IN MEMORY OF : CHUCK SCHULDINER (05/13/1967 - 12/13/2001)

He was born on May 13, of 1967, on Long Island of New York. He was the youngest of three children. He started to play guitar at his 9 and on his teen age he formed his first band, Mantas, with Kam Lee (drums/vocals) and Rick Rozz (guitars). The band recorded their first demo “Death By Metal” on 1984 and shortly after this, they changed their name to “Death”. After several changes to the line-up of the band and the recording of some more demos, they recorded the 1987’s “Mutilation” demo, which makes Combat Records to sign a contract with the band. It was on 1987 that the band released their debut album “Scream Bloody Gore”. A year later and after a complete change to band’s line-up, Death released one of the most influential albums for death metal genre, 1988’s “Leprosy”. On 1990, Death released their 3^rd full-length album, “Spiritual Healing”, and a new face of Chuck Schuldiner appeared. The gore lyrical theme was abandoned and a new social theme appeared. The music turned to be more progressive and complicated to structure, with many technical parts and many melodic too.

On 1990, and after some disputes into the band, Chuck expelled Terry Butler (bass) and Bill Andrews (drums) and decided to continue Death as his band with session musicians to come and go. It was then that Chuck earned the reputation of a “perfectionist” person, besides metal community. On 1991 “Human” album released, which was the breakthrough for the band, and the song “Lack Of Comprehension” was the first videoclip that they filmed. Until 1995 Chuck released (1993) “Individual Thought Patterns” and (1995) “Symbolic” albums and the parade of session musicians continued, with Gene Hoglan (drums), Sean Reinert (drums) and Andy La Rocque (guitars) to be some of them. Shortly after “Symbolic”, Chuck dissolved the band and begun to compose material for his new project Control Denied. Finally Chuck left aside for a while, the idea of Control Denied and he released another Death album on 1998, the “The Sound Of Perseverance” album. Some of the songs of the album was initially intended to be into Control’s Denied debut, but finally appeared to Death’s “swan song”. Finally Control Denied made their debut on 1999 with “The Fragile Art Of Existence”.

In May 1999, Schuldiner experienced pain in his upper neck, which he initially thought was a pinched nerve. On his birthday, May 13, 1999, Schuldiner was diagnosed 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.

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, his mother, 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. Schuldiner received a chemotherapy drug, 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.

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. Chuck with his departure, left behind a big treasure, his music, which will be eternally influential for everybody who will play death metal. Death metal as a genre is his spiritual child. The void of Chuck’s absence is huge, six years after his death. He paid homage to death, calling his band at the same name, but death took him next to him very early. Rest in peace, Chuck.