During a recent appearance on “The Zach Moonshine Show” on Metal Devastation Radio, former Death and Massacre guitarist Frederick “Rick Rozz” DeLillo opened up about the upcoming debut album from his current project, Left To Die. The extreme metal supergroup, which features his former Death and Massacre bandmate Terry Butler (currently of Obituary), alongside Gruesome and Exhumed founder Matt Harvey, and former Malevolent Creation drummer Gus Rios, is preparing to release Initium Mortis on July 17 via Relapse Records.
The new full-length release serves as a brutal homage to the earliest days of the Florida death metal scene, featuring fully re-recorded versions of foundational demo tracks from Death and Chuck Schuldiner‘s pre-Death outfit, Mantas.
Reflecting on how the project came to life, Rick Rozz credited his bandmates for doing the heavy lifting, particularly praising Matt Harvey for his extensive historical research and dedication to authenticity.
“Hats off to Matt and Gus and Terry for all that. They put all that together. It’s just an updated mix. The songs are, I’m gonna say 90% like they were back then. Matt really did a lot of research with all those old demos, which he did all the work, man…. Matt learned all the songs, and then some, from the old demos. He pulled out songs, I was, like, ‘Dude, really?’ No, it was crazy, man. Hats off to Matt. And, of course, Gus did a great job, and so did Terry. I was just there. But, yeah, so it’s basically all the old demo tunes from ’83 and ’84 from Mantas and Death re-recorded. It’s not like the songs from then. They’re now… It’s like a modern-sounding demo. You gotta think, that Mantas and Death stuff was recorded on a jam box, dude, outside the garage, with a towel over it,” he explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Revisiting the raw, primal compositions from over four decades ago offered Rick Rozz a fresh perspective on the original musical DNA of the tracks, revealing deep-rooted inspirations from the European and American extreme metal pioneers of the era.
“It’s crazy. I haven’t heard these songs in forever. I was, like, ‘There’s so much Slayer and Venom influence, it’s crazy.’ … Like I said, man, hats off to Matt for literally going down the fricking rabbit hole, as they say, to fricking learn all those old tunes and send me playthroughs and stuff like that so I can learn them. I’m a lazy bastard. But, yeah, man, it’s really cool. I’m stoked. It’s an honor and a pleasure to be jamming with Matt and Gus and Terry, let alone playing all the Leprosy and the Scream Bloody Gore tunes and now doing these old demo tunes, which wasn’t my idea, man. It was Matt. He was talking to somebody else, and all of a sudden he came up with this idea. We talked about it the other day. I don’t remember the cat’s name. And everybody was game, so I was, like, ‘Okay. It’s cool.’ It’s all out of respect for Chuck — Chuck and Kam. Kam sang 80% of those tunes back in the day — and played drums.”
The veteran guitarist candidly admitted that the concept of tracking the ancient material caught him completely off guard. However, he expressed immense gratitude for the relentless work ethic of his bandmates, which ultimately brought Initium Mortis across the finish line.
“It came out of left field for me, man. Like I said, it wasn’t my idea. Just all of a sudden, I was, like, ‘Oh. Okay.’ It’s killer… Like I said, once again, hats off to Matt, man. I’m not fricking kissing his a**. It’s just a fact. That guy is a fricking machine. Just like Terry Butler. And so is Gus. Those guys work their a**es off. I’m just chilling, man, with seven fur kids and a turtle, and some mockingbird eggs out the backyard. That’s all I got,” he added.
According to Rick, Matt’s dedication and work ethic are unmatched and are “the only reason why this record’s out, man… No, he’s great, man. He’s a great personality, a great showman, a great guitar player, and a really great guy, man. He’s patient as a… Unbelievable. I saw him lose his cool once, but he had all the reason in the world to lose it, since I’ve known him for the past three or four years. But, yeah, man, the same thing with Gus and Terry, man. They’re a lot different from me, man. It’s pretty cool. They have a lot more experience. I kind of get a little, not crazy, but a little lippy here and there, but I don’t mean any disrespect and I end up apologizing. I haven’t been fired from the project yet, so I guess I’m okay.”
While Left To Die initially made their mark performing songs from Death‘s seminal 1988 album, Leprosy, and their debut LP, Scream Bloody Gore, their upcoming studio effort dives even deeper into the genre’s history.
Earlier this month, when the new album was first announced, Matt Harvey said:
“After Gus and I performed [Death‘s] Spiritual Healing in its entirety with Terry and James [Murphy at a tribute show to Chuck in 2021], 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 U.S., 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.”
He continued: “I look at Initium Mortis as a kind of ‘alternate-universe’ version of the Scream Bloody Gore track list, as so many of these tunes were circling around the many Death lineups and rehearsals from ’83-’87. In fact, Chuck and Chris [Reifert] recorded a version of ‘Legion Of Doom‘ for Scream Bloody Gore 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.”
Bassist Terry Butler shared his excitement over bringing these vital, raw pieces of heavy metal history to a new generation with proper studio treatment, stating:
“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!”
Butler continued: “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!”
Rick Rozz expressed his gratitude for the project in his own statement:
“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.”
Drummer Gus Rios highlighted the surreal nature of the band’s formation and the sheer sonic impact of finally hearing these formative tracks with clear production. He stated:
“The band started simply because Rick called me and asked if I’d be into it… Which I very promptly replied by referencing bears, s**t, 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 rules!”
Initium Mortis serves as both a celebration of a seminal era and a testament to the enduring camaraderie within the extreme metal scene. The album will be officially released across CD, LP, cassette, and digital formats this July.
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“
