Death tribute outfit Left To Die have signed a deal with Relapse Records. The collective, whose lineup includes Death veterans Terry Butler (Obituary, etc.) and Rick Rozz (ex-Massacre), alongside Matt Harvey (Exhumed, Gruesome, etc.) and Gus Rios (Gruesome, ex-Malevolent Creation), will be releasing their debut album “Initium Mortis” on July 17th. “Archangel” has just been uploaded as the first single from it and is streaming below.
The aforementioned players had much to say about taking this project to the next level. Harvey stated
“After Gus and I performed Spiritual Healing in its entirety with Terry and James [Murphy], Rick wondered if people might want to hear something similar, but with him joining the three of us to perform Leprosy. Of course, I leapt at the chance to do it, and we quickly threw together a tour which surpassed everyone’s expectations, especially in terms of how much fun we were having playing together.
As we continued to tour throughout the US, Europe, Latin America, Australia, and Asia, people kept asking if we were going to record or write anything. After going back and forth on the topic, we felt that (ahem) exhuming some of these old tracks made the most sense for us, after all, we’re not gonna top Leprosy.
I gleefully combed through the myriad Death / Mantas demos and rehearsals looking for stuff that would make sense for a record, and we ended up going with tunes that we felt would make the most cohesive album, hence why Skill to Kill and Back from the Dead sadly didn’t make the cut. I look at Initium Mortis as a kind of ‘alternate-universe’ version of the Scream Bloody Gore tracklist, as so many of these tunes were circling around the many Death lineups and rehearsals from ’83-’87. In fact, Chuck [Schuldiner] and Chris [Reifert] recorded a version of Legion of Doom for SBG that never got completed. In revisiting these songs, it was crystal-clear to me that Rick‘s fingerprints are all over the Mantas stuff and tunes like Slaughterhouse, so with that connection, the songs where his style really shone through immediately made sense to include on Initium Mortis.”
Butler offered:
“Left To Die went from a thought to doing a full US tour in about 3 months! Pretty remarkable. We wanted to play the early material for the fans that weren’t able to see the first albums in a live setting. There are many young fans at our shows that are hearing the foundation that Death stands on to this day live for the first time! With Matt channeling the best Chuck Schuldiner out there and Gus playing the material perfectly and respectfully we hit the road and haven’t looked back!
For Initium Mortis, we wanted Death fans who never heard these demo songs to hear them with good production. Most of these early demos were recorded on a boom box, so by the time someone got their demo through tape trading it was almost inaudible! We think these tracks are a good representation of the birth of Mantas/Death. This is ground zero – where it all started: three 15 year-old kids creating Death Metal history, and even within these choice cuts from the demo days you can hear the evolution of the music. ‘Archangel’ is a great way to introduce this album. It’s controlled chaos at its finest: catchy and riffy with a killer evil-sounding middle section!”
Rozz added:
“First, I would like to thank Gus, Matt, and Terry for making LEFT TO DIE happen. It’s been an honor and pleasure working with them for the past few years and beyond. It’s really cool to be able to hear these tunes from 1984 properly! The old school Death fans are going to dig this release.”
Rios concluded with:
“The band started simply because Rick called me and asked if I’d be into it… Which I very promptly replied by referencing bears, shit, and woods. I then called Matt and Terry and the rest is history. Death‘s Leprosy record is my favorite death metal album, let alone Death album. To be given this unbelievable opportunity to play those songs with Rick and Terry across the globe is an honor and a blessing I find hard to put in words. Matt and I are living our 14-year-old selves’ Death Metal fantasy!
And now, to make an album with the guys, is flat out surreal. I’m a pretty solid Death fan if I do say so myself, and yet these songs were all new to me. I never really gave the Mantas stuff much of a listen because I’m just not a ‘demo’ production fan. To hear these songs with clean and solid, yet classic analog style production for me is like getting new Death songs… Which rule
“Initium Mortis” track listing:
01 – “Legion Of Doom“
02 – “Archangel“
03 – “Power Of Darkness“
04 – “Zombie“
05 – “Witch Of Hell“
06 – “Rise Of Satan“
07 – “Summoned To Die“
08 – “Mantas“
09 – “Slaughterhouse“
10 – “Death By Metal“
See relapse.com/pages/left-to-die-initium-mortis for pre-orders.
07/31 Brasov, ROM – Rockstadt Extreme Festival
08/02 Kosice, SLO – Colosseum
08/03 Gdansk, POL – Drizzly Grizzly
08/04 Krakow, POL – Hype Park
08/05 Berlin, GER – Frannz Club
08/06 Kortrijk, BEL – Alcatraz Festival
08/07 Osnabrück, GER – Bastard Club
08/08 Jaromer, CZE – Brutal Assault Festival
08/09 Munich, GER – Backstage Halle (Free & Easy)
08/10 Aschaffenburg, GER – Colos-Saal
08/11 Essen, GER – Turock
08/12 Hamburg, GER – Bahnhof Pauli
08/13 Eindhoven, NET – Dynamo Festival pre-Party – Dynamo
Latin American touring will follow this September, with the following routing revealed:
09/02 São Luis, BRA
09/03 Teresina, BRA
09/04 Fortaleza, BRA
09/05 João Pessoa, BRA
09/06 Recife, BRA
09/09 São Paulo, BRA
09/11 Puerto Montt, CHL
09/12 Santiago, CHL
09/13 Concepción, CHL
09/15 Montevideo, URU
09/17 Rosário, ARG
09/18 Buenos Aires, ARG
09/20 Córdoba, ARG
09/22 Lima, PER
09/24 Medellín, COL
09/25 Pereira, COL
09/26 Bogotá, COL
09/27 Cali, COL
09/29 San Salvador, SLV
09/30 Ciudad de México, MEX
