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THE BLUEPRINT |
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Chuck Schuldiner is readily
acknowledged as the true founder of the U.S. death metal scene and for
good reason. His original band Mantas, self-produced a demo called 'Death
By Metal', and it was a warning cry for what was to come. Slayer had touched
on death as subject matter but was intent on incorporating the speed element
in their music at all times. By contrast, Chuck decided to explore a form
of music that was loathed by the industry and barely had a foothold at
all in the U.S., but make it more diverse while still retaining the intensity.
There was more of a death movement taking hold abroad, however thanks
to Venom.
"If you listen to my early demos", Chuck told RIP, "you
can hear the Venom influence". Chuck only used his influences, which
also included more traditional interests like Kiss and classic metal,
as a launching pad to start his own sound. He inspired a myriad of bands
that would share his same surroundings in Florida as residence, the now
legendary Morrisound Studios and producer Scott Burns. The Death catalog
is a blue-print for the development of modern death metal, with each release
- Scream Bloody Gore (1987), Leprosy (1988), Spiritual Healing (1990),
Human (1991) and Individual Thought Patterns (1993) - reaching new listeners.
Chuck's influence on the scene caused respected journalist Mike Gitter
to confess in the pages of RIP in 1992: "Chuck Schuldiner has turned
Death's ugly disease into a ghastly art. The grunt of a generation. Death,
whose grungy bombast made Slayer seem hygienic by comparison. They're
the Led Zeppelin of death metal, with mainman Schuldiner as both Plant
and Page. He's the super-tuned-down, polyp-shredding, 24-year-old godfather
of the genre". Chuck has held fast his vision despite a parade of
musicians who passed through the band over many years. Many agree to join
or help Chuck out because of their reverence for what he helped establish.
"Making death metal is not about getting out of a limousine. It's
crucial to stay down to earth to get your message across", believes
Chuck. "I know some people will think I'm an angry person, because
of the nature of the music and the business, but I've learned to separate
two". When extreme forms of entertainment are criticized, it is generally
when someone tries to live out these horrific stories in real life instead
of appreciating the art form.
"I know the lyrics do effect people", Chuck admits, "and
as the band has advanced, I've tried to sing more about reality and be
more understandable sonically. I want to stay fresh and be able to keep
growing".
"When the death bands started out, a lot of bands got screwed and
that really bothered me. Music is such a big part of my life and many
other people's lives that to see good bands brought down really bothers
me. It took us three years between the last two albums and that was too
a long time. It definitely inspired some of the new lyrics". Certainly
the legacy of death metal would be nowhere near what is today without
the genius singing, songwriting, guitar playing and fertile imagination
of Chuck Schuldiner. Every album that Death has birthed has been another
step forward for the entire genre.
