Rise To Offend

By 1991 Death Metal was in full swing, and the blueprint for a successful image and sound was in place for most bands in the Florida scene, but Chuck Schuldiner would make the huge right turn for the genre when he unleashed his Fourth album Human. At that point the path that the scene he helped create would go one way, and Chuck Schuldiner would go discover new ground. He would redefine the rules placed by those who came afterwards, and create art where critics felt was a low brow form of music. Every album he put forward would create a different path for anyone in extreme music and create a legacy that would only belong to him, but the conflicts internally in his camp and with the industry would follow him throughout his career, until the fateful day everything would change for the him and the fanbase he created across the globe.

After the release of the debut record form Death entitled Scream Bloody Gore, the musical genre known as Death Metal had a presence created by Chuck Schuldiner that would spawn extreme acts across the globe. Conflict would follow as his loyalty to his home and family would clash with the vagabond life of a touring musician in an extreme heavy metal band, line up changes and touring conflicts would start a rumor mill as the competitive nature of the Florida Death Metal scene in the late 80's would start to become a major underground musical movement, and Chuck would have to navigate through negative press and peers to maintain his hold on the genre he helped create, or he would have to redefine it once again. Part 2 of 3

When it comes to the history of extreme heavy metal Chuck Schuldiner will always have a chapter, as the media proclaimed Godfather of Death Metal, he would invent a sound and style of the underground that would influence the genre eternally. However despite the brutal name of his band Death and the genres boundary pushing existence in horror, gore, and violence. The person behind the sounds birth, was never one to fit into a mold or label to the music he inspired, instead would create a truly original voice that would go beyond any genre. Part 1 of 3

October 28th, 1929 would be labeled Black Tuesday and would spark the end of the roaring 20’s and the beginning of the great depression in America, prohibition laws still in effect would create the rise of gangster culture and the newspaper would document the violence daily even making heroes out of the likes of gangsters like Al Capone, the desperation would bleed directly into entertainment as promoters and law officers would mimic the behavior of those above the law, and the fun endurance competition known as Dance Marathons would change into exploiting those who had no options for survival, distracting America through radio frequencies as contestants tortured themselves for months to keep a roof over there head and food in their stomach. Part 2 of 2

When records in athletic events like the Olympics started to bring people fame and fortune, the common people of the world started doing endurance tests to gain the same record breaking notoriety as athletic achievements. The 1920's was a breeding ground for trends and fads that would be built on human endurance. Flag pole sitting, foot races, and marathon dancing would start to become news stories across the modern invention of radio broadcasting, and advertisers were first in line for the drama built around the contests, but after the stock market crash and the Great Depression swept across America these tests would become much more than simple games of fame and fortune. Part 1 of 2

Decades of writing and keeping a normal 9 to 5 job would finally come to an end for Charles Bukowski after the release of his first novel Post Office, and the words that he passionately dictated would become his life and reality. His voice wold reach an audience and they would clamor for more, some would fall in love with him, some would detest him, and he would embrace this lifestyle completely, cementing a legacy of someone who gave up on any social norms, embraced addictions, womanizing, and hopeless cynicism. Putting pen to paper he worked harder than everyone he knew to justify that philosophy of being a true loner, and lived in constant chaos but made it look easy and even fun. Part 3 of 3

The childhood behind him and the life of a drifter ahead. Charles Bukowski would gather genuine life experience by being the outcast he was always taught to be, and his voice as a writer would not compromise. Finding a partner would change everything for him as a person, writer, and his addiction to alcohol would be more of a pro than a con in his existence, but with that brought a wild card of drama and an embrace and apply of a lifestyle shunned by the masses. Part 2 of 3

Every person embraces a demon in life and gets tied to it, but Charles Bukowski made his demons cool. Writing in such a genuine cynicism that you would want to sit next to him to see the show that would be his life. Unapologetic to everyone he would embrace his addictions as a personality that would always be tied to his world view. Born on August 16th, 1920 in Germany, and growing up through the great depression, the voice of dirty realism would have hard lessons from the start of his life which would paint his future world view. Part 1 of 3

Is the fantasy left behind the legacy of an artist? Is the goal to reach the world and leave a positive mark on other’s lives? John O’ Brien would be the seed to motivate and change the lives of many that his work influenced, but the story of who he was when he was will always be secondary to the character he created, Ben and Sera or Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue. Leaving Las Vegas would change all the lives that would take his work and translate it to cinema but it never changed his and as the creation to tell his story to millions as opposed to thousands would become a reality, his reality would be become the tragic back story of a press release to one of the most captivating and heartbreaking love story in the history of American Cinema. Part 2 of 2

Self destruction and art have always found a kinship in searching for truth. The words an author creates, when they are unquestionable genuine, always outweighs the legacy of the person who created them. John O'Brien was on that pursuit, embracing the glorious moments of the broken, the fake confidence that gives that person a feeling of truly being alive, and showing the world everyone can find the story tale love despite their demons. The pages who wrote defined these philosophies but the reality of the demons that got him there would get the last word. Part 1 of 2