Rick Rozz was there at the start, gone before the first album, and back in time for the second. Nearly four decades on, the guitarist says the sequence never bothered him, though he does maintain that some of his work turned up on Scream Bloody Gore without his name attached.
Speaking with Łukasz Dunaj of Poland’s Noise Magazine, Frederick “Rick Rozz” DeLillo covered his years alongside Chuck Schuldiner, the circumstances around his exit from Death, and the band that has him touring those songs again in 2026.
Asked directly whether sitting out the Scream Bloody Gore sessions was something he regretted, Rozz said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):
“No. No regrets. I wrote a couple of riffs and songs on that that I wasn’t credited for. But no — no regrets, man. I thought it was great. Once again, if I would have had any regrets, why would I try to put it back together and go and tour the record with Bill and Terry and Chuck in a van in 1987? And Left To Die is touring in a van again in 2026, so it’s the same thing, 35 years later plus.”
The credit claim is Rozz‘s own account. Scream Bloody Gore, released in 1987, was recorded by Schuldiner with drummer Chris Reifert, with writing credited to Schuldiner.
Dunaj put it to Rozz that there had been friction between the two men in the years before those sessions, given that the guitarist had been out of the band well before it entered the studio. Rozz disputed the framing.
“It wasn’t harsh. I never said any bad things about Chuck when he went and did his own thing, and then we got back together. No, there was nothing harsh. I don’t remember having any harsh words, really, at all. I mean, minor little skirmishes here and there, but it wasn’t much, man. He wasn’t very confrontational, and I wasn’t very confrontational. Maybe things were said behind people’s backs here and there and da, da, da, da. But who cares? It’s child’s fricking play. But harsh? No, man. If it was harsh, I wouldn’t have fricking… When I found out that he was back in town and didn’t have a band, I wouldn’t have approached him and put Death back together for the Scream Bloody Gore tour and to do the Leprosy record with Bill and Terry. So, not to pat myself on the back, but that’s the only reason why that even happened,” Rozz explained.
By his telling, the reunion was his initiative, he heard Schuldiner was back in the area without a band and made the approach. That lineup toured Scream Bloody Gore and cut 1988’s Leprosy with Terry Butler on bass and Bill Andrews on drums.
On what those years were actually like:
“Well, in the beginning, we were kids. Then we got back together and did the Scream Bloody Gore tour with Terry and Bill. Then we did the Leprosy record. And like I said, we were still kids — 20, 21. So, yeah, it was cool. And it was cool working with Bill and Terry as well. It’s a shame you can’t ask Chuck what it was like working with us. I wonder what he would say about that. But, yeah, man, it was a team effort, ’cause not one person’s gonna do a record and not one person is gonna write all the songs. I mean, that does happen, but it didn’t happen with Mantas or a lot of the Death stuff, early Death stuff. But yeah, Chuck was a cool guy, man. Like I said, we were kids. And then he went his own way and he wanted to do his own thing, and he had the right to do that.”
Schuldiner died in December 2001 at 34 following a battle with brain cancer.
Dunaj raised the idea that Left To Die functions as an entry point for listeners too young to have caught the first wave of death metal. Rozz did not accept the label, but appreciated the sentiment.
“ That’s really flattering that you and other people think that way because I don’t think like that. And I’m not meaning that in a negative way. I don’t say, ‘Oh, this is a gateway. This is gonna be something great.’ We had no idea [what the response would be when we first formed Left To Die]. It was all a test. We didn’t know what people were gonna say. But that’s very flattering that people think like that, and they appreciate that,” he said.
He then drew a line between the era he was part of and the one most fans associate with the band’s legacy:
“The glory days of Death weren’t 1983, 1984, 1987 or 1988. Like you said, it started in the late ’80s, maybe the early ’90s, and there was already — what? — maybe at least three or four lineup changes by then. So, yeah, this is a totally different… I understand a different ballgame, but I don’t really put myself in that category other than realizing I was there. Regardless of anything else, I was there in 1983, ’84, whatever happened in ’85, ’86. Got back into it in ’87 with Chuck again a couple of years, with Terry and Bill [Andrews, former Death and Massacre drummer]. And I wouldn’t change a thing, man. ‘Cause what was meant to be was meant to be, and what happened happened, and you can’t change that. You can’t go, ‘Oh, s**t, I wish I would’ve done that.’ But yeah, well, you didn’t. So there’s no wishes. It’s cool. What happened happened, and I have nothing but respect for everybody that I’ve jammed with and played shows with and did records with. Which isn’t a bunch — it’s only a little moment in my life, but it’s pretty fricking cool that it’s… S**t, like I said, over 35 years later, it’s coming back around for some strange reason. Okay, I’ll embrace it with some really cool people.”
The band puts Rozz back with Terry Butler, his old Death and Massacre bandmate, now a member of Obituary. Filling out the lineup are Gruesome founders Matt Harvey of Exhumed and drummer Gus Rios, formerly of Malevolent Creation.
It began as a live proposition, performing Leprosy in full, later adding Spiritual Healing, and the response pushed it further than anyone planned. The group has since played the United States, Europe, Latin America, Australia and Asia.
Butler described the pace at the time of the album announcement: “Left To Die went from a thought to doing a full U.S. tour in about three months! Pretty remarkable. We wanted to play the early material for the fans that couldn’t 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!”
‘Initium Mortis’
The debut album arrived July 17 through Relapse Records on CD, vinyl, cassette and digital. Rather than new compositions, it gives proper studio treatment to material from the Mantas and early Death demo and rehearsal tapes of 1983 to 1987 — songs that circulated for decades only as barely audible dubs.
Mantas was Schuldiner‘s pre-Death outfit, with Rozz on guitar and Kam Lee handling vocals and drums.
Butler explained the reasoning behind the project: “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.”
Initium Mortis tracklist:
- “Legion Of Doom“
- “Archangel“
- “Power Of Darkness“
- “Zombie“
- “Witch Of Hell“
- “Rise Of Satan“
- “Summoned To Die“
- “Mantas“
- “Slaughterhouse“
- “Death By Metal“
