Chuck Schuldiner died in December 2001.
Gene Hoglan says that Chuck Schuldiner of Death always felt uncomfortable being called the "Godfather of Death Metal ," preferring to always give credit to the bands that inspired him during Death's formative years.
Although Death is considered one of the most important and influential bands in Death Metal, they released their debut album, Scream Bloody Gore , in 1987, two years after Seven Churches by Possessed, whose vocalist and bassist Jeff Becerra is credited with coining the term.
Hoglan, who recorded two albums with Death, Individual Thought Patterns in 1993 and Symbolic in 1995, spoke about Chuck's impact on the genre during an interview with Antihero Magazine.
“Chuck always felt uncomfortable with the ‘godfather of Death Metal’ label he had; he was always trying to give credit to his predecessors ,” said the drummer. “Chuck didn’t feel he deserved it, and neither did I, because Death Metal… Look, let me tell you: Death Metal was dead in ’85. It emerged in 1984 and by ’85, it had already parodied itself to death – no pun intended. Chuck was actually part of the resurrection of the style. So, for many people, Scream Bloody Gore is kind of the first Death Metal album, maybe they weren’t familiar with Possessed’s Seven Churches.”
“Slayer created Death Metal for me ,” Gene continued. “I think all the vocalists were trying to sing like Tom [Araya], and Tom was trying to sing like Cronos [Venom]. But for most people – Chuck was uncomfortable with the title – but for many people, Chuck and Death created brutal Death Metal, with horrible lyrics, ugly concepts and all that stuff.”
Chuck Schuldiner died in December 2001, at the age of 34, from cancer.