Exhumed vocalist/guitarist Matt Harvey.[25] After the tour, Eric Greif, acting as President of Perseverance Holdings Ltd. (PHL), alleged that the owners of Sick Drummer Magazine had not paid the charity, the musicians, PHL, the crew or the booking agency despite the five shows of the tour being successful.[26] However, dates for a second edition of the tour were announced in February 2013, with no involvement from Sick Drummer Magazine,[27] and a successful tour of North America in April 2013 was followed by a sold out three-week European tour in November 2013, featuring Masvidal, Reinert, Di Giorgio and vocalist/guitarist Max Phelps. The Death To All moniker was altered to Death (DTA).[28]
On November 3, 2021, it was announced that former Death members would play two Florida shows in December 2021 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passing of Schuldiner. The lineup will feature James Murphy and Terry Butler, as well as Gus Rios and Matt Harvey of Gruesome playing under the name Living Monstrosity, who will play Spiritual Healing in its entirety. Steve DiGiorgio, Bobby Koelble, Kelly Conlon, Dirk Verbeuren, Max Phelps, and Leo Lozano will play under the name Symbolic, playing songs from Human, Individual Thought Patterns, Symbolic, and The Sound of Perseverance.[29]
Phelps, Di Giorgio, Koelble and Hoglan will take part in a North American tour in the spring of 2023 under the name Death To All (DTA) to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Individual Thought Patterns.[30]
Rozz, Butler, Harvey, and Rios are actively performing at live events in 2024 under the name Left to Die.[31] The band formed not long after Harvey and Rios played the Death tribute show in 2021.[32]
Musical style and legacy
The last logo used by the band found on the cover for their album The Sound of Perseverance
Death is considered to be one of the most influential bands in heavy metal and a pioneering force in death metal.[3] Death is also now recognized as one of the most acclaimed music groups of all time, held in high praise by critics, metal musicians, and fans.[33][34]Scream Bloody Gore is widely regarded as the first death metal album.[35] Music biographer Garry Sharpe-Young considered Death "a genre-breaking band centered upon frontman Chuck Schuldiner" and that the band "would become one of the prime instigators of the death metal movement".[36] However, Schuldiner dismissed such attributions by stating, in an interview with Metal-Rules.com, "I don't think I should take the credits for this death metal stuff. I'm just a guy from a band, and I think Death is a metal band".[37] In Death's later output, the band's music became more technical and melodic, moving to a technical death metal, progressive metal, and melodic death metal style.[38][39][40][41][42]
In January 2001, Mahyar Dean, an Iranian musician, wrote Death, a book about Death and Schuldiner, and released it in Iran. The book includes bilingual lyrics and many articles about the band. The book was sent from the site keepers of emptywords.org to Schuldiner, who in his words was "truly blown away and extremely honored by the obvious work and devotion he put into bringing the book to life".[47] A documentary entitled Death by Metal was released in 2016.[48]
Regarding percussion styles, Gene Hoglan is recognised as a percussionist using double kick drum equipment and one of a crop who "set new standards in speed and endurance".[49] During an interview he described Sean Reinert's drumming on Human as "godly", and praised it as "the fastest double bassing around at the time" and "a template which we tried to match on Individual Thought Patterns".[50]
Kam Lee designed Death's original logo before he was kicked out.[51] Schuldiner designed the various incarnations during the length of his career. In 1991, before the release of Human, he cleaned up the logo; he took out more intricate details, and the "T" in the logo was swapped from an inverted cross to a more regular-looking "T", one reason being to quash any implication of being anti-religious.[52] The logo was changed again, between Symbolic and The Sound of Perseverance, to a more streamlined look; also, a hooded reaper was removed above the "H".
Charles Michael Schuldiner was an American musician. He founded the pioneering Florida death metal band Death in 1983, in which he was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter and only continuous member until his death in 2001. His obituary in the January 5, 2002, issue of Kerrang! described him as "one of the most significant figures in the history of metal." Schuldiner was ranked No. 10 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists in 2009 and No. 20 in March 2004 Guitar World's "The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists". In 1987, Schuldiner founded the publishing company Mutilation Music, affiliated with performance rights organization BMI. Schuldiner died in 2001 of a brain tumor.
Sean Landon Reinert was an American musician. He was the drummer for the rock band Æon Spoke and the drummer and cofounder of the progressive metal band Cynic along with Paul Masvidal until leaving the band in September 2015.
Testament is an American thrash metal band from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1983 under the name Legacy, the band's current lineup comprises rhythm guitarist Eric Peterson, lead vocalist Chuck Billy, lead guitarist Alex Skolnick, bassist Steve Di Giorgio and drummer Chris Dovas. Testament has experienced many lineup changes over the years, with Peterson being the only remaining original member, though they have since reunited with Skolnick, who had been out of the band from 1992 to 2005. Billy has been a member of Testament since 1986, when he replaced original frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza, who had left to replace Paul Baloff in Exodus. Peterson and Billy are the only members to appear on all of Testament's studio albums. The band has released thirteen studio albums, four live albums, five compilation albums, thirteen singles and three DVDs. They are estimated to have sold over 1.4 million albums in the United States since the beginning of the SoundScan era, and over 14 million copies worldwide as of 2016.
Control Denied was a progressive metal band formed by death metal musician and Death founder Chuck Schuldiner.
Scream Bloody Gore is the debut studio album by American death metal band Death, released on May 25, 1987, by Combat Records. It is considered by many to be "the first true death metal record". Chuck Schuldiner, the band’s founder and leader, performed guitar, bass and vocals, and composed all tracks on the album.
Leprosy is the second studio album by Florida death metal band Death, released on November 16, 1988 by Combat Records.
Spiritual Healing is the third studio album by Florida death metal band Death, released on February 16, 1990, by Combat Records. It is the band's only album to feature both guitarist James Murphy and bassist Terry Butler and the last to feature drummer Bill Andrews.
Human is the fourth studio album by Florida death metal band Death, released on October 22, 1991, by Relativity Records. The album marked the beginning of a major stylistic change for Death, being more technically complex and progressive than the band's previous efforts. This is the only album to feature Cynic members Paul Masvidal on guitar and Sean Reinert on drums, both 20 at the time, and the first to feature bassist Steve DiGiorgio.
Fate: The Best of Death is a compilation album by Death. It contains songs collected from their first four albums, Scream Bloody Gore (1987), Leprosy (1988), Spiritual Healing (1990) and Human (1991).
Individual Thought Patterns is the fifth studio album by Florida death metal band Death, released on June 22, 1993, by Relativity Records. It is the only album by the band to feature guitarist Andy LaRocque, the first to feature drummer Gene Hoglan and the second and last to feature bassist Steve DiGiorgio. Manager Eric Greif described the album as "an angry record, angry lyrically", attributing it to his conflict with Chuck Schuldiner at the time.
Symbolic is the sixth studio album by Florida death metal band Death, released on March 21, 1995, by Roadrunner Records.
The Fragile Art of Existence is the only studio album by Control Denied, a progressive metal band founded by Chuck Schuldiner. It was released worldwide on Nuclear Blast America in 1999. Metal Mind Productions reissued the album on April 15, 2008. The release was digitally remastered and limited to 2,000 copies. The album was again re-released in 2010 by Relapse Records, available in two-disc and three-disc editions. The three-disc edition was limited to 1,000 copies.
The Sound of Perseverance is the seventh and final studio album by Florida death metal band Death, released on August 31, 1998 by Nuclear Blast.
Kelly Conlon is an American bass guitarist. He has been a hired musician with Death and Monstrosity. Conlon currently performs with Agent Steel.
Shannon Hamm is an American guitarist, best known as the rhythm guitarist for death metal band Death from 1998 until their breakup in 2001. He was also part of Schuldiner's other band Control Denied.
Scott Clendenin was an American musician most notable for his time spent in the bands Death and Control Denied, both of which were formed by Chuck Schuldiner. Following Schuldiner's passing, both Death and Control Denied disbanded. In 2012, he played for Death to All, former members of Death paying tribute to Schuldiner, as well as members of Bereft and Obscura. Clendenin died on March 24, 2015, with Death bandmate Richard Christy and Death's former manager Eric Greif expressing their shock and sympathy.
Cynic is an American progressive metal band formed in Miami, Florida in 1987. The band has been primarily based in California since the late 1990s, marking a significant shift in their geographic and creative roots. Paul Masvidal originally served solely as the band's guitarist, but later took over as lead vocalist and chief songwriter. Cynic incorporates elements of progressive rock, alternative, and metal.
Steffen Kummerer is a German guitarist and vocalist. He is the leader, main songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist of the death metal band Obscura, as well as the black metal band Thulcandra. Since 2012, he has been a member of the official tribute band Death to All. Kummerer's Ran custom guitar shape have become a signature shape unique to him and his band Obscura.
↑ Jensen, Stephanie (May 3, 2019). "Where are they now? The members of Death". Outburn. Retrieved October 24, 2020. Their first three albums—Scream Bloody Gore, Leprosy, and Spiritual Healing—used the harsh and fast stylings of death metal bands during that era. But Death transformed their sound with the band's fourth album Human, evolving even more with their next releases, Individual Thought Patterns, Symbolic, and The Sound of Perseverance ... From the animosity of Death's earlier material to the intricate musicianship heard in their later work, Schuldiner needed the right musicians for Death's evolution.
1 2 Gibson, Caren (March 3, 2017). "Best Death Metal Bands: 20 Essential Groups". uDiscoverMusic. Retrieved October 24, 2020. Mainman Chuck Schuldiner died in 2001, aged 34, but he left behind a legacy that inspired an entire genre.
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