Luxi Lahtinen from Metal-Rules.com spoke with drummer Chris Reifert (ex-DEATH, AUTOPSY, ABSCESS) recently as he reminisced about the past. He played drums on Death's legendary debut album, Scream Bloody Gore. Since he parted ways with Chuck Schuldiner in 1987 (when Chuck decided to move from San Francisco to Florida) Chris formed Autopsy together with Eric Cutler and Eric Eigard. Autopsy's first two albums, Severed Survival (released on Peaceville in 1989) and Mental Funeral (Peaceville, 1991) are considered classics in the death metal genre.

Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

Metal-Rules.com: How did you meet Chuck and where did you meet him first?

Reifert: "I was still in high school at the time and had a friend who was a DJ for the school radio station. She told me she was gonna play an ad from Chuck who was looking for band members. I got his phone number from her, called him up and went over to his house. The deal was pretty much sealed right away as I jumped on the chance before anyone else could get a try... ha-ha! Also, I knew about bands like SODOM, BATHORY, POSSESSED and ARTILLERY which impressed Chuck. This was incredible for me because I had been buying Death demos for the past two years and was thrilled that not only would I be playing the songs I knew and loved already, but also some new crushers that went perfectly with the old ones."

Metal-Rules.com: After Chuck was located to Florida, did you still keep in touch with him from time to time? Or vice versa?

Reifert: "Yeah, we kept in touch here and there. We bumped into each other at shows a few times and I stayed at his house for a visit in '88 (I think it was). Also, I talked to him right before he died and told him how great the latest VOIVOD album was!"

Metal-Rules.com: What kind of things made you to end Autopsy eventually in 1995? Did you kind of feel that you had traveled one road from the beginning to the end, and had nothing exciting or 'new shock values' to offer with Autopsy anymore?

Reifert: "No, actually it was the last U.S. tour that did us in. It was three months long and complete hell. The funny thing is, now everyone talks about Autopsy like this legendary thing, but on that tour the attendances were so shitty and the circumstances so stressful that we just said fuck it and decided to do one last album, sicker than ever and do one last show and go out on a good note. The Autopsy legacy has grown much larger now that the band is over and gone, like a lot of bands from the time. Right before we split, we truly felt that no one gave a shit about us. We didn't fit in with the current trends and still don't!"