DEATH founder/frontman Chuck Schuldiner passed away on December 13th, 2001 due to a brain tumor. On this, the anniversary of his death, Empty Words has posted messages from Empty Words editor Matt Medeiros, as well as former Death manager Eric Greif. An excerpt from each follow:

Matt Medeiros: "It's hard to believe that it's been ten years since Chuck's untimely passing. When I sat down to write this, I was going to comment on Chuck's impact on the global metal scene. About how the bands in the OSDM resurgence are never more than two degrees of separation from the Death and MANTAS demos and Scream Bloody Gore; how the waves of technical death metal bands are paying tribute to Individual Thought Patterns and Human. I quickly realized that I am ill-equiped to comment on the current state of global metal. There are other people, journalists and the like, who have access to better research and fact-checking, and access to commentary from notable personalities, who will write their tributes, if they haven't already. I'm just a fan of the music, and that's what I'll talk about."

Eric Greif: "Of course when folks think of Chuck Schuldiner they immediately see images in their head of him standing on a stage with a BC Rich Stealth. Or perhaps talking with his Florida accent in an interview on YouTube. Even more people will just think of the music that Chuck created.

When I think of Chuck, especially at the two times of the year when we all stop to cherish a thought of him - his birthday May 13 and the day of his death December 13 - my brain is brought to more personal memories: running around a restaurant with our shorts pulled down to our ankles screaming like little kids; having contests on who could eat the more spicy chicken wings, sometimes to the point of vomiting; driving around in my car talking on the CB Radio to truckers whilst pretending to be young girls; yelling at each other on the phone in fits of negative brotherly emotion; or flying around the world with him on promotional trips, amazed at the complexities of foreign toilets. To me it isn't just Chuck the genius creator of death metal - it is Chuck my business associate, contemporary and friend. We shared meals and we shared shampoo. We laughed very hard and we screamed very loudly."

Read both messages in their entirety at Empty Words.

Lars Gotrich at NPR Music has issued a tribute to Chuck Schuldiner. An excerpt is available below:

"There's something to be said for the visionary who dismantles the very movement he's created or pioneered. John Coltrane left behind hard bop to scatter sheets of sound, always knowing there was something more to explore. After joining the Communist Party, composer Cornelius Cardew rejected his prominent role in the English avant-garde to protect populist folk music. For a humble guitarist from Florida named Chuck Schuldiner, his metal band Death (not to be confused with the proto-punk band of the same name) was a mere instrument. Along with the Bay Area's POSSESSED, Death not only helped spawn an entire extreme genre around gore and technical guitar wizardry, but like horror movies sometimes do, Death also challenged our notions of life.

From the 1983 Death by Metal demo by a pre-Death band called MANTAS, to the hollering banshee wail of Scream Bloody Gore, to the early jazz-metal fusions of Human, to the glorious 1998 swansong, The Sound of Perseverance, Schuldiner lived the Leonardo da Vinci creed: 'Art is never finished, only abandoned.' Not one Death album was the same, but they were very much all connected; the non-linear narrative continued through Schuldiner's formation of the scream-less progressive heavy metal band Control Denied.

Ten years ago this week, Schuldiner died after a two-year battle with brain cancer. To honor his legacy as a death metal pioneer, an inimitable vocalist and, frankly, one of the best guitarists to thoughtfully shred the six-string, I've asked eleven metal musicians to pick their favorite Death song, and write what it and Schuldiner has meant to them. And from gushing memories to what could be standalone essays (see the brilliant deconstruction of 'Left to Die' by Matt Harvey of EXHUMED), it's quite evident that Death was more than an influence for these musicians. Death was a personal revelation. For Paul Masvidal (CYNIC), Gene Hoglan (FEAR FACTORY) and Richard Christy (CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED) — all former members of Death (and there have been a lot) — it's telling that all three chose songs from 1991's watershed album, Human. In the modern metal scene, younger musicians like Arthur von Nagel (CORMORANT), Elizabeth Schall (DREAMING DEAD) and John Dyer Baizley (BARONESS) all grew up with the legend of Death and have taken its heavy lessons to heart.

Go to this location to check out the complete tribute and audio tracks.