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Celebrating Death & The Man Behind It All

Dec.13, 2012

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11 years ago Chuck Schuldiner lost his battle with cancer, and left the world of death metal with a huge void. Yeah, there are bands that are great that also play death metal, but Chuck was the genre. He lived, breathed, and slept it. Some even refer to him as the Godfather of Death Metal. I can only imagine how Death would be today if Chuck had survived. Constantly progressing from one album to the next, getting more and more technical and experimental, his contribution to metal is definitely something that cannot be ignored.

So, today, we honor our fallen brother. He may be shredding in heaven, but to many people, through he music, he is still with us. In remembrance here are my five favorite songs by Death. Love and peace, Chuck. Tell Dime and Jimi I said what’s up.

Meantime, it’s your turn! List your five favorite Death songs in the comments below, and share a concert story if you were lucky enough to have seen him live!

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Tags: chuck schuldiner, Cynic, Death, Gene Hoglan, Paul Masvidal, Sean Reinert

Members of Death to Tour as Death To All

Filed Under: General News, Tours and Rumors of Tours

Mar.16, 2012

Alright, this is news of the year for me. As I was walking yesterday, listening to Death‘s “new” live album Vivus!, I was thinking to myself, “Would a Death tour work without Chuck?” For those of you who are somehow unaware, Death was one of the first death metal bands, and later one of the first progressive death metal bands. Chuck Schuldiner, the bands’ founder and frontman, was diagnosed with brain cancer in 1999. He was unable to pay for proper treatment, and even when he did, he died because he was too weakened. Most call him the most influential person in death metal, and it’s easy to see why. Many big names in metal were involved with Death at one point, be it Paul Masvidal of Cynic, Steve DiGiorgio of every death metal band ever, Gene Hoglan of every death/thrash band and Strapping Young Lad and Fear Factory among others.

Anyway, back to the big news item. Turns out, on the same day that I thought of a non-Chuck Death tour, someone else had the same thought, because a tour exactly like that was announced. Members of Death will be touring as Death To All. They will be touring in memory of Chuck, and they will raise awareness for Sweet Relief, a foundation that helps musicians who can’t get medical help due to financial problems. Here’s the trailer to get you excited, and after that you can read the details of the tour.

The tour will make stops in only 5 cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Orlando. The lineup will include, but not be limited to:

Guitars – Paul Masvidal (“Human“)
Guitars – Shannon Hamm (“The Sound Of Perseverance“)
Guitars – Bobby Koelble (“Symbolic“)
Bass – Steve DiGiorgio (“Human“/”Individual Thought Patterns“)
Bass – Scott Clendenin (“The Sound Of Perseverance“)
Drums – Gene Hoglan (Individual Thought Patterns“/”Symbolic“)
Drums – Sean Reinert (Human)

Personally, I’m very excited for this tour. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I’ll be making the trip to New York for this. You should try to make it too.

- NT

Tags: Bobby Koelble, chuck schuldiner, Cynic, Death, Death to All, Fear Factory, Gene Hoglan, Paul Masvidal, Scott Clendenin, Sean Reinert, Shannon Hamm, steve digiorgio, Strapping Young Lad

No Love For Fear Factory?

Filed Under: General News, Tours and Rumors of Tours, Upcoming releases

Feb.24, 2012

A lot has been happening to Fear Factory over the past few years. First they lost half their band members in one fell swoop, then they formed a new band comprised of 50% of members from Strapping Young Lad, and they released a comeback album that seemed to be mostly ignored by a lot of people in the metal world. And you know what, I don’t get it. I honestly loved Mechanize and I thought it was a huge comeback album, and possibly one of their best works. A lot of people talked about how it sounded like a watered down Strapping Young Lad album, seeing as it featured several prominent members from that project, but I don’t agree with that statement. Sure there were elements, but people tend to forget that Fear Factory were one of the bands that originally influenced SYL in the first place. Overall it was a strong record and I think it should have garnered far more praise than it did

So it’s with a bit of astonishment that I look at all these Fear Factory updates from various websites. I mean, most of them seem really disinterested, and I don’t understand why. I guess I can’t say much, because I really haven’t been doing my duty as a writer or a fan seeing as this is my first post about these guys, but a lot has been happening to this band, and I feel like people should be caring a lot more than what they currently are. It’s Fear Factory for fuck’s sake! They are legends!

If you’re unaware of what’s been going on with these guys, let me give you the rundown:

- Byron Stroud has left the band in order to join 3 Inches of Blood, and has since been replaced with Matt DeVries, formerly of Chimaira and Six Feet Under

- The band has finished recording and mixing their 8th studio album, The Industrialist, and a release date is expected shortly

- A North American headlining tour has just been announced, with support coming from Shadows Fall, The Browning, The Devastated and Legacy Of Disorder:

5/01/2012 Backstage Live – San Antonio, TX

5/02/2012 Trees – Dallas, TX

5/03/2012 Scout Bar – Houston, TX

5/05/2012 State Theater – St. Petersburg, FL

5/06/2012 Culture Room – Ft. Lauderdale, FL

5/09/2012 Ziggy’s – Winston-Salem, NC

5/10/2012 Theater of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA

5/11/2012 Wally’s Pub – Hampton Beach, NH

5/12/2012 Gramercy Theatre – New York, NY

5/13/2012 Sonar – Baltimore, MD

5/16/2012 The Crofoot Ballroom – Pontiac, MI

5/20/2012 Summit Music Hall – Denver, CO

- Gene Hoglan is still Awesome

So yeah, get stoked guys! I have very little doubt that The Industrialist will be anything other than amazing, and I really cannot wait for these guys to prove me right. We’ll keep you informed as more news becomes available. Cheers!

- EC

Tags: 3 Inches Of Blood, Byron Stroud, Chimaira, Fear Factory, Gene Hoglan, Legacy of Disorder, Matt DeVries, Mechanize, Shadows Fall, Six Feet Under, Strapping Young Lad, The Browning, The Devasted, The Industrialist

Metalocalypse’s Brendon Small Announces GALAKTIKON Project

Filed Under: General News, Upcoming releases

Feb.20, 2012

Brendon Small, creator (and pretty much everything else) of Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse and Home Movies, is finally poised to release his side-project this year with Brendon Small’s GALAKTIKON. Described as a “High Stakes Intergalactic Extreme Rock album,” GALAKTIKON seemingly rips a page out of Devin Townsend‘s Ziltoid The Omniscient and will be an over-the-top rock opera of sorts with influences from modern black metal, Queen, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. Here’s what Brendon said in a statement:

“This album should be thought of as an audio comic book, an over acted chamber drama, a ridiculous premise that takes itself way too seriously all the way to the end,” states Brendon Small.

GALAKTIKON is pretty much Dethklok in a shiny melodic rock package, featuring legendary drummer Gene Hoglan and Dethklok live/studio bassist Bryan Beller, as well as retaining mixer/engineer Ulrich Wild. Obviously, this is quite the departure from Brendon’s work in Dethklok, but should be just as excellent given the roster’s quality!

Brendon Small’s GALAKTIKON is due out this April. We’ll follow up with more information as it becomes available! In the mean time, hit up the project on Facebook for up-to-date information!

- JR