SickDrummer.com, Perseverance Holdings and our friends at Relapse Records are among the sponsors of the DEATH TO ALL TOUR which kicks off tonight in that most metal of cities San Francisco, CA. The tour celebrates the life and music of CHUCK SCHULDINER of DEATH. With DEATH and later CONTROL DENIED Chuck blazed an innovative trail in music and has been followed by nearly every death metal that followed in his shadow. This is not an exaggeration, but widely acknowledged and not just by his peers and loved ones, but by many bands both from yesterday and the present. Performing music from a career spanning set list with be an all-star group of Chuck’s former band mates and giants of death metal like GENE HOGLAN (Individual Thought Patterns/Symbolic), SEAN REINERT (Human), STEVE DIGIORGIO (Human/Individual Thought Patterns), Scott Clendenin (The Sound of Perseverance), PAUL MASVIDAL (Human), Shannon Hamm (The Sound of Perseverance), and Bobby Koelble (Symbolic). Handling vocal duties will be by Steffen Kummerer of OBSCURA and Charles Elliott of ABYSMAL DAWN/BEREFT who are both greatly influenced by Chuck. Some of the guest artists who will join certain shows are RICHARD CHRISTY of CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED (ex-DEATH), Alex Skolnick and Chuck Billy of TESTAMENT, Paul Ryan of ORIGIN, Craig Locicero of FORBIDDEN, Travis Ryan of CATTLE DECAPITATION,Trevor Strnad and Ryan Knight of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER and Emil Werstler of DAATH/CHIMAIRA. GORGUTS will open most of the shows.
Not only will this be a celebration of Chuck’s life, but will help make a lasting impression for the future at every show. Each night is a benefit show to raise awareness for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund which provides support to career musicians in need of support while facing illness, disability or age related issues. This cause hits especially close to home for Chuck’s family and friends and one he’d gladly support. Please come out to this rare opportunity to pay tribute to a legend, see an amazing collection of talent and hear some songs that haven’t been performed anywhere since DEATH was active as a band. Please come out to support this tour and support live music, especially underground bands.
DEATH TO ALL 2012 TOUR DATES:
6/22/2012 – The Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, CA
6/23/2012 – House of Blues – Los Angeles, CA
6/26/2012 – House of Blues – Chicago, IL
6/28/2012 – Irving Plaza – NYC, NY
6/30/2012 – The Beacham – Orlando, FL
*Postponed until 2013* 7/01/2012 – The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
*Postponed until 2013* 7/03/2012 – House of Blues – Dallas, TX
A while back we caught up with metal drumming legend Richard Christy to discus his band CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED, his lengthy career in metal and of course to reminisce about his time with CHUCK SCHULDINER and DEATH. Richard was really down to earth, gracious and humble. He deflected most credit or praise about himself and instead talked up his peers and band mates. Since CWOTD is playing The ORION Music And More Festival this weekend and the Death To All Tour also kicks off today, we thought it was a good time to share this lengthy chat.
MAA: At what point of making the first record did you know you would do a follow up?
RC: As soon as we were mixing the first album I started writing music for the next one. I always knew we were gonna do several albums. This was something I came into this as a long term project. I didn’t wanna do just 1 album and that be it. It’s something I believe in and I love jamming with Tim, Steve & Jason. Its really something I looked at as a long term thing and also Metal Blade was really excited about us doing several albums with them so as soon as we finished mixing the first one, cause I was so inspired by the process of the first album with how well it turned out, so I jumped right into it. I knew by writing that early into the process while mixing the first album, I knew I’d have plenty of time to write something better and more epic then the first album.
MAA: Did you set out to write a more musically challenging second record??
RC: Well I definitely knew I wanted it to be longer, cause that was one of the only complaints I heard about it the first album. They loved it but it was very short, they were bummed out there wasn’t more music. Which is a good thing! It kind of left them wanting more. But this time I wanted people to have plenty of music where they couldn’t say ‘oh, it finished before I was ready for it to’ so I wanted to make sure it was a much longer album, but at the same time make sure the songs were really good. We weren’t putting in music just for the sake of it being a longer album. I wanted to make sure that we did it right and luckily, because of me writing the music while mixing the first album as I did, we had plenty of time and everything flowed really well.
MAA: What is the difference between Jason Suecof the producer versus Jason Suecof the band mate?
RC: He was the first person I called to be in this band. I’ve know him since ’99 and we’ve been jamming together ever since we met. Actually we’ve been writing music together right around that time he was building his studio as well. I know how amazing of a musician he is in addition to being an amazing producer and I was excited that now here’s a band that he can play guitar AND produce! People get to hear what a shredder he is and he has got such an amazing ear for music I really excited he’s a well known producer now. I always knew there was something special about him his a really talented guy. He’s a massive part of the sound of this band.
MAA: Are their any modern metal drummers you appreciate and follow?
RC: Absolutely!The drummer for JOB FOR A COWBOY (Jon Rice) is incredible! The drummer for THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER (Shannon Lucas) is amazing! There’s so many great drummers these days and it’s amazing that drummers are still pushing the boundaries of what drumming can do. George Kollias from NILE is one of my all-time favorite drummers and when you watch him, it doesn’t even seem humanly possible some of the stuff he’s playing. I remember meeting him when he was a young kid when DEATH played Greece and now he’s an incredible drummer. It’s inspiring to see how far he has come and there’s also a lot of drummers I admired growing up that are still incredible like Dave Lombardo & Charlie Benante. I saw The Big 4 show at Yankee Stadium and they were just amazing! There are so many great drummers still doing it. Mikkey Dee is still amazing in MOTORHEAD and a lot of the drummers at the Drummers’ Collective where I rehearse. I’ll walk by a room and hear a drummer shredding and I almost wanna go in and ask them who they are and what they do, but I don’t wanna interrupt them. (laughs) It’s really cool to see younger drummers being influenced by people like Pete Sandoval (MORBID ANGEL) and people who also influenced me.
MAA: I was at The Big Four too. I think Charlie Benante just keeps getting better!
RC: Dave Lombardo too! He did the “Angel of Death” drum solo and added this really cool snare thing that blew me away! It’s 10 or 15 seconds longer than on the album. He did this thing with the kick and the snare (imitates the sound of a complicated drum fill) that blew me away. It’s cool and inspiring that no matter how long you’ve been at it, you can still improve and get better. So watching guys like him and Charlie Benante, that inspires me.
MAA: You did limited touring on the first album. Any chance we will see the band hit the road more to support the new album?
RC: Yeah, were in talks to do some shows this year and hopefully we can make everyone’s schedule work! It is tough and I totally understand that. That was one of the things I took into account when I formed this band. I didn’t want one or two members of the band waiting around for everyone else to do something. I choose guys that have jobs and are as busy as I am. So we totally understand that if someone has some kind of scheduling thing where they do a show or tour. Hopefully we’ll have some announcements very soon. Were talking about doing some festivals in the US and Europe and hopefully some in South America and Japan (Editor’s note: this interview took place before ORION Music Fest was announced). I’d be totally psyched if we could do a ton of shows!
MAA: What do you think of the DEATH reissues?
RC: I love them! The Human one is incredible! There’s a lot of stuff that Sean (Reinert) does on the remix that you couldn’t hear in the original mix. A lot of tom stuff that comes out, like in the chorus of “Flattening of Emotions”. I love that they’re (Relapse) re-issuing these albums, it just sounds amazing, especially the bass! I was glad they turned the bass up on Human! The bass is incredible on that album, but you can hardly hear it on the original mix. It’s cool that Jim Morris has went back and remixed those albums. They sounded incredible back then but now you can hear so much more of it, there’s way more textures in it.
Richard played on TSOP album and two live albums with DEATH.
MAA: Who is a better boss Chuck or HOWARD STERN?
RC: Oh, they’re both awesome bosses. Its an honor it be involved with two of my idols and you know, I can never really compare them. I mean Howard I’ve been a fan of since 1993 and Chuck I’ve been a fan of since 1990 when I first heard Spiritual Healing. I’m very fortunate to be involved in both and it’s two totally different spectrums. One is music and one is entertainment and so I’m very lucky that I’ve had both as bosses. I’d never be able to choose, I love them both. They’ve given me so many great opportunities and I’m very thankful.
MAA: Do you ever think about your legacy in the history of metal?
RC: I’m very honored to be have played in the bands I’ve played in and to have toured the world with like DEATH, ICED EARTH, DEMONS & WIZARDS and INCANTATION. I’m very lucky when I was in my 20′s I got to travel the world and see a lot of stuff and have fun and play a lot of big shows. It’s amazing when I think back, but at the same time I wanna keep looking forward and not settle on things I’ve done. I look at people like PAUL MCCARTNEY, who puts out new albums. He’s a guy who’s pretty much the most influential person in music ever, him and JOHN LENNON and he’s still writing music and putting out albums. He still loves it and he has the passion for it and he doesn’t settle on what he’s done. That’s kinda of how I look at it. I’m thankful for what I’ve done, but now I wanna keep doing more. With CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED, I’m lucky enough to be able to write the music and the lyrics and before I definitely had a say in what I was doing in the bands I was in before. For this band I’m able to even write the riffs and things like that. It’s a totally new thing for me and I’m really excited by it. I’m honored by all the bands I’ve ever played with. Everyone always asks me what my favorite drumming performance of mine is and its definitely The Sound of Perseverance by DEATH. I was practicing five hours a day when we recorded that album and I was at the top of my game. I don’t know that I’ll ever be that good again. So I look at the album, when somebody asks me what is my proudest moment in drumming and it is definitely that album.
Chuck was Richard’s best friend, a legend and a great cook!
MAA: Do you have any good Chuck stories to pass along?
RC: He was such an incredible person, he was my best friend. He had such a great sense of humor and people always want to hear a funny Chuck story. There’s so many stories I have of Chuck its hard to choose a favorite. I just love the stories of us just writing music and practicing at our rehearsal space in Orlando. There was this guy named Dave who owned the place, he was a big furry, harry guy. He would walk around in a robe with nothing under it and Chuck & I would just laugh every time we would see this guy. He lived at the rehearsal space where we rented. We’d go down and pay our rent and he’d be in this hot tub. (laughs) We’d go to Chuck’s after practice and Chuck was an amazing cook, and he also made homemade beer. He made some of the best beer that I’ve ever tasted. I have so many good memories of us doing that and watching Saturday Night Live, then listening to some vinyl albums. He had such a huge collection. We’d listen to amazing stuff like RIOT, IRON MAIDEN and WATCHTOWER. He was just a fun guy, he had an awesome sense of humor. He loved his family very much. I still stay in touch with his family. There’s just too many memories to whittle it down to one. He really was just the most talented musician I’ve ever met, he was my best friend and I miss him every day.
MAA: Thanks for sharing that!
RC: You’re welcome. He was really humble too. He was a metal fan as much as anything else. I remember us getting to meet KING DIAMOND in St. Petersberg, Florida years ago. We were such huge KING DIAMOND fans. Chuck had never met or seen KING DIAMOND before. I hadn’t met him either, although I saw MERCIFUL FATE live before. And Chuck knew Andy LaRocque, so he was gonna introduce us right before the show. I have an awesome picture of Me, Chuck, Andy and KING DIAMOND. I remember that night, it was so cool. Chuck was just as nervous as me to meet him. It was like two legends meeting for the first time and for me to be a part of it, it was amazing. There was another time we were going to play Italy for the first time. When Chuck walked off the bus there were like 200 kids waiting for DEATH to arrive. It was like THE BEATLES had showed up. Chuck thought it was really neat! Then we walked a couple of blocks to eat, these kids followed us and chanted Chucks name the whole way in the street. Then all these kids pressed their faces against the window of the restaurant. Chuck got a real kick out of that! He was a metal fan as much as he was a metal legend.
MAA: Thanks for being cool and thanks for your time!
RC: I’m just like every body else, I’m just a metal fan. I’m no different then anybody else, everybody is equal as far as I’m concerned.
Richard is rumored to be appearing at the New York date of the “Death To All” Tour on 6/28.
(Thanks to Richard Christy and Metal Blade Records.)
In honor of today’s day being 2/1/12 or “2112 Day” or “International RUSH Day” or “Progressive Rock Day” as some are calling it, Metal Army chatted with notable metal historian Jeff Wagner. Wagner is the author of 2010′s Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal (Bazillion Points). In addition to being an authority on all things prog, death metal and thrash Jeff was one of the leading editors of Metal Maniacs magazine from 1997 until 2001. In a wide ranging interview we recapped the origins of Jeff’s book, the roots of the genre, it’s historical importance as well as it’s future. What follows is an excerpt of a longer chat we had.
MAA: What led you to write Mean Deviation?
JW: Well from a practical standpoint it was a book that had not yet been written. We are seeing a lot of metal books now because metal has a long enough history to provide for a bunch of books, and provide a bunch of different views covering all the genres. A book on prog metal had not been written and I was a long time fan of metal. I was also a fan that tended to gravitate toward the weirder, more experimental, more progressive stuff. More avant garde stuff. I look at my record collection and one thing I can say about it is there is not a whole lot of stuff that sounds like other stuff. I have always gravitated toward progressive sounds. I like my bands to be similarly unique in and of themselves. I like EMERSON LAKE AND PALMER, but I don’t like bands that sounded like them. There were a lot of obscure prog bands that sound just like them and I didn’t find them interesting. It’s an originator thing. I why I like DREAM THEATER, but not bands that sound just like them. Actually I can’t think of one that I like who sounds just like them. (laughs)
MAA: Your book identifies a “big three” of the genre. How did the their arrival on the scene change the game?
JW: Both QUEENSRŸCHE and FATES WARNING showed up at the same time and wore their influences on their sleeves. And those influences were obviously IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST. They took that template and took it to some different and more nuanced areas. They messed around with more long-form song writing. FATES WARNING on their second album is writing ten minute songs. They further intellectualized their music to the point where you go from Rage for Order or Operation Mindcrime and on the FATES WARNING side Awaken The Guardian and No Exit. QUEENSRŸCHE had a more theatrical image. Then DREAM THEATER came a long in their wake and they made a different kind of amalgam of it. Not only have the same bands in common that FATES WARNING and QUEENSRŸCHE did, they took it in two other areas. First I hear an even more melodic KANSAS- type rock sounds and even a more AOR radio rock from the 70s. I even hear some JOURNEY in early DREAM THEATER. And they even made it heavier with palm muting and double-bass drumming and took it some places other bands didn’t go to so they ramped it up even more. That’s why these three bands made their mark. They style was familiar and easy to get into, but also they were it challenging.
A prog metal classic!
MAA: A lot of people think of Spiritual Healing by DEATH as the album when death metal crossed over with prog and became more malleable. But it was really before then, right?
JW: I think for one thing if you think about death metal, it is not easy to play. To the novices’ ear a lot of death metal sounds like garbage or noise. There is a built in tendency to already be a good musician to pull off really good death metal. If you are really conveying something truly brutal it’s a skill and an art. Not only do you have DEATH, but you have MORBID ANGEL. I don’t know how progressive you wanna say they are, but Tre Azagthoth. He was really virtuosic about his playing. I think POSSESSED toward the end of their output was really musical. There is something really intrinsically musical about death metal that it doesn’t get enough credit. And then with DEATH, even the album before Paul (Masvidal) and Sean (Reinert) came in they were going in that direction. Chuck was even singing in a way where you understood all of the vocals and didn’t need a lyric sheet. That was innovative too. (laughs) And then the Human album just blows the doors off of what could be done with the death metal form. There could be with Jazz influences and Fusion. They gave it a fluid, lyrical and melodic tendency, but it was also a really brutal album. It showed how much depth the music can have. I think the Human album has four of the best musicians that have ever on one album.
The "father of death metal" was also integral to bringing in a progressive influence to the genre.
MAA: I think it’s interesting where the original prog rock bands were influenced by Jazz and the modern bands found Jazz thought the back door of prog metal. What do you say to that?
JW: The way I look at prog metal is there is not really one sound and one style. There are bands that have nothing in common. Other than the fact that they are trying to move the form forward, they might have little in common. Some of them have their own unique vision and style that no other musician will quite have.
MAA: Who are some of the underground bands of the genre that the average fan might not know, but are essential.
JW: I think if you go into with the right mindset WATCHTOWER is a band that was important. They were there way early on. They were throwing in RUSH and Jazz influences in `84, 85. Not even FATES WARNING and QUEENSRŸCHE were not even doing yet. And then if you get up to their 1989 album Control and Resistance they were tightly honed, but a bizarre group of different things. I know for a lot of people, they aren’t anything to listen to. Ron Jarzombeck is getting a lot of attention now for BLOTTED SCIENCE, but he is a WATCHTOWER alumnus. And of course I’m gonna talk about VOIVOD. I know people are gonna roll their eyes at this if they know me at all and say “oh there goes Wagner talking about VOIVOD again”. They remain really underrated. Their first six or seven albums: Killing Technology through The Outer Limits they were constantly changing, growing by leaps and bounds, using new technology and exploring new production techniques. They are the textbook example of what a progressive metal band really is. I think for one album CELTIC FROST need to get mentioned. Just for the Into The Pandemonium album. It’s so eclectic and brave. They opened up with a new wave cover song. Later on it has beat box song. There was a soul song. You have gloomy opera-type doom songs, new wave, jazz weirdness, a doom song. Just a weird album.
MAA: A lot of people hated them for it. My friends all hated them after that.
JW: Oh yeah I know. Talk about splitting your fan-base! But it was so weird and out there I really loved it. I was so intrigued I had to love it. They really blew apart their fan-base and their career. WATCHTOWER, VOIVOD, CELTIC FROST and others. That is the thing about my book. I didn’t want to just talk about the popular bands and the avatars. I wanted to discuss who the underrated bands were.
The best prog metal band ever in my opinion. (Keefy)
MAA: What is your take on more recent bands like MASTODON and OPETH who have abandoned their heavier ways for prog? Also, what do you think of the backlash against them?
JW: I say more power to em! They proved that they can do this modern epic metal. They can be modern, be different. And they started off as a very different band. They followed their heart. I don’t care if you’re KISS or MASTODON, I don’t think any band owes anything to your fans in terms of where they go with their music. That is not to say they don’t love their fans. When those guys are writing new music, I mean who wants to hear the same old shit? (laughs) You can tell I feel strongly about this. OPETH could’ve come out with another Deliverance, another Ghost Reveries and another Watershed and it would have been very good. OPETH are so influenced by all these bands that really epitomized all of these prog rock bands. It was about time they made their prog album. I love it. Why would fans expect Mikael Akerfeldt to be boring and stay bored and do the same thing again. Compositionally it is one of his best records. I fully support those bands and what they do. It’s about wanting to be surprised and wonder what is around the next corner. It depends what kind of fan you are. If you like a band like OPETH, if you love MASTODON or OPETH you want what those bands do and are all about you want them to follow their hearts. And I was especially surprised at the OPETH fans because I thought they were more open minded. Allow these bands to do what artists do, let them change rather than be beholden to expectations.
MAA: How important is a band like RUSH and an album like 2112 to the music still being made today?
JW: I think hugely. For me when I sit in a dark room and listen to 2112 that is part of that experience for a guy like me or any fan that treasures the band. But the other thing about your question is: it’s huge because of the influence from a band like RUSH has had. They have influenced not just prog rock bands or prog metal fans. RUSH has influenced metal bands, death metal bands, grindcore bands and even indie rock bands and all other kinds of musicians. If you took a survey of bands from a wide outgrowth of all music, RUSH is a very important band. I think that ten or fifteen years ago they were a little more like a guilty pleasure for some people. Now it is okay to say you like RUSH now. Their influence is incredibly vast.
MAA: Looking back at the longevity of some of the bands that were around at the time when you joined Metal Maniacs, do you feel proud of the role the magazine helped play promoting metal bands to a wider audience?
JW: I was just a part of the Maniacs legacy and certainly all the magazine did was reflect the legacy of the music itself. I am amazed and sure I’m proud. When I started at Maniacs it was 1997. I felt like I was down in the trenches. It was one of the first times in metal’s history a lot of people thought it was dead and it didn’t have a lot of juice anymore. We all knew different at the time. It is pretty incredible. Especially when you are seeing demos and re-issues of albums that are selling really well, being sold and repackaged. Metal now in 2012, it just has a longevity that shows it will never die. Even if no new music came out, there is so much from what has come before this music will never die. It’s history is kind of staggering. For guys like me that have been with the music for a long time, we do feel proud that we have come through the other side. It’s legitimate and here to stay. Not to sound really cliche’. It is part of popular culture.
Ten years ago today saw the passing of a metal legend. Chuck Schuldiner – guitarist, singer, and composer for the bands DEATH and CONTROL DENIED. Known to many as the “Father of Death Metal”, Schuldiner’s lightning-fast guitar playing, influential vocal style, and definitive brutal-melodic songwriting served as a blueprint for death metal, and inspired many artists both in and outside the genre. Without Chuck, where would extreme metal be today?
DEATH has something for everyone. From the raw, original noise of Scream Bloody Gore, to the massively popular melodic tunes of Symbolic – Chuck’s legacy remains relevant and inspiring through the ages. The Florida native was unique among stars of the genre, in that he was a self-proclaimed “lover of life”, with an all-around positive attitude until the day of his death(which was, unfortunately, due to pneumonia while in a weakened state after radiation therapy for a brain tumor).
The music (and the cat sweater) lives on. In honor of “Evil Chuck”, take a moment of silence… then put on your favorite DEATH(or CONTROL DENIED!) record, practice guitar for 3 hours, and thank the gods of metal for granting us the all-too brief life and brilliance of Mr. Charles Schuldiner.
Personal opinions tend to vary greatly when it comes to deciding upon a creative apex for the work of Chuck Schuldiner and Death. While the legacy, lasting effects and impact of Schuldiner’s work for the death metal genre-effectively blurring the borders of what extreme metal musicians can achieve when incorporating a progressive mindset into the framework-remain unchallenged, all of us possess our own preferences when it comes to the man’s body of music.
Yours truly offers up two very diverse selections when it comes to personal favorites: Death’s charmingly raw and unerringly brutal 1987 debut Scream Bloody Gore and this, musically mindblowing ’93 LP, the massive Individual Thought Patterns. Featuring the legendary Gene Hoglan behind the kit, fat string wizard Steve DiGiorgio on the bass and King Diamond’s main axeman Andy LaRoque, Individual Thought Patterns sit snugly in the middle between its compatriot tech-metal juggernauts Symbolic and Human, offering up mature songwriting sensibility alongside Schuldiner’s almost effortless knack for rhythmically punishing metal.
To be honest, the decision process between Individual Thought Patterns, Symbolic and Human basically comes down to the question of which flavor ice cream one enjoys: in other words, there isn’t really a wrong answer. Individual Thought Patterns features a memorable set of songs, however-”Jealousy,” “Trapped In a Corner” and “Overactive Imagination” serving as certifiable highlights, alongside album closing classic “The Philosopher,” a song yours truly humbly covered in my own band back in the day-which eclipses the comparatively more sterile nature of Symbolic, while also coming across as a bit warmer when compared to the clinical precision of Human.
Epically reissued by Relapse, the grooves of “Mentally Blind,” “Destiny” and “Nothing Is Not” can now be enjoyed by a whole new generation of tech-death wizards, here graced by a double disc presentation which also includes a bevy of live tracks and a studio outtake of “The Exorcist,” for good measure. Does all of this add up to ‘essential?’ You bet your ass it does.We still miss you, Chuck.
While not the mind-bending technical exercise which was 1998′s massive Obscura, this 2001 follow up has actually aged quite well, all the while symbolizing what was arguably a more balanced and focused Gorguts.
From Wisdom to Hate still utilized the band’s then-trademarked hyperactivity to a ‘T,” projecting an endless array of dizzying riff passages, scorching leads and the punishing drum work of sadly departed drummer Steve McDonald. In a way, Gorguts vocalist/guitarist Luc Lemay also served as a Canadian counterpart to Death’s Chuck Schuldiner, in the sense that both were possessed of high minded ideals of what could be made possible within the confines of death metal as a genre.
Whereas Obscura was angular and spiky to the core, From Wisdom to Hate smoothed out a bit of the un-listenable edges possessed by its predecessor, introducing a less chaotic songwriting core which focused-at least moderately-upon repetition and composition. The album was still righteously extreme and tech-death to the core, yet simultaneously opened up new horizons for the band which had, only year prior, debuted with such comparatively brutal beginnings on the Erosion of Sanity and Considered Dead albums.
Although this Deepsend reissue doesn’t contain anything in the form of bonus tracks, it’s good to hear From Wisdom to Hate again all these years later, and even more surprising to discover how much vital life the album still possess a decade later. Needless to say, fans of the current Necro-Faceless campaign of hyper-brutality would do well in checking out one of the albums which paved the genre’s way so many years ago.
Omision-In the Shadow of the Cross (Chaos Records)
Glaringly old school in their intent, Tijuana Mexico’s Omision declare war upon new jack death metal here with their In the Shadow of the Cross…although their arsenal may not exactly be up to snuff for proper defense quite yet.
Although the band have come armed with properly tremelo-picked riffs and vintage breakdown riffs-Chuck Schuldiner and Death style circa ’83-there remains something rough ’round the edges for Omision; a lack of real spark which lends their songs a certain unmemorable flavor.
While bangers weaned on Autopsy and Possessed might able to pick up what Omision is putting down, only the true diehards will be able to deal with the band’s lack of real originality or energy. If anything, fellow Mexicans The Chasm are a much more occult and proper sounding proposition when it comes to this sort of dyed-in-the-wool death; a trailblazer of whom bands such as Omision seem only too glad to follow.
While In the Shadow of the Cross is anything but trendy, the quality level here still speaks of a debut-level band who might want to go back to the demo drawing board before crawling out from the tomb for album number two.
There’s raw potential here, but that’s about it, really.
Though we all wish Evil Chuck was still with us, making his deathly music, if his band of un-merry metal madmen HAD to have a swansong, 1998′s The Sound of Perseverance was one of the highest notes on which to go out.
Even when this bad boy was released over twelve years ago, it managed to make waves, being the penultimate musical expression of guitarist/vocalist/founder Chuck Schuldiner’s aim to ‘modernize’ Death’s trademark sound. Over the years, Schuldiner’s ever-evolving lineup of members managed to take Death from the hungriest, most primal of death metal prototypes into this massively influential, varied and challenging metal masterwork.
Harboring both dizzying technical ability and marked traditional metal melody, The Sound of Perseverance capitalized upon every nuance of its stylistic forebear, 1995′s Symbolic, coming off as a wet dream for Schuldiner; a total package for Death fans who had followed the band up until that point. Given the fact that Chuck had always professed a love for old school heavy metal-even daring to take along the then-new power metal act Hammerfall on the subsequent tour-it came as no real surprise to fans that The Sound of Perseverance displayed such a clean, precise sound.
Although the ‘cleaning up’ of Death’s old school inverted cross and skull logo probably didn’t turn too many heads either at the time, the marked higher pitch in Chuck’s voice was a point of contention at the time concerning this album. Personally, I much prefer the shrill, biting tone Chuck has on here-at least compared to Symbolic’s passionless growl-and the music here follows suit, cutting clear across the listener’s stereo with vicious intent.
Relapse’s deluxe reissue spares nothing in its reaffirmation and glorious celebration of Perseverance, tossing in a bevy of demo material alongside the original bonus cover of Judas Priest’s classic “Painkiller.” Production-wise, things don’t sound much different than the ’98 version, with both LPs sounding similarly clear and punchy. From the album’s classic opening salvo of “Scavenger of Human Sorrow” to “Spirit Crusher” and “Bite the Pain,” it truly sounds great to once again enjoy The Sound of Perseverance in 2011.
Richard Christy may be known as one of Howard Stern’s sidekicks by many, but to a lot of us metalheads he is possibly one of the best metal drummers of all time. His playing with DEATH helped influence many, and he along with Ripper Owens’ helped create ICED EARTH’s best album to date. At least as far as I’m concerned! For those of you that don’t know Richard formed a new project called CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED, with Owens, bassist extraordinaire Steve DiGiorgio, and producer/guitarist Jason Suecoff.
1. How different was it for you to prepare for this tour as opposed to touring with other bands in the past?
Well with this tour I not only had to practice the drums several hours a day to make sure I was in good shape and knew the songs well, but I also was involved in all of the behind the scenes decisions, like renting a van and trailer for the tour, merchandise for the tour, etc. so it was a lot of work but well worth it.
2. Do you feel that there is added pressure on you due to the notoriety you’ve received from the Stern show?
Ya probably a little bit but there’s also added pressure from people who know me from DEATH and ICED EARTH because those are two very popular heavy metal bands and I definitely want to make sure that I meet all of the expectations of all of the fans who know me from my former bands because I really want people to like Charred Walls of the Damned too.
3. Some people may refer to this as a solo project, or “Richard Christy’s band” due to said notoriety from the Stern show. What would you say to them?
I want them to consider this a full band and I want people to know that every person in this band is equally important. We all worked equally very hard to create our album and we’re all very proud of it. I’m honored that some people are curious about this band because of me but when they hear our music I want the important thing to be that the music is heavy and very catchy and something that headbangers can bang their head to!
4. Given your day job, how often do you get to practice?
I get to practice about an hour or two hours a day in the afternoon. By about 3 or 4 in the afternoon I’m usually getting a little sleepy cause I get up at 4 in the morning but after having an energy drink and sitting behind the drums something just takes over and I catch my second wind!
5. Do you feel that you need tons of practice to keep your chops up or can you just get behind a kit and pick up where you left off?
I think practice is always super important to keep my chops up and drums are something where no matter how many years you’ve played, there’s always something else that you can learn, and it’s the same way with any instrument, you’re always learning. It’s also important to practice to keep up my stamina which is something I wanted to work on a lot before our tour because we did at least an hour and a half a night and I wanted to make sure that I had the same amount of energy at the beginning of the show that I have at the end of the show. (more…)
