Hi,
I just did read this:
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/death-documentary-death-by-metal-to-receive-dvd-release-this-friday/





Trailer:
https://vimeo.com/125608027

hope they release a european readable format as well since this is region code 1 (or is that not so much of an issue these days?)
really love Death and Chuck so really need this.

I kind of doubt it will get a region 2 release but region free players have become pretty cheap. Or you can just wait until it inevitably comes to youtube.

Download VLC Player onto your PC (if you have a disc drive at least). I lived in the UK for a short time and it plays my region 2 stuff just fine. PowerDVD's kind of a bitch and isn't region free.

In any case, I'm going to have to check this out.

thank you both for the replies, I am going to get this dvd !!!

I just remembered that before I had a region free player I used to watch region 2 discs on my computer by switching the region. You only get to switch 5 times until it locks on that region permanently. You can just google the steps, it’s really easy.

Just preordered on Amazon, can't wait to check this one out.

The DVD just came in this morning. I'm watching the special features right now and it's pretty cool seeing Obituary talk about their beginnings.

Tom Morris talking about how death metal started to standardize after it caught on and bands got into their rhythms was pretty interesting as well, and it got me thinking (always a terrible thing). It's a bottleneck that happens in so many genres that blow up. You hear so much about tradition in death metal's cousin, black metal. Yet black metal was supposed to break all the rules too just in a different way, more extreme in some cases, finding versatility through a new and mold-breaking outlook. Now there are all of these bands that go on and on about purity, being true, and this canonical orthodoxy that absolutely flies in the face of the irreverence that spawned the style. Where deathcore has shown how bottlenecked death metal can get, it's the most orthodox black metal bands that stuff themselves into their bottleneck as though it's some badge of honor to be just like everyone else in a nonconformist niche.

I think it's a funny aspect of extreme metal to see people initially get into it with the thought that you're breaking chains and being a willful freethinker just to end up with an outlook that steels itself in words like 'mandatory', where mimicry and reverence overtake creativity and passion, when the crux of all of this is making music for fun, and where breaking one mold ends up fashioning a dozen more molds in its place.

It sometimes reminds me of this cartoon: https://photos.smugmug.com/Various-Pics ... atue-M.jpg

Aside from that pontification, it's time to sink my teeth into the real meat of this DVD.

Just finished watching. I was pleasantly surprised with the way Chuck was portrayed, it wasn't fawning like I'd kind of feared. There were some moments where it seemed as though Chuck could have made some better decisions (particularly during the Leprosy/Spiritual Healing period). It seemed like he mellowed out a bunch later in his life. One unexpected thing that the doc did for me was make me want to go back and listen to the Control Denied record again. The segment on that album and Chuck's illness was pretty tough to watch. Overall, a good documentary about a really talented musician.

There's some Death fanpage out there with a big collection of interviews with Chuck, and that's the exact impression I got as well. In interviews from SBG through SH he was kind of an asshole, being cocky, rude, and constantly talking shit. Around Human he seemed to change a bit; he was a lot more mellow, but still willing to go in on the rest of the band for what they did during the SH tours. By ITP and Symbolic he became the Chuck everyone remembers him as.

Just to piggyback off what you guys have said so far, it seems like he took on that kind of hot and cold personality that some have when they're wrapped up in pursuing a major goal. Mantas and Death had consumed pretty much his entire life and that sort of work, always trying to freshen and find a new nuance to his music, seems like it was an isolating thing when it came to bandmates coming and going. Mind you, he had his parts to play in it too, those disastrous tours seem to have gotten to him, especially with the band essentially leaving his hands when the rest of the guys went to Europe and the debacle with everyone's equipment.

I mean the way he saw it as a huge insult when the rest of the band was playing a cut from 'Scream Bloody Gore' years later with a new lineup, saying "you conjuring dick" about the guys going on without him while he stayed in the bus during Benediction's show, seems like it touched on a nerve and had him on the defensive, wondering whether he was going to have the band taken out of his hands like had happened before.

It's crazy that a good chunk of 'The Sound of Perseverance' was initially written for Control Denied. I know I have my knowledge gaps, but that helped a lot to make me better understand just why that album so greatly differed from the sound in 'Symbolic'.

Also, to anyone who hasn't seen it yet or has it on the way, this is a long documentary. It's about three hours, but it really did keep me engaged seeing all the old footage, the way they put some of Schuldnier's own words in among the words of his bandmates, and that scene about Andy LaRocque coming in during 'Individual Thought Patterns' was just absolutely magic.

Death is one of those bands that transcended a world it created around itself and that is a testament to the strengths that Schuldnier could not only find in himself but also bring out in those he surrounded himself with. The documentary did a great job of showing that he wasn't perfect, that he wasn't the only person to which Death should be given credit, but missteps like anyone makes don't lessen the impact that he and Death made and the fact that he left the metal world all the better for his contributions.

Also, the concert in the extras is pretty cool so far.

Oh yeah, that LaRocque bit was great, especially the quick cut into his solo from Trapped in a Corner (side note - Schuldiner's solo in that song is undoubtedly my favorite piece of lead guitar work he ever did).

Just ordered the DVD, can't wait to give this a watch!



If you're in for a laugh, check out this interview from 1986, fucking hilarious, especially knowing how laid-back and almost hippie-ish he would become in later years.

yeah that's the specific interview I had in mind when I was typing that out. When your perception of him is the chill hippie he became in his later years, seeing him say shit like that is wild.

Thanks!

I’m watching it right now and since I am somewhat early on in the DVD, I will just say I’m happy they followed the blueprint of Cannibal Corpse’s Centuries of Torment dvd. I would love it if every band made a documentary in that style as it is the golden standard for a band doc in my opinion

I will say myself not being a HUGE Death fan but enjoying them for many years, man Chuck is not my favorite type of person based on this portrayal. I understand Chuck is god for many metalheads and I respect his huge influence, but stories like when the 3 guys played Zombie Ritual without him in Germany and he got super pissed at them, in my life I can’t stand people like that. Granted I’m taking every thing with a grain of salt being that he is dead after all and his side is not represented, but he is portrayed as difficult, arrogant, sensitive, and pretentious. Aside from the drug use, it sounds like Michael Keene.

Was he actually this big of a dick? Are they remembering things harshly and speaking ill of him because he can’t respond? As I said, I’m not big enough of a fan to have studied the guy to know how he was personally and I hold no hatred for him now. But boy oh boy did they not sugar coat any thing in this movie.

Interviewer: WHY DID YOU LEAVE SLAUGTHER, AND HOW DID YOU LIKE THE TIME WITH 'EM?

Chuck: Because I should never have dropped DEATH, DEATH is the only band for me. SLAUGTHER fuckin' is pathetic, as people and as musicians. I think the bassist is a homosexual, seriously.




Interviewer: WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF VINCE NEIL SHOULD VISIT - BY MISTAKE - A DEATH GIG?

Chuck: I'd fuckin' kick his ass and while he's on the ground bleeding and crying I'd take a rancid smelly shit in his face and make him eat it!





Interviewer: WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS?

Chuck: To keep partying and playing death metal and to get a hot blond chick who will .... my .... and more... (I'm going to guess that the blanks are 'suck' and 'peckah')




Interviewer: ANYTHING THAT YOU WANNA ADD?

Chuck:Keep supporting true death metal bands. Death metal fuckin' rules the earth. All the best to METAL WARRIORS!



Funny interview, kind of what to expect from an enthusiastic teenager rebelling against the hair bands and being edgy in an extreme metal band. It is a big contrast from the hippie that he became later, and I'm sure he'd be acting like a wizened sage if he were alive now, but I like the lack of pretense. Just a fun-loving kid with an itchy middle finger.

This one is especially funny, not only because it would be considered extremely offensive today, but also because... well, I've always had some suspicions about Chuck.

Of course you should take people's anecdotes with a grain of salt, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot of truth to what these people say. Nunslaughter's Don of the Dead said before Schuldiner's death he never knew anyone who'd met Chuck that didn't hate the guy. Martin Van Drunen never minced words when it came to his dislike of Chuck.

I bring this up not to paint the man as an irredeemable POS, but to illustrate the tendency of death to wash away all blemishes from a person's reputation, which is especially true of someone like Chuck who died at an early age. It's agreed he was a perfectionist so it's not surprising to hear he was difficult to work with. The fact the documentary isn't hagiographical and actually humanizes its subject, makes me more excited to see it.

Martin van Drunen's reason for holding a grudge against Chuck never made any sense to me. Didn't the whole situation just stem from Chuck ending a single show early after the crowd got too violent? Seems like a really petty and childish thing to stay angry about 20+ years later, especially considering even the crowned Prince of douchebags himself (Patrick Mameli) has spoken very highly of Chuck, along with Carcass who I believe were the other band on that tour.

I don't know the specifics, but this comes from an interview Van Drunen did with Voicesfromthedarkside:

Obviously, there's more to the story. I don't know if Van Drunen is known for badmouthing other people. Maybe he's not so easy to get along with.

Chris Reifert has always spoken well of Chuck, though he seems like a chill guy.

As a documentaries fan,now i'm really curious to watch this one. Chuck always seemed like a kind of a mr. Nice Guy for me in his last years. And though i'm not a huge Death fan, some histories and the Van Drunen's problems with him surprised me a lot.

He's very hot-headed and arrogant, definitely the kind of guy to speak his mind and not care who gets offended, which is why he has a history of being kicked out of bands rather than simply leaving (namely Pestilence, Asphyx, Bolt Thrower, and Hail of Bullets). Still, his attitude seems unnaturally cruel and hateful there. It's obvious he barely knew Chuck and likely never even encountered him beyond that tour, and his reason for "hating" him (he considered Chuck a "sissy" because he thought the crowds were too rough) is like I said earlier, kind of petty considering that interview took place 10+ years after the fact...still not as bad as his comments about Theo Loomans, an old Asphyx member who killed himself ("he was almost as shitty a vocalist, as he was a person")

Kind of off topic, but are the "Death to All" tours done? I'm really glad I got to see the first one in 2012, aside from the backstage drama / ripoff, it was such a fucking amazing show.

One thing that also happened on this tour was Chuck left the stage after the first song because the crowd was "too violent" for him, when he was just hit by a drink. This caused a massive riot with property damage, and probably caused death metal to get banned from that area for quite a while. I lost a fair bit of respect for Chuck after reading about this incident. Martin was actually interviewed by a fanzine shortly thereafter where he talks about the incident. He doesn't mention Chuck by name, but it's fairly obvious when you fill in the blanks:

It was a good documentary, very surprising how it turned out. I'm a huge fan of music documentaries as well so that alone had me interested, but I do enjoy Death's music quite a bit.

Wow, that is awesome watching this interview of a young MVD and Mameli from almost 28 years ago. The show sounded like a blast and kinda sucks that Death would stop it short but they were the headliner and the crowd only gets more wasted into the night.

Reminds me of a recent interview with Henri Sattler about how Europe and the States are spoiled with shows that you don't see that anymore. But a festival show in Ecuador was one of the best shows he played since the crowd was so into it, even moving the soundbooth in the crowd.

Maybe Chuck was on to something; look at Randy Blythe's Czech incident. Here is a video of the show:

I really enjoyed watching the documentary. It was excellent edited imo with many details.
felt as a really honest set of interviews about Death/Chuck were he both got praised for all he has done but also the other side was shown, just portraying Chuck as chuck and not as GOD OF DEATH.
It also felt nice to relive a past of which I wasn't part to see how the whole scene started and evolved in 20 years time.

I really miss chuck tbh, though I only saw them once on Dynamo open air when I was 8 (my fathers house was next to the venue so we got free tickets since my father new I enjoyed heavy music as a youngster). I am even more curious now how it would have developed over the last 16 years.

Also really felt for Richard Christy, who still misses Chuck that deeply, you really saw a void there which I hope he can deal with.

I think Chuck was a perfectionist which offers benefits and difficulties of course and that shows in his character.
He probably learnt to deal with it when getting older making him more easy going but I also think he was afraid of abandonment after losing his brother which made people touring without or playing a song without him feel quite scary. but that is just my interpretation.

I haven't seen all the extras but I really enjoyed the documentary, the end was quite hard when talking about his illness.

Really disappointed with this DVD, it's literally just a series of people explaining their relationship with Chuck, and then how he fucked them over. Don't get me wrong, I like that it's not fellating his legacy, and I loved seeing Chris Reifert, Rick Rozz, and Shannon Hamm, and Tom Morris was pretty fucking cool as well, but I could do without the random "industry" people (Mudrian comes across like a cool guy, but who fucking cares...I'd rather more interviews with actual members over him...), and Greif's detailing of the 'Human tour' fiasco seems really one-sided and childish to me, one of the sketchiest dudes in metal - and it's obvious that Chuck had some kind of legitimate grievance about Greif and what he was doing financially, but that's never explored and it's just left as "welp, Death cancelled another tour". I also thought it did a poor job explaining Death's impact & importance on the death metal scene, I get that it's an "insider's perspective" but if you didn't know who Chuck was, you'd think this was some Anvil-esque "failed Rockstar" story about a guy who did nothing but cancel tours and fire bandmates...

Finally watched it and enjoyed it, but it did kind of make Chuck out to be a diva to a degree. Maybe he was, a lot of artist types are like that. Flipping out over his band-mates covering a tune with the other band they were touring with was a bit bitchy. "You are summoning a dick". Interesting watch.

A lot of Death lyrics after Spiritual Healing seemed full of resentment against "fake" or "inferior" people, like Secret Face, Low Life, The Philosopher, Overactive Imagination etc... They seem very personal and targeted at individuals from Chuck's life, instead of the more standard "I hate everyone" extreme metal lyrics

Waiting for an ISO.

https://death.bandcamp.com/merch/death-by-metal-dvd

Holy shit, that's amazing. I cannot even begin to imagine how such early exposure would have influenced me. Anyway, probably not too many people can tell a tale like yours above...

no, I was really lucky to be there and have a father who understood that I really enjoyed it, though was not really familiar with everything that happened around me, and probably didn't fully appreciate seeing Death live as I would do it now (if Chuck was still there of course) but I remember really enjoying the band and my father went to the security officer to ask what the name of the band is, I still have the paper somewhere with my dads notes on it. Also Deicide was on that paper and Kreator. Though I must admit I don't remember most details I still feel that day as a day that shaped my life music wise in a certain direction. Also it was probably 5 years later that I really got to discover Death and understood more of what Death metal was and why I love it. (sorry if you didn't want the full story).

That's fine, I enjoyed reading it.

Will hopefully receive my copy next week. Very curious after reading all the comments.

I thoroughly enjoyed it! It provided an excellent overview of the process that went into each Death album. I have a better appreciation of their music for viewing this film. And it wasn't an exercise in idol-worship, either. I wish they'd gone into a bit more detail about Chuck himself, but otherwise a very interesting film.

I am dying to see this. I found the comments here very interesting.

But I want to point out that people change. Chuck definitely mellowed out after the Human weirdness and as the years passed everyone agreed that he was a lovely human being. And people should remember that he was the recipient of some of the worst rumor spreading ever and a lot of vitriol from former bandmates. The death metal scene of the time was the epitome of antagonizing with bands fighting over who was the most evil and the truest. I've got somewhere a sketch by Kam Lee from a '91 fanzine and it is ridiculous how childish it is, Chuck scared of a demon that mocks him for calling himself Evil Chuck and being "a fag and a pussy". Morbid Angel, Deicide being the true evil ones and Chuck was the "softy" who thought people beating the shit out of each other at gigs were not right in the head. And he was right. I still remember that quote from John Tardy (? could be wrong) who said that a kid had a whole chunk of his upper lip missing because someone bit it in the moshpit and he was acting like it was all cool, while John was kinda freaking out that this dude was misfigured for the rest of his life.

Anyway, Chuck was very young in the 80s, people tend to forget that. And when he thought that Death Metal (which a lot of people regarded him as the godfather of) got a really bad rep as music for disturbed people, he tried to counter that with the more mellowed approach (shirts with kittens or Blondie shirts, saying he was not anti-life, etc), which lead to all the mockery from the "true" crowd. By 1993 I think he abandoned completely the Death Metal scene and begun his famous mantra "it's all metal".

I'll take anything Eric Greif says with a huge amount of salt too. Of course he would blame Chuck for the Human story. I remember an interview in 1993 where Chuck was saying that he never found out how much money Human made, just that it sold more than Spiritual Healing and that his previous manager was a fraud. So, obviously a lot has been left unsaid about that time.

For reference, here's a nice collection of quotes about him by people of the scene:
http://www.rockhard.gr/%CE%B1%CF%86%CE% ... 01-english

I love how Kam Lee took a memorial to Chuck and spent half of it just talking up himself.

Downloading.