"With each album, from 1987 debut Scream Bloody Gore to their 1998 swansong The Sound of Perseverance, Schuldiner and Co. delivered songs that not only defined the genre, but helped push it into its most progressive and exciting realms."
"Each of Death's seven studio albums can be seen as both a fully-realized milestone in metal history, and a transition point leading into a future few could envision at the time."
"Death were always a couple of steps ahead of the game and audibly, thrillingly devoted to pushing extreme metal into uncharted territory."
These are just some of the words to describe American death metal band Death, who are cited as one of the most influental metal bands in history and probably the single most important band in death metal. But who were Death? Let's find out.
Death are my personal favorite band, but before we go into why I love them first we should see why the world loves them. Death was founded around 1983 under the name Mantas. They released a couple of demos, most notibly Death by Metal. The band consisted of Chuck Schuldiner, Kam Lee and Rick Rozz but disbanded in 1984 when Chuck started Death with the same lineup. Death would release many demos and rehealsal tapes. Both Rozz and Lee would leave the band and Chuck would be approached by Combat Records. After moving San Francisco Chuck would recruit former D.R.I. drummer Eric Brecht and guitarist turned bassist Erik Meade. After returning to Florida and briefly playing with the Canadian band Slaughter, Chuck focused once again on Death. The result would become one of the most influential extreme metal albums ever recorded.
Scream Bloody Gore was released in 1987 and released through Combat Records. It's 37 minutes long and is often considered a template for death metal alongside Possessed's Seven Churches, though fans argue to this day which band invented the genre. Me personally, while i love Death to, well, death, Possessed should definetly take credit for their invention of the subgenre. The album sounds like it was recorded in the album cover room, the vocals are violent and the intrumetnts are primitive sounding, enough to bash your head in. The album has 10 tracks whose lyrics talk about zombies sacraficing, ripping and fucking people apart with many being inspired by horror movies. The album would quickly put Death on the map. My personal favorite track: Zombie Ritual
Leprosy was released in august of 1988. The line up had a change this time around, as would become normal with every Death album moving forward. Rick Rozz played guitar and drummer Bill Andrews. The album consists of 8 songs and the lyrics this time around are a bit diffrent than the usual gore-fest the previous album set. This time around the lyrics deal with war, an open casket funeral, the pain of leprosy and being forced to live on life support. The instrumental isn't very techical but not as primal either, making it a perfect middle ground. Many perfer this album to SBG and consider it one of the greatest death metal albums of all time. It's also the only album cover to be pink and fucking rule!!! My favorite track: Pull the Plug
Rick Rozz was fired in 1989 and was replaced by James Murphy. The band recorded their third album in 1989 and released it in february 1990. The album is 8 songs long and is considered one of their more techical releases. Chuck delivers some great death growls, probably the best in the discography. It is also the first album to start shifting away a bit from death metal, instead stepping into progressive territorry a bit but never losing it's blood soaked roots. The album cover is a bright blue and shows a mentally ill person surrounded by members of a mega-church who are using him for money while preaching "the good word". The lyrics are some of the most direct in the discography, dealing with the topics of drug abuse during pregnancy, abortion, mental disorders and corrupt religon. It is their last album to be released through Combat records. My favorite track: Living Monstrosity
Human was released through Relativity Records in october of 1991, with an entire new lineup (not including Chuck). Cynic guitarist Paul Masvidal and drummer Sean Reinert and Sadus bassist Steve Di Giorgio. This album is considered both a landmark in Death's discography and technical death metal. Despite being a very short album (34 minutes) with only 8 songs it is an absolute beheamoth of a record. The album has many hard hitting, complex and sometimes beutiful songs and no member gives off a wonderful performance, with complex melodies, hooks and grooves. The lyrics deal with philosphy, human suffering, and betreyal. The bonus track "God of Thunder" is a Kiss cover. My favorite track: Suicide Machine, though its a close tie between that and Together as One
After a tour in Europe Chuck recruitet Gene Holgan of Dark Angel and Andy LaRocque of King Diamond as well as inviting Di Giorgio back to record the next album. The album was a step up from technical death metal and towards progressive metal which the band would largley embrace in the next 2 albums. Chuck hoped the album takes metal to a new level. The album is noted not to be as brutal as the usual death metal release at the time. Chuck additionally said he wanted to show "guitars dont have to be tuned down super low to be heavy" and "progression makes music exciting". Lead guitar duties were split between Chuck and LaRocque who allegedlly showed up to the studio largley unprepared, improvised the solos and impressed everyone. Di Giorgio plays fretless bass this time around. The lyrics are very critical of the music industry, but also criticise the false guidance of others. My favorite track: The Philospher, Mentally Blind
Symbolic is considered by many to be one of the greatest metal albums of all time and frequently makes it's way onto top 10 lists, be it death metal, prog, technical or metal in general. It is the only album to feature Bobby Koelble and Kelly Conlon, and last album to feature Gene Holgan. It was Death's longest album at the time, only being dethroaned by a few minutes by The Sound of Perserverance. The album was recorded at Morrisound Recordings in Tampa, Florida. The album is a perfect mix of melody and brutality and is considered their most melodic album. This album continued Chucks shift from deep to more pitched and screechy vocals. The 9 songs talk about mass surveliance, bigoted religon, worldview of animals and nostaliga. The surreall yet beautiful cover art depicts a giant eye (often interpanted as God) and two people (most likey Adam and Eve) being embraced by tentacles. My favorite tracks: Crystal Mountain, Symbolic Acts, Sacred Serenity
Before the recording of the album Chuck had broken up the band due to tensions he had with Roadrunner Records and started focusing on his prog. band Control Denied who he released one album with The Fragile Art of Existance in 1999. Despite this the new label he signed to demanded another Death album before he could release one with Control Denied. Several songs from TFAOE were released on TSOP The album came out in august of 1998 and is easily Death's most complex album, with mind bending instrumentals, philosphical lyrics, screeching vocals. Most tracks are over 5 minutes long and if we catagorize it as simply death metal, then it is easily the most complex death metal album of all time. The songs are all filled with raw emotion, with lyrics discussing inner struggles, betrayal and negative people. The instrumental track Voice of the Soul is considered by many to be one of the saddest and most haunting metal songs of all time. The final track is a Judas Priest cover. The cover art, depicting a mountain screaming, was redrawn for the 2010 re-issue. My favorite track: Bite the Pain
After TSOP Death was put aside, but Chuck never explicitly confirmed the band had broken up. As the album for Control Denied was finished Chuck was diagnosed with brain cancer. Despite the second album being finished his condition worsened. On december 13th 2001 Chuck was released from the hospital and arrived home. An hour later he died. His funeral was attended by many musicians including Dimebag Darrel of Pantera, Glen Benton of Deicide, Trey Azagthoth of Morbid Angel and many more. The band disbanded after that. Since then Death's albums have been remastered and re-issued many times and many tribute bands have came out trying to honor the legacy of the band including Left to Die which re-record early Mantas demos in higher quality, Death to All and Human. Death have also been cited as inspiration for countless musicians for decades, such as Opeth, Gojira, Blood Incantation and many more.
Now, why do i like Death? Well, before listening to them i didnt really like death metal. I always associated it with extremly deep and unpleasant vocals, gross album covers and low tuned guitars. However i saw Death's logo once and thought it was one of the coolest logos i've seen, and while i wasn't initially happy to learn they're death metal i still gave Spiritual Healiing a listen and i really enjoyed it. I then listened to Human and realised how deep the lyrics are, that they're much more than just murder and gore. Since then i've listened to all of their albums, bought merch, cd's and put them as my number 1 favorite band. Death, to me, is a personal band who define what death metal is, but more immportantly what it could be. If only i could have seen them live, even once, but some things were never meant to be. I think Chuck Schuldiner is a mastermind of songwriting, lyricsm and guitar. However nobody is perfect, and at the end of the day, we're all... Human.
The band during the TSOP era
Death in 1989
Chuck and a good dog celebrating Christmas
A bench made in Chuck's honor
The Spiritual Healing lineup, as shown on the back of the CD case
Chuck circa 1992
Death performind in Clevland circa 1991