Former CONTROL DENIED Singer, Ex-HAMMERHEART Label Owner Engage In Public War Of Words

Guido Heijnens, owner of the now-defunct Dutch record label Hammerheart Records (which was "resurrected" for a short while under the Karmageddon Media banner),has responded to accusations by former CONTROL DENIED singer Tim Aymar that Hammerheart/Karamageddon "cashed in" on late DEATH/CONTROL DENIED mainman Chuck Schuldiner's death by releasing a couple of compilation albums in the years following Chuck's passing containing rough demo recordings and unfinished studio sessions.

In a statemement that was was published in the latest issue of the Greek edition of Rock Hard magazine (as part of a lengthy tribute article to Chuck),Aymar had the following to say about Hammerheart and the fate of the unreleased second CONTROL DENIED album:

"It was really a kick in the balls what happened with the second [CONTROL DENIED] record. I get so mad I could eat horseshoes when I think about it. Chuck wanted that record finished so badly. He worked on it up until his body would not work anymore. Then he died, and before we could finish it, the fucking record company confiscated it and released it so they could cash in on his death before the novelty wore off. The president of the company kept insisting he get his advance money back or he wanted the masters, and there is no record of the guy ever paying anything out. They went to court over it and the guy still had no proof that he ever paid Chuck anything — not a fucking nickel — and somehow he still won the case and has control of the rights. It really pisses me off how fucking greedy people are.

"What led to him winning the case was that, nobody wanted to shut up about it long enough to let the problem be resolved. Everyone knows that Chuck hated rumors more than anything in this world, but any news that was given about the situation immediately turned into slander and lies, so within a few months after he died, mentioning anything at all was too much of a risk to even consider. There were people saying, 'Jane [Schuldiner, Chuck's mother] said 'this',' or 'Jane said 'that',' when in fact, Jane said nothing, except 'thank you for loving my son, it really hurts badly to have lost him, and how could they do this to us?' Ultimately, all the gossip and rumors from outsiders led to the Schuldiners losing the court case. All the fans wanted was that record, and some of them had no shame in blasting me right [in] the face about it. They didn't care that it was a preliminary demo that Chuck would be rolling in his grave over if he knew that's what the bastards released instead of letting us go ahead and finish it. They didn't care that the record company stole the rights from Chuck's estate, and that his family was suffering from it."

In an e-mail sent to BLABBERMOUTH.NET on Tuesday, January 2, 2007, Heijnens had the following response to Aymar's statement:

"If you read Tim Aymar's nonsense talk at the Greece Rock Hard's [MySpace] page, I just cannot believe my eyes. He is actually blaming us on things.

"Yes, we released two compilations to earn some money back, yes. We have transfered $50,000 back then, the proof on this was sent and faxed to the Schuldiner family, yes, it was paid. Back then $50,000 was in euros 70,000!!!

"Strange huh, we released a few compilations to earn at least our lost interest back....

"We won our lawsuit in Europe, but we cannot proceed in the U.S.A. due to complications (the major one being that the Schuldiner family seems to be broke, so we could never get money, even if a judge would rule so). Sad enough this loss is so big that we had to quit our record label, so thanks a lot Schuldiners, THANK YOU!!! And you too Mr. Aymar, you RULE!!!

"As previously said, there is only one truth and it is simple: We contracted Chuck, he received 70,000 euros (this is no bullshit amount of cash),he started recording, he got ill again and sadly enough passed away. I called Morrisound Studio and [studio co-owner] Jim Morris told me Bethann Schuldiner (Chuck's sister) took the master tapes a few days after Chuck passed away. Chuck's family did not want to hand us the tapes, tried to sell them (again) to another label, who were clever enough to check this with us... So the Schuldiners decided to break all contact off.

"That's it, basically. We never got back our money (nothing, not even any remaining money),nor did we get master tapes. Not an apology, nothing!!!

"In my opinion, these people are the LOWEST of the LOW... including Mr. Aymar with his shitty behaviour...asshole. The band was never asked by the family to complete the recordings as far as I know of.

"Mr. Aymar, before you judge me or the things I do, check with me, please. It is too easy to just be a 'cool' (read CRAP) guy and talk shit (as we all know Chuck's thoughts on rumours and gossip this surprises me a lot, Mr. Aymar seems to be a confused person).

"And what happened to your career now [that] Chuck is gone? Exactly, just as much as you have brains...NOTHING, that is!

"Anyway, THANKS a lot to the Schuldiner family and Empty Words (what a fitting name it is) website and Mr. Aymar (or whatever his name is) for being such unbelievable ASSHOLES and for ruining my record label and lying/cheating to the fans. Once again, you people = SHIT.

"Up to the next memorial, ready to do a stupid calendar, sell some more videos of Chuck's funeral (maybe do a DVD edition with bonus material?),talk great things in press and nonsense like that....all GREAT things, but no records...

"The last and final thing I wish to say in public about this [is], if all those 'cool' people want to memorize and talk, do it!"

To read a portion of the Chuck Schuldiner tribute article which appears in the current issue of Greek edition of Rock Hard magazine, go to this location. In addition to Aymar's words, the article contains statements from some of the people that played with Chuck — such as Kam Lee, Chris Reifert, Terry Butler, Steve DiGiorgio, Richard Christy and Paul Masvidal — plus music industry notables who dealt with Schuldiner, and other musicians, among them Michael Amott (ARCH ENEMY),Niklas Sundin (DARK TRANQUILLITY),Donald Tardy (OBITUARY),Alex Webster (CANNIBAL CORPSE),Trym (EMPEROR),Dan Lilker (NUCLEAR ASSAULT),Kelly Shaefer (ATHEIST),and Tony Choy (ATHEIST, CYNIC).

Schuldiner passed away on December 13, 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor. He was 34 years old.