Name: Charles Michael Schuldiner
Born/Died: 13th May, 1967 (Glen Cove, New York, USA) - 13th December, 2001
Profile: He was an American singer, songwriter, rhythm and lead guitarist for the heavy metal band "Death" and musical genre innovator.
History: He started playing guitar 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", which he didn't like very much, 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, he first played in public in his early teens.
In 1983, Schuldiner formed "Death",initially under the name Mantas when he was 16 years old. He is often referred to as 'The Father of Death Metal'. In 1986, he moved to Toronto and temporarily joined the Canadian band "Slaughter". However, he quickly returned to continue the formation of "Death".
In 1987, the band underwent many lineup changes, however with Chris Reifert he eventually released his first "Death" album, titled 'Scream Bloody Gore'. After 1990's 'Spiritual Healing' album, Schuldiner stopped working with full time band members and instead worked only with studio and live venue musicians due to 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 1993's 'Individual Thought Patterns', followed by 'Symbolic' in 1995, and finally 'The Sound of Perseverance' in 1998.
He folded "Death" after this to form a new band called "Control Denied", and released 'The Fragile Art of Existence' in 1999. Schuldiner also played guitar in the supergroup "Voodoocult" in 1994. Schuldiner was also asked to be one of the many guest vocalists on Dave Grohl's 2001 "Probot" project. 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.
Influences: Iron Maiden, Kiss, Billy Idol, Sortilège, Slayer, Possessed, Mercyful Fate/King Diamond, Metallica, Watchtower, Queensrÿche and Lush.
Axology: B.C. Rich Stealth model, BC Rich Mockingbird model, Axxtra guitar and Marshall Valvestate amplifiers
Signature song(s): Crystal Mountain - Death (Symbolic, 1995) and Spirit Crusher - Death (The Sound Of Perseverance, 1988)
Link(s):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuQLm93eZYo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5yTPs0P4S8
"Chuck Schuldiner was one of the most significant figures in the history of metal" - Kerrang! magazine
"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" - Chuck Schuldiner
No comments:
Post a Comment