Late DEATH Mainman's Family Was Ordered To Hand Over CONTROL DENIED Master Tapes

Bon

Explorer
From Babblermouth.net:
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Guido Heijnens, owner of the now-defunct Dutch record label Hammerheart Records (which has since been "resurrected" under the Karmageddon Media banner) has issued the following statement regarding the status of the unfinished recordings originally slated to appear on the sophomore CONTROL DENIED album (the band formed by the late DEATH mainman Chuck Schuldiner):

"Judgement by default was done on June 22nd 2005. The Schuldiner family have been ordered to hand over all the master tapes for the new CONTROL DENIED album. Failing to do so the Schuldiner family will have to pay a penalty of $**** for each day up to a maximum of $******. The Schuldiner family have also been ordered to repay $***** plus statory interest and legal costs.

"Finally, the Schuldiner family has been ordered to carry out rectification by publishing on the Internet site the text specified in the judgment, failing to do so will lead to a penalty of $**** for each day up to a maximum of $******.

"All $-related numbers have been left out since these are business related matters.

"For anyone who does not understand what this means: Hammerheart Records B.V. have done nothing wrong and the court has ruled in all matters/subjects in their favour. The family has to pay all costs, rectify the things said on www.emptywords.org, pay back all costs plus interest and hand over the master tapes for the album!!!

"So to all the fans out there, let's see if Hammerheart Records finally will get this album to release it, or if the family remains stubborn and keeps on lying to the fans…"

As previously reported, Chuck — who passed away in December 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor — began work on the album (tentatively titled "When Machine and Man Collide") in 2001 but never managed to complete the effort before his health quickly deteriorated in the months leading up to his tragic death. The remaining members of the group — bassist Steve DiGiorgio, vocalist Tim Aymar, guitarist Shannon Hamm, and drummer Richard Christy — subsequently announced their desire to complete the CD and release it in Chuck's memory, but legal hassles between Schuldiner's family and Hammerheart Records (to whom Chuck was signed at the time of his death) put the entire project on hold (Karmageddon Media — formerly Hammerheart Records — have since issued various incomplete demo recordings as two separate low-quality albums, "Zero Tolerance" and "Zero Tolerance II").

Jane Schuldiner, mother of late DEATH/CONTROL DENIED frontman Chuck Schuldiner, had previously stated about the unfinished recordings: "[Chuck's]last masterpiece deserves more than to be released as unfinished bits of rehearsal room recordings on CD, or to be grabbed for free on the Internet. It deserves to be finished by the rest of the band and to be released on a full-length album, titled: 'When Machine and Man Collide'."
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There was a follow up story the next day, due to all the criticism from fans.

Label Owner Clarifies His Position On Plans To Release CONTROL DENIED Recordings - Aug. 20, 2005

Guido Heijnens, owner of the now-defunct Dutch record label Hammerheart Records (which has since been "resurrected" under the Karmageddon Media banner), has sent a follow-up statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET addressing some of the criticisms posted by the visitors to this site regarding his decision to press ahead with plans to release the (currently unfinished) recordings originally slated to appear on the sophomore album from CONTROL DENIED, the band formed by the late DEATH mainman Chuck Schuldiner. His latest statement reads as follows:

"We have never ever stated we do not want the album finished the way Chuck wanted it. With all the love in the world, we would like it like that! And we have been trying to get this done for four years now.

"We [Karmageddon Media] are a very small, underground-orientated label. We have thought [about] simply letting all this rest, despite the financial consequences, but…

"The [Schuldiner] family tried to sell the record to another (bigger) company, excluding us, simply thinking we could not do anything [to stop them from doing so]. They did not even have a copy of the contract. We had to fax them proof we actually paid all the money for the recordings (if you want to know, it was $50,000 USD in 2000, which is now 70,000 euros. [Editor's Note: Based on the current currency conversion rate, $50,000 USD is the equivalent of 41,160 euros.]. Average Dutch people earn around 17,000 euros in a year. So do we… We never got rich from owning a label, so… We cannot pay [an artist to make] a record [and then have it released by] a bigger label and not even receive our invested money back.

"I tried, and actually did talk to the [Schuldiner] family, even offered to visit them, talk it all over, but on over ten occasions they did not respond, and when they said they would, they simply did not.

"All those people judging [us] so easily, if I take away you salary for a couple of years' hard work, would you simply let it be? When it gets personal, anyone would agree, I guess.

"The judge agreed on ALL our complaints, everything…. If it was you in our shoes, you would be happy that you were right. And how can we be agreed upon all our complaints? And still some of you think we are the 'evil' ones….?

"[Regarding] Chuck’s music [and] DEATH and CONTROL DENIED, I saw DEATH in 1988 on the 'Leprosy' tour. I spent five days with Chuck, we got along like brothers in metal should and I have absolute nothing against him, his music, his composing or his attitude, not even against his family, but they should treat us fair. And yes, I am still very, very sad Chuck died. It would have obviously been the best for the whole metal world if he could have [released] 50 more records… And, of course, I do understand the grief and pain his family has felt and still feels, but I explained above why we acted as we did.

"Whatever your thoughts [are] on this, and even if you do not believe [anything] I [have to] say, think before speaking up. Do you think it is 'cool' or 'great' to go this way? You know the answer, right? And [regarding] your bad wishes etc. towards me, I would feel bad about it indeed if this was done out of greed, but people who know me know I am not like that at all… That's exactly the reason why Chuck signed with us instead of [with any of] the bigger companies."

As previously reported, Chuck — who passed away in December 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor — began work on the album (tentatively titled "When Machine and Man Collide") in 2001 but never managed to complete the effort before his health quickly deteriorated in the months leading up to his tragic death. The remaining members of the group — bassist Steve DiGiorgio, vocalist Tim Aymar, guitarist Shannon Hamm, and drummer Richard Christy — subsequently announced their desire to complete the CD and release it in Chuck's memory, but legal hassles between Schuldiner's family and Hammerheart Records (to whom Chuck was signed at the time of his death) put the entire project on hold (Karmageddon Media — formerly Hammerheart Records — have since issued various incomplete demo recordings as two separate low-quality albums, "Zero Tolerance" and "Zero Tolerance II").

Jane Schuldiner, mother of late DEATH/CONTROL DENIED frontman Chuck Schuldiner, had previously stated about the unfinished recordings: "[Chuck's]last masterpiece deserves more than to be released as unfinished bits of rehearsal room recordings on CD, or to be grabbed for free on the Internet. It deserves to be finished by the rest of the band and to be released on a full-length album, titled: 'When Machine and Man Collide'."
 
To me, this is stuff that should have never made it to a public read. But I guess this is what happens when so many fans want an explanation and can never get a straight answer...or even one of those "politically correct" answers to buy more time. Honestly I have been sick of trying to explain to people why this isn't getting done. Of course I knew all along this kind of legal battle was going on, but it's not the kind of thing I thought needed to be out in the air. Obviously covering up something for so long can only blow up in a negative way for everyone involved. So now all the "dirty laundry" is out for all to see...well, I still don't know if anything good can come of this. I still wonder if the completion and release of this elusive album will end up being anti-climactic...?

SDG
 
no, hippie i honestly think that releasing this album in a finished form will be incredibly positive and well received with the fans. i know alot of die hards have been trying to follow the story, but alot of them (like myself) don't really care about the drama, and will take finished form no matter what, and are happy to wait for the new disc.
 
the alumnus said:
no, hippie i honestly think that releasing this album in a finished form will be incredibly positive and well received with the fans. i know alot of die hards have been trying to follow the story, but alot of them (like myself) don't really care about the drama, and will take finished form no matter what, and are happy to wait for the new disc.

I really agree with this. Steve, as bad as it may be for the parties involved that the information came out into the open, I don't think it would do anything to weaken the interest in the album. In fact, news of this thing finally coming out (since many knew there was a legal battle between the family and record label anyway) has brought my renewed attention to the subject. As much as I hate to see the family lose, because we all know that they have already been hit financially, I also have a great interest in seeing the album finished. That's one main thing I was worried about when hearing that the label won, feeling that they may just release the bare tracks as is in another Zero Tolerance attempt. I REALLY want to see the CD finished, and just hope they let it get finished correctly.

On a similar subject, I presume that Chuck completed more than was seen on the Zero Tolerance disc, since there would be little reason I could see for the label to want the master tapes unless they contained much that they didn't have already. I hope that Chuck finished his parts and went over them with a fine tooth comb so that this record can really live up to his expectations. I know that all the other members will push themselves as far as they can, just to be sure that what they've put into the record is what Chuck would have expected of them. I think my biggest worry is that while we've seen the demos, we've heard nothing about the lyrics, so hopefully Chuck wrote them. If he hadn't gotten to that, or failed to finish a few songs, I suppose the rest of the members could put it out as instrumental. I just hope it gets done.

But Steve, I know I really appreciate you posting your thoughts. I think a lot of fans are interested in what the people involved have to say, more particularly in the areas of the family and Control Denied members, as we trust them more than a member of the record label. So, thank you.
 
With all the different stories going on on the forums and with the fans, I don't think Hammerheart had a choice but to explain what was going on. It is still difficult to judge who has done right though. And even though the matter seems to be solved now, the accusations by the family and label (and fans I guess) make it worse for everyone involved.

I hope the album will be released soon and that both Chuck's family, the fans, the band members and the record label will be satisfied by the result. Chuck deserves it and to be honest I'm still pretty sure that the album will kick some ass ;)
 
Well, that sucks that the family was ordered to hand over the master tapes. I would hope they could make copies of them before handing them over. This would be good leverage against the record company in case they decide to alter or scrap the recordings. In other words...pull an Ozzy.

The music industry sucks -plain and simple. I've known a lot of good people in it, and I've known a lot more bad people in it. Don't let what happened to D.R.I. happen to Control Denied. They trusted a dual record exec and band manager to hold title to the records and then he sold them out, they can't do anything to the old pre-92 records without the guys approval. Just goes to show you can't trust anyone in this crooked industry.