Formed in 1983 as Mantas with Chuck Schuldiner on vocals and guitar, Rick Rozz on guitar and Barney 'Kam' Lee on drums and vocals. In 1984 the band recorded their first demo called "Death By Metal". Soon after the recording the band split up and Chuck formed a new band named Death.
1984: Rick Rozz (guitar), Kam Lee (drums), Chuck Schuldiner (guitar, vocals).
1985: Rick Rozz leaves the band. Scott Carlson (bass) and Matt Olivio (guitar) from the Michigan based band Genocide joined Death. Kam left the band. A couple of months later both Matt and Scott left. Chuck moved to San Francisco and joined forces with Eric Brecht (drums). At the end of the year Chuck returned to Florida bandless.
1986: Chuck moved to Toronto to join Slaughter. After a couple of weeks Chuck moved back to Florida and then once again to San Francisco to join up with drummer Chris Reifert. During rehearsals Steve DiGiorgio played bass while Death and Sadus shared a rehearsal space. They recorded "Scream Bloody Gore" during the summer.
1987: "Scream Bloody Gore" released March 1987. Chuck moved back to Florida and teamed up with Rick Rozz (guitar), Terry Buttler (bass) and Bill Andrews (drums).
1988: Rick Rozz replaced by James Murphy.
1990: James Murphy replaced by Albert Gonzales who in the same year was replaced by Paul Masvidal. The band decided to tour Europe without Chuck with Walter Trachsler on guitar and Louie Carrisalez handling the vocals.
1991: Chuck recruits Sean Reinert (drums), Paul Masvidal (guitar) and Steve DiGiorgio (bass). Steve DiGiorgio replaced by Skott Carino
1993: Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert leaves replaced by Andy LaRocque (guitar) and Gene Hoglan (drums) and Steve DiGiorgio rejoins. Craig Locicero helps out on their European tour and Ralph Santolla on the US tour and the Easter festivals in Europe.
1995: Bobby Koelble on guitar and Kelly Conlon on drums.
1996: A break so Chuck can think about the band's future. During this period Chuck starts the band Control Denied.
1998: Shannon Hamm on guitar, Scott Clendenin on bass and Richard Christy on drums.
1999: Chuck is diagnosed with a brainstem tumor.
2001: "Live In L.A." and "Live In Eindhoven" albums were released by Nuclear Blast to earn some money for Chuck's treatment. Chuck passed away on December 13.
Formed
1983
Members
Randy Burns, Bill Andrews, Terry Butler, Paul Masvidal, James Murphy, Sean Reinert, Chuck Schuldiner, Gene Hoglan, Chris Reifert, Steve Digiorgio, Bobby Koelble, Rick Rozz, Richard Christy, Shannon Hamm, Scott Clendenin
