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With Symbolic,
Death, or rather Chuck Schuldiner, already delivers a sixth album.
The disputed character of the man has been little more than an
afterthought for years now, due to the quality albums he makes
with clock-like regularity. For Death in 1995 it’s new rounds,
same chances. |
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The words of Patrick Mameli –known from Pestilence in the
distant past- buzz through my head as Death’s frontman Chuck
Schuldiner calls me. “That voice…”, was how
our national death metal genius once described the sound that
his arch-rival Chuck Schuldiner brings forth in a conversation.
And indeed, in big contrast with the primeavel grunt known on
stage and CD, the one that brought the Floridian the nickname
“Evil” Chuck, is this man’s syrupy speaking
voice. Many times over the past years “that voice”
told me how much better the line-up and CD of the moment were
compared to the previous Death incarnations. And equally as many
times he was right indeed.
We’ll leave aside for
the time being whether or not super super cool guitarist Bobby
Koelble’s solos completely outwits his illustrious predecessors,
such as Cynic’s Paul Masvidal and King Diamond’s Andy
LaRoque, or whether Kelly totally cool Conlon plays the bass tighter
than Sadus’ virtuoso Steve DiGiorgio. One good thing though
is that the huge drum monster Gene “God” Hoglan is
still in the band, which makes Chuck a privileged bandleader.
“Gene belongs to Death, he and I are a good team. We share
the same background, our roots go back to the metal of the early
eighties. Gene is as much the bandleader as I am (certainly with
his former band Dark Angel-RH), I never tell him what to do. I
give him some riffs and then he comes along with some killer drum
parts! Our goal is the same: create something new, something with
a huge impact. I hope Gene stays forever. Fortunately Bobby and
Kelly are into our attitude as well, they both love heavy as well
as progressive. And the best part is that they’re from Orlando.
For the first time I have the feeling to be part of a real band,
finally I have musicians that I can hang out with after work.”
Symbolic continues the progression
with what the Human (’91) carcass started (apologies for
the metaphor in this context-RH), and what was so brilliantly
deepened on Individual Thought Patterns (’93). Death’s
exciting mix of progressive musical power and brutal aggression
is miles ahead of the more traditional rivals Morbid Angel and
Obituary. But Chuck doesn’t want to take it as far as the
technicians of Cynic and Atheist. Balance is the word. “I
hope to break some bounderies again with Symbolic and to underline
my roots more with every record at the same time, the latter expresses
itself in a growing feeling for melody. Death certainly won’t
make the same record twice, I’ll make sure of that. Balance
is delicate, it’s easy to screw up. I know the phenomenon
because many of my favorite bands made this mistake (laughs).
You must know that we are big fans ourselves, I know what it’s
like to be disappointed or to have to wait four years for an album.
Being a fan helps both feet stay on the ground. Bands that change
styles halfway through their career and slate the metal they played
two years before is vicious. Music is so important in the daily
life of many fans, that they get angry when you cheat them. You
build up trust, people invest time and money in you, and when
you all of a sudden change your style you violate that personal
connection. You’ll never see me do that. It’s my dream
to once make a traditional metal album, preferably with Ronnie
James Dio on vox, but I will never do that under the name of Death.”
It’s daring enough
that Chuck, after having made three albums with pre-eminent death
metal producer Scott Burns, moved on to Jim Morris. Although both
producers work in the death metal mecca Morissound, it was Burns
who got the buck passed at first as the death metal market began
collapsing. Despite all critisism on Burns’ line production,
Schuldiner stayed faithfull to him all the time. That is up till
Symbolic. What would the teased producer have said? “Et
tu Brute?” And does Chuck’s deep sigh give away a
gnawing conscience? “I don’t hope this step has damaged
our friendship, he’s in the bad books enough already. Yes
it was a difficult moment, I felt bad. But on the other hand it
was time for something else and we very much wanted to work with
Jim Morris for once. Jim worked with so many different people,
and that’s apparent in his professional approach. The difference
in sound between ITP and Symbolic is a difference between night
and day. Death had to move on and I’m convinced it was the
best for Scotty as well to do something else.”
“Evil” Chuck
gossiped about co-workers, they gossiped back, he denied, they
did as well, he was at odds with everything and everybody (Mameli
can’t claim exclusivity in this), he canceled an entire
tour, but in the end Chuck Schuldiner will be the one laughing.
For the time being, Symbolic leaves every vulture behind in a
cloud of dust. Nothing but picked bones are their share.
Robert Heeg
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