DEATH BY METAL (2016)

I was half paying attention when I clicked on this one, which is about the Florida death metal band, Death. I thought it was A Band Called Death, which the the documentary about the 70s punk band, Death. However, this was a really good movie. I was a little bit aware that Chuck Schuldiner was difficult to work with, but not much beyond that.

Sometimes it's hard to get a clear picture of someone who died recently-ish, but I thought this movie did a pretty good job. Nobody was straight talking shit about Schuldiner, but it was clear that people were pretty frustrated along the way.

I'm not the most knowledgeable about death metal, but it's hard to deny how insanely tight and unique this band was (before death metal became a genre.) Some of the stuff was good enough to make me want to go out and pick up a record or two. The album he did with drummer Sean Reinert was especially nuts, musically. (Just checked Rienert's wiki page and found this depressing note: "He was denied his wish to be an organ donor by the FDA on grounds of being gay.")

Schuldiner, however, seemed like a nightmare to work with. Cancelling tours, bailing on tours part way through, starting new albums with new members and not informing the old members. At the beginning, him and the drummer move to LA, Schuldiner goes back to visit him mom in FL, then just kinda stops communicating with the drummer (who moved to LA to do the band with him.) Finally drummer gets in touch and Schuldiner's like, yeah I'm staying in Florida.

In the end, Schuldiner really felt constricted by the "death metal" genre, so he broke up death and started a more power metal type band that did a couple albums before he passed.

I enjoyed this one quite a bit.