Speaking on a recent episode of his “Beyond The Massacre Podcast,” Kam Lee reflected on the roots of death metal and where Death fits into the genre’s early development. Lee, who was part of an early incarnation of Death and its predecessor Mantas alongside Chuck Schuldiner and guitarist Frederick “Rick Rozz” DeLillo, offered his perspective while discussing the genre’s formative influences.
During the conversation, Lee referenced a recent interview with Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster and addressed the long-standing debate over death metal’s origins, particularly the impact of Slayer. Lee explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “I recently saw [an interview with] Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse [where he said] that all early death metal comes from the Slayer camp. And it’s true — it’s true. To deny that — you’re a complete pr*ck if you deny that. It is true. I mean, Slayer is Slayer because it’s Slayer. So, yes, the blueprint, I’ll just say the blueprint — maybe not the foundation, but definitely the blueprint comes from Slayer.”
After Kam‘s co-host Pete noted that Scandinavian death metal didn’t have the “groove” of the Florida death metal, Lee concurred. He said: “Scandinavia definitely took more of the crust punk direction, the D-beat. I was doing that too. When I heard Discharge… Between the time we were Mantas, when we were really cloning Venom and I was still playing kind of Misfits drumbeats, kind of punk drumbeats, stuff like the Ramones, even going back to the Ramones and stuff, I was playing [those kinds of] drum beats. And then I heard [Discharge‘s debut album] ‘Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing‘. And I was, like, ‘That’s what I wanna do.’ And that was in the process in between Mantas becoming Death, and I really wanted to do that and push the envelope. That’s why [early Mantas] songs went from stuff like ‘Demon Flight’ and stuff like ‘Mantas’ and stuff like ‘Rise Of Satan’ to being more aggressive. Even ‘Legion Of Doom’ is very groovy… But we really didn’t pick up until we started writing [Death‘s] ‘Reign Of Terror’ demo, because my drumming influence back then was much more aggressive. I was listening to more D-beat drumming, a lot of stuff coming out of England, which really influenced my faster drumming until eventually… Some of the songs that are on that — of course ‘Corpse Grinder’ was written on that demo. And then ‘Summoned To Die’, ‘Witch Of Hell’. And then what really honed it in was when Chuck wrote ‘Beyond The Unholy Grave’. And then we really wanted to kind of branch out at that point, as far as music-wise. ‘Cause Chuck was becoming a better musician. And it was obvious. You could hear it. I mean, you could hear the different correlation between what Chuck was writing and what Rick was writing. But Chuck experimented. I mean, ‘Reign Of Terror’ was Chuck‘s song. It sounds nothing like anything else. The song itself ‘Reign Of Terror’, not the demo. I mean, a lot of the stuff on the demo Freddie wrote. The faster, more double-picking stuff is what Freddie wrote. The more intricate note stuff is stuff that Chuck wrote.”
Lee went on to argue that Massacre possessed a distinctive balance of groove, chug, and speed — elements he feels are often missing from much of today’s death metal scene. “That’s the blueprint right there,” he explained. “And I’m not ripping on anybody that’s come along in Massacre later and tried to write stuff, but one element that’s missing, and I don’t know what the technical term is. I’m a drummer. I don’t know the technical… I’m not even a drummer anymore. Again, the blueprint goes back to Slayer. It’s the Slayer breaks. Massacre has the Slayer breaks. And what that is, is the music goes, it flows, and then it has this break or breakdown, and then it goes into something else, then has a break again, then goes into something else. A lot of musicians now try to write it all as one flowing thing that just goes from one thing to the other and they forget about those, what I call the Slayer breaks — the really quick stops.”
Kam Lee — a key figure in the earliest chapters of death metal — is set to revisit the genre’s origins in a major live project centered on Mantas historic Death By Metal demo.
Titled “Massacre Plays Mantas Death By Metal Demo,” the set serves as a direct link to death metal history, with Lee returning as the original vocalist and drummer from the legendary recording. Backed by Massacre, he will deliver the demo in its entirety, channeling the raw, unpolished aggression that characterized Florida’s early death metal scene. It marks the first time Lee has performed this seminal material live in full, giving fans a rare opportunity to experience it as it was originally conceived.
The debut performance of “Massacre Plays Mantas Death By Metal Demo” is scheduled for Kill-Town Death Fest XI, taking place September 3–6, 2026, at Pumpehuset in Copenhagen, Denmark.
