“I went to Chuck Schuldiner’s house and auditioned. I’m sure I played some of it wrong, but I guess it was close enough!” How Bobby Koelble brought his jazz chops to Death – and made one of the greatest metal albums of all time

Bobby Koelble.

Bobby Koelble joined Chuck Schuldiner’s pioneering metal outfit Death in 1994, leading to Symbolic, an album some call “close to flawless.” But metal wasn’t his only passion – he strapped on a Kramer Pacer as a kid, then later studied jazz at Berklee.

“I’m somehow the product of all those elements, although it honestly wasn’t too focused or intentional,” he says.