Chuck Schuldiner

Chuck Schuldiner

Charles Michael "Chuck" Schuldiner (May 13 1967, Long Island, New York – December 13 2001) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and genre innovator.

Schuldiner was the singer, rhythm / lead guitar player, and songwriter of the band Death, which he founded in 1983 as Mantas. He is often referred to as "The Father of Death Metal", and his obituary in the January 5, 2002 issue of UK's Kerrang! magazine stated that "Chuck Schuldiner was one of the most significant figures in the history of metal". Schuldiner himself was modest, noting "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".

Biography

Early life

Chuck Schuldiner was born on May 13 1967 on Long Island, New York to a Jewish father of Austrian descent and a mother from the American South, a convert to Judaism; both his parents were teachers. In 1968, his family moved to Florida. Schuldiner was the youngest of three children. He had an older brother named Frank and an older sister named Bethann.

Schuldiner started playing at the age of 9. His 16 year old brother had just been killed in an accident and his parents bought him a guitar, thinking it would help with his grief. He took classical lessons for less than a year in which his teacher taught him "Mary had a little Lamb", did not like it,and almost stopped completely, until his parents saw an electric guitar at a yard sale and bought it for him. The young Schuldiner immediately took to the instrument. After getting amps, he never stopped playing, writing and teaching himself. Schuldiner was known to spend the weekend in the garage or his room playing his guitar, but was limited to three hours on weekdays when school was in session. Schuldiner first played in public in his early teens.

Schuldiner was originally inspired by Iron Maiden, Kiss and Billy Idol, among others. He was particularly interested in the metal movement known as NWOBHM and cited bands of that genre among his favorites, He frequently cited French band Sortilège as his personal favorite metal group[2]. Slayer, Possessed, Mercyful Fate/King Diamond and Metallica were later influences he would apply more to his own band. Later in his career Schuldiner cited progressive metal bands such as Watchtower and Queensrÿche frequently as influences. Chuck's mother claims that he enjoyed all forms of music except country and rap. He also apparently particularly enjoyed jazz and classical music in addition to metal and British alternative acts such as Lush.

Although Schuldiner apparently did do well in school, it bored him and he eventually dropped out. He did regret this later, however[3].

Musical career

Schuldiner formed Death as Mantas in 1983. Original members were Schuldiner (guitar), Rick Rozz (guitar) and Kam Lee (drums and vocals).

In January 1986 Schuldiner moved to Toronto and temporarily joined the Canadian band Slaughter on guitar. However, he quickly returned to continue the formation of Death.

There were several lineup changes, however with Chris Reifert he eventually released his first Death album, titled Scream Bloody Gore, in 1987. He continued with 1988's Leprosy with the line-up of former Mantas guitarist Rick Rozz and rhythm section Terry Butler on bass and Bill Andrews on drums, and 1990s Spiritual Healing, where guitarist James Murphy had replaced the fired Rozz.

After Spiritual..., Schuldiner stopped working with full band members and now worked only with studio and live venue musicians after bad relationships with Death's previous rhythm section and guitarists. This earned Schuldiner something of a 'perfectionist' reputation in the metal community.

Death's breakthrough album, Human saw the band evolving to a more technical and progressive style, in which Schuldiner displayed his guitar skills more than ever. He continued in this style (and continued the success of the band) with 1993s Individual Thought Patterns, 1995s Symbolic, and finally The Sound of Perseverance in 1998.

Schuldiner played guitar in the project Voodoocult on the album Jesus Killing Machine in 1994.

Schuldiner folded Death after this to form a new band called Control Denied, and released The Fragile Art of Existence in 1999.

Schuldiner was also asked to be one of the many guest vocalists on Dave Grohl's 2001 Probot project by Grohl himself. Grohl even campaigned to raise funds to help Schuldiner pay medical bills for the brain cancer that would eventually take his life. Schuldiner succumbed to the disease before any collaboration could happen. Grohl, in tears, in an interview over Schuldiner's death, said that "Chuck died for making the right decisions in life. That's just... that's just not fair."

Battle with cancer

In May 1999, Schuldiner experienced pain in his upper neck, which he initially thought was a pinched nerve. He consulted with a chiropractor followed by a massage therapist/acupuncturist who recommended an MRI Exam. He was correct about the pinched nerve; unfortunately, it was being caused by a tumor. On his birthday, May 13 1999, Schuldiner was diagnosed with pontine glioma, a type of brain cancer that invades the brain stem and immediately underwent radiation therapy.

In October 1999, Schuldiner’s family announced that the tumor had necrotized and that he was on the way to recovery. In January 2000, Schuldiner underwent surgery to remove what remained of his tumor. The operation was a success, however, the Schuldiner family was struggling financially. The total costs of the operations would come to $70,000, a price the Schuldiner family could not afford. Many fundraisers, auctions, and benefit concerts took place to help cover the costs. The money began to come in as the metal community, in total shock, realized that Schuldiner's life was in danger. The metal community and the Schuldiner family showed deep concern because Schuldiner could lose his life due to lack of funds. The doctors who removed his tumor called the original diagnosis of pontine glioma a misdiagnosis.

Schuldiner continued to work on his music, continuing his work with Control Denied. About two years after his original diagnosis, in May 2001, the cancer returned and Schuldiner fell ill again. He was originally denied surgery (which he needed immediately) due to lack of funds. A press release called for support from everyone, including fellow artists. Jane Schuldiner urged all who read the statements about Schuldiner and his illness to go out and get insurance, showing her frustration in the American system. Schuldiner had gotten medical insurance after his first surgery, but the insurer had refused to pay because the tumor existed before he had gotten the insurance. Many artists, including Kid Rock, Korn and Red Hot Chili Peppers, got together in Summer 2001 to auction off personal items with the funds assisting Schuldiner's medical expenses. This was covered by MTV. Schuldiner received a chemotherapy drug called vincristine to help with his therapy. Like most drugs used in the treatment of cancer, the side effects were harsh and weakened Chuck greatly. Undaunted, Schuldiner fought on. In late October/early November, Schuldiner became ill with pneumonia. He died on December 13 2001, at approximately 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Legacy

His mother, Jane Schuldiner, handles his legacy. She frequently interacts with Schuldiner's fans and has stated many times that she enjoys his music. Schuldiner's sister Beth seems to keep track of his recordings. Beth has a son named Christopher, who also plays guitar and has all of Schuldiner's guitars except his first one, which his mother keeps. BC Rich also released a statement in their 2008 catalog stating that Chuck's signature model Stealth will be available for purchase.

Although Schuldiner never married or had children, he dated a woman named Kim for several years, his second long-term relationship.

Despite his passing, his legacy lives on through his fans and his recordings. However, a legal battle is in progress on the settlement of the rights to the partially completed second Control Denied album. Part of these incomplete recordings were released in the Zero Tolerance two-part compilation of Death's early demos.

Tribute concerts continue to go on till this day for his legacy, often times coordinated or funded by his mother and family. The most recent of these was in December of 2007. More recently, former Death guitarist (and brain cancer survivor) James Murphy is announcing he will release a Chuck Schuldiner tribute album to commemorate his lasting mark on the metal community. Chuck's family is giving all their support towards Murphy's efforts.

Religion

Although his parents were both Jewish, Schuldiner was raised in an irreligious home and he did not go through any formal religious training. In the documentary, "666 At Calling Death", he was asked whether Satanism was a part of his music. He replied, "Not at all. I really don't want to involve any type of religious theme in our music. I think that's more of a personal thing. Yeah, I'm not a satanist and I definitely don't put that into our music. No purpose. I was really young when the band first started out. I was never really into writing satanic lyrics at all, personally. We did write gore lyrics, but it was more like kind of tongue-in-cheek, horror-movie type level. Nothing... Encouraging people to go out and hurt themselves or anything stupid like that. It's pure fantasy-movie type, scary stuff. And then, I just really got into writing about reality, which is what we all have to deal with."

Despite creating the original Death logo, he later changed the inverted cross 't' to a neutral one precisely so fans and critics would not link the band with anything 'evil'.

Discography

With Death

• 1987: Scream Bloody Gore (CD) - Combat
• 1988: Leprosy - Combat
• 1990: Spiritual Healing - Combat
• 1991: Human - Relativity
• 1992: Fate: The Best of Death (best of) - Relativity
• 1993: Individual Thought Patterns - Relativity
• 1995: Symbolic - Roadrunner Records
• 1998: The Sound of Perseverance - Nuclear Blast
• 2001: Live in L.A. (Death & Raw) (live) - Nuclear Blast
• 2001: Live in Eindhoven (live) - Nuclear Blast
• 2006: Sound of Perseverance - Deluxe Edition - Nuclear Blast

With Control Denied

• 1999: The Fragile Art of Existence

As Chuck Schuldiner

• 2004: Zero Tolerance (compilation)

With Voodoocult

• 1994: Killer Patrol Single
• 1994: Metallized Kids Single
• 1994: Jesus Killing Machine Full-length
• 1995: When You Live As A Boy Single
• 1995: Voodoocult Full-length

Equipment

Schuldiner's primary guitar throughout most of his career was the B.C. Rich Stealth model, an extremely rare model available only through the BC Rich custom shop until 2008, when it is due to be released to the public. Prior to this, he used a BC Rich Mockingbird. Most of Schuldiner's sound came from a DiMarzio X2N pickup placed in the bridge. During the (In)Human Tour of the World (1991-92), Schuldiner briefly endorsed a small Wisconsin custom guitar company called Axxtra, who worked with him on designs, though he still insisted on using his BC Rich during filming of the Lack of Comprehension video in September 1991 in Orlando.

The amp he used towards the end of his career was a Marshall Valvestate (Model 8100) amp head and Valvestate 4x12 speaker cabinets, although in many pictures, and in many live videos, Chuck can be seen using Marshall 1960 cabs. Before that he used various equipment including Randall Amps and cabinets, and on the (In)Human Tour of the World he used a small GK 250ML miked up, despite having hollow 4x12 stacks 'for show'.

Playing Style

Schuldiner is known for his unique playing style. Techniques most frequently utilized by Schuldiner included his extremely fast and accurate alternate picking technique and his somewhat off-the-wall legato style. Schuldiner did occasionally utilize techniques such as sweep picking and string skipping as well, and he was an accomplished two hand tapper (as evidenced by the tap intro to "The Philosopher"). He also utilized vibratos a lot later in his career, to possibly give the music more feeling and depth, a quality he is [unfortunately] not so often recognized for.

Contrary to what many assumed, Schuldiner was in fact not well schooled in musical theory. He found "playing by ear" to be a more effective and advisable method. Schuldiner did "make up" his own scales and modes (many of which ended up being real scales, such as harmonic minor and melodic minor) which Schuldiner frequently utilized in his solos, a testament to his excellent ear. This also led him to create his odd fingering positions which very much defined his style.

Schuldiner tended to use more theorized guitarists for his counterparts in Death, including James Murphy, Paul Masvidal, Andy LaRocque, Bobby Koelbe and Shannon Hamm, this made an interesting contrast between his more unconventional style. Arguably the guitarist Schuldiner clicked best with was Shannon Hamm, as on his work with him on Deaths Sound of Perseverance as well as on Control Denied's The Fragile Art of Exsistance, there were many harmonies and naturally layered guitar lines between the two.

Source

• The source for much of this material is Emptywords.org, as well as Schuldiner's former manager and various online sources and articles. Permission granted is under the condition that Emptywords.org is cited as the source of the material if it originated there. Material is to be used specifically for the development of the biography of Chuck Schuldiner/Death/Control Denied on Wikipedia.org. A copy of this specific copyright release has been posted on the discussion page for this wiki.