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In Memorium: Chuck Schuldiner
Stardate: 07 December 2005
In six days, it will have been four years since "Evil" Chuck Schuldiner was raped from life and death metal. It is still hard to believe that just four years ago, someone with so much left to
offer to the world of music was taken away so suddenly. For those who are unaware, Chuck was diagnosed with pontine glioma, a form of brain cancer in 1998... and Chuck was fighting it and he
was getting better. He was a pure musician until the very end as he was putting in long hours of work on the sophomore album from CONTROL DENIED, a progressive metal project Chuck was just
getting off the ground with Shannon Hamm, Richard Christy, Steve Digiorgio and Tim Aymar. Man versus Machine was/is the working title for the follow-up to The Fragile Art of Existence, and there
has been constant battles between Jane Schuldiner (Chuck's mom) and the record label over whether to finish Man versus Machine. Thus far, only demos from the sessions were unleashed by the
record label for two Chuck S chuldiner compilation albums.
Chuck strived for perfection in his music, and even his mother could testify that there would be several times that she would comment how good the new music was, but Chuck wasn't satisfied
. Whether it was with the CONTROL DENIED or DEATH records, it was always evident that Chuck made sure that every single note, tuning, riff, solo, drum beat, bass line and tempo was nothing short of perfect.
The best part about Chuck Schuldiner's music was that it was always evolving. DEATH's debut (and what is considered the first death metal album), Scream Bloody Gore, was a blueprint for the
genre that Chuck defined and was sheer brutality and speed that would make SLAYER quiver. Leprosy and Spiritual Healing are also two classic death metal albums, and both Human and Individual
Thought Patterns hinted that DEATH 's music was headed into a more complex and progressive direction. Symbolic, which may be one of DEATH's best records, emerged head-on as a complex and
progressive death metal album, with much of the typical "death grunting" practically gone from the equation. Sound of Perseverance, which is up on the same pedestal as Symbolic, was
perhaps Chuck's most accomplished work... and the progressive metal direction was only taken a step further with the addition of progressive rock nut Shannon Hamm.
The evolution of style from Scream Bloody Gore to Sound of Perseverance is amazing, and yet Chuck never compromised his music for fame, money and/or radio, and that is something very
rare nowadays. Most artists (with METALLICA being a prime example), evolve to the point where they are not even the same band that they were years and years ago, but Chuck never
compromised. Soon after the supporting tour for the Sound of Perseverance album, CONTROL DENIED produced The Fragile Art of Existence, which featured Chuck being a part of a guitar duo
rather than handle vocal duties at the same time.
Many have made comparisons between Mozart and Chuck, and perhaps Chuck was the modern day Mozart, but he is also criminally underrated and unappreciated. Hit Parader recently
published an article entitled "The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists", and Chuck was not included in the list, yet several non-metal guitarists (i.e. Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dean DeLeo, et.
al) were included. Additionally, it's rare to find a magazine and/or a webzine mention and remember Chuck Schuldiner. Why is it that a musician who strived for perfection and defined a genre of metal
is constantly overlooked, underrated, underappreciated and seemingly forgotten about?
It sickens me that in six days, only a select group of people will be remembering Chuck Schuldiner. Chuck deserves more recognition, praise and appreciation than what he has received, and I myself
will do what I can to make sure that he is not forgotten or overlooked. This editorial is a prime example of my mission to remember and spread the music of Chuck Schuldiner, and if this
initiates the curiosity of a few readers to look into DEATH and CONTROL DENIED, then I am already doing what I feel needs to be done.
Chuck: your music, spirit and inspiration is eternal. No matter how many magazines, radio stations, newspapers and "true metal" webzines overlook you, UNCHAIN THE UNDERGROUND and myself
will never produce a shoulder of ignorance to your legacy and memory. In your words:
The answer can not be found in the writings of others or the words of a trained mind.
- Dave Larmore
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