Photos/Review: Death alumni pay tribute to late singer Chuck Schuldiner in NYC

Once again, former Death alumni drummer Gene Hoglan, bassist Steve DiGiorgio, and guitarist Bobby Koelble put together a tour to pay tribute to the legendary Chuck Schuldiner, their fallen bandmate and founding father of the influential and pioneering death metal act Death. The 23-city North American tour would again see Cynic vocalist and guitarist Max Phelps filling the shoes of Schuldiner. The Death To All tour featured support from thrashers Nukem and New York’s very own Suffocation. On March 24th, New York City’s Webster Hall hosted this hard-hitting lineup. With Webster Hall now hosting a regular nightly DJ party in their downstairs studio space, their live shows have a much earlier start time which means an earlier curfew as well. With that being said, the 5:30 door time and 6:30 scheduled start time that was pushed forward to 6:15, which of course, was not made known to fans, seem to play a huge part in the emptiness of the crowd come show time. With the earlier start time unannounced and issues at the box office, I would not even make it in for Nukem’s short set time. Honestly speaking, I would bet that the venue was, unfortunately, pretty close to being completely empty for the show’s opener.

Once, I was finally able to make my way inside just in time for New York’s very own Suffocation. With no time to waste in the evening, Suffocation got started with their brutal and technical onslaught opening their set with “Thrones of Blood.” With the night still being very early, even the death metal veterans played to an empty Webster Hall for the better part of their short set. As the crowd finally thickened during the end of Suffocation’s set like there was actually a show happening, one thing was clear though; sadly, it seemed that everyone was definitely there mainly just to hear the classics from the former members of Death, one of the most influential and pioneering bands in death metal and to also pay tribute to the founding father the late Chuck Schuldiner.

Suffocation

To clarify any misconceptions that many people may have, in my opinion, Death To All is not a tribute band of musicians playing Death songs, but a band of former Death alumni who are paying tribute to their former bandmate and founding father, Chuck Schuldiner. Not only are the former bandmates honoring Schuldiner, but the band is also celebrating the 30-year anniversary of the album Individual Thought Patterns while also raising money for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund charity, a charity that helps provides financial assistance to musicians and music industry workers who are struggling to make ends meet. In March of 1990, I was fortunate enough to see Chuck Schuldiner play live on stage in front of a crowd of the only couple of hundred fans in a small club in New Rochelle called Streets. With a rumor floating around the venue that drummer Gene Hoglan wasn’t feeling one hundred percent, the band’s start time was beginning to be delayed a bit. In most cases, that wouldn’t have made for that big of a deal, but with the early curfew and a setlist that included 20 songs, there was some concern that the band may have to cut their set short.

Celebrating the 30 years anniversary of Individual Thought Patterns, one would think that we were going to get the album in its entirety, but that wasn’t the case. However, we got a few from the album, not the title track, which I found a bit odd considering. Before the band finally took the stage, chants of Chuck, Chuck, Chuck, rang out from fans hungry for some classic Death. Once the band’s set finally got underway, it was straight to where it all started, “Infernal Death,” the first track off Death’s debut album Scream Bloody Gore. Right out of the gate, I was completely blown away by Max Phelps. Everything about him screams Chuck Schuldiner. His vocals were amazing, and his guitar, he even looked like Chuck up on stage. With the delayed start, the band was pounding through their set but still found the time to stop and speak on the memory of Chuck and his influence in the scene.

Bassist Steve DiGiorgio made clear to fans that we were here tonight to honor and pay tribute to Schuldiner. While at times being very chatty with the fans and what would seem like DiGiorgio buying some time for drummer Gene Hoglan to possibly catch a breather, again Hoglan, who had been rumored to not be feeling that well chants of Chuck, Chuck, Chuck would continue to come from fans who really didn’t seem to mind all that much about the chatter. Also in the same breath just wanted to hear the classic Death songs. Considering most of them didn’t arrive at the venue until its almost time for Death To All to hit the stage, something I will never understand. You pay all that money for a show why not see the show and not just one band.

As 10 PM was nearing which was the original end time for the show Death To All seemed to still be in the middle of their set and still had a ways to go. That’s when I 2 began to think were they going to have to cut the set short leaving out a lot of classic fan favs? No sweat! They just continued on the right through 10, giving their fans exactly what they came for, one hell of a tribute show.

Death To All Setlist:

Infernal Death

Overactive Imagination

The Philosopher

Bite The Pain

Zero Tolerance

Spiritual Healing

Evil Dead

Trapped in a Corner

Lack of Comprehension

Leprosy

Jealousy