Legendary heavy metal drummer Gene Hoglan has opened up about his deeply mixed feelings regarding his involvement in the 2016 documentary “Death By Metal“. While the film was meant to celebrate the life and profound musical legacy of late Death mastermind Chuck Schuldiner, the veteran percussionist recently revealed that he was pressured to share negative stories about his former bandmate on camera.
During a new interview with the “IMPACT Metal Channel“, the iconic drummer, who laid down the thunderous rhythm sections on Death‘s landmark studio albums Individual Thought Patterns (1993) and Symbolic (1995), explained why the highly publicized documentary never sat right with him. Instead of looking fondly back on the movie, he pointed to a more recent television project as a far superior representation of the band’s history.
“There was a [2025 eight-part docuseries] on the American sort of cable network Hulu — it’s an American streaming service, Hulu — that’s called ‘Into The Void[: Life, Death & Heavy Metal]‘, that I thought did a really good documentary on Chuck that’s a decent one,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Reflecting on the filming process for “Death By Metal“, Gene Hoglan recalled a highly uncomfortable encounter that took place before he even sat down for his on-camera interview in Toronto.
“I never had a good taste in my mouth about the Chuck documentary because one of the people who was very prominently displayed in the documentary, and also very — I’ll say flat out — unfortunately mistakenly displayed throughout the eras of Death, in the mid-2000s and things like that, where that person came to all of us the morning of our filming,” he revealed.
Hoglan continued: “We filmed that thing in Toronto, ’cause that’s where the company was based that was filming it, playing a show in Toronto, and I was told, ‘Hey, throw Chuck under the bus,’ essentially. Like, ‘Tell all the dirt stories and all the… Just don’t hold back.’ And I’m, like, ‘Why would anybody do that? Why would anybody request that?’ Maybe they wanted some controversy in the film, but I tell you, I’m… Controversy and me, I have no desire to get involved in any form of controversy or try to tell some dirt or anything like that, ’cause I have none. So that’s why I have my versions of the way I saw things, and I’m always able to find a way to express what I feel.”
He further detailed his outright refusal to engage in character assassination, standing firmly by his principles despite the alleged prodding.
“But if it means mudslinging, as it is called, I had no desire to do that. So that’s why when I’m doing my interview, those words are just echoing in my head from three hours earlier. ‘Yeah, throw Chuck under the bus.’ I’m just, like, ‘Why would you of all people be telling me that? … I don’t trust you, I don’t like you, I don’t think you should even be involved in this project ever.’ And now that it’s a few years later, it’s being established that people are realizing, ‘You’re right. That person should have never been involved in this thing.’ So, that’s the way I see it.”
Rather than leaning into sensationalism, Hoglan insisted that the groundbreaking catalog he helped craft should remain the primary focus of any historical retrospective. For the veteran drummer, the extreme nature of early death metal is compelling enough without fabricating backstage drama.
“I have no desire to try to create some controversy. The music… Is not death metal controversial enough? The music will speak for itself. I don’t need to be trying to add to its narrative, either good or bad. It’s like I can report the facts as I see them, and so that’s what I chose to do in that movie. But if people like the movie, great. I know the people involved in making the movie, they wanted to make a movie about Chuck. Kickass. Good job. It was some of the behind-the-scenes just whisperings in ears that were unappreciated by me. So that’s why my whole interview in that, I’m just, like, ‘Screw you, dude.’ That kind of thing. So there you go,” he concluded.
