Song
Witch Of Hell
Artist
Left To Die
Left To Die backstory
Originally formed as a live tribute to Death’s legendary Spiritual Healing and Leprosy albums, Left To Die are now on the cusp of releasing their debut album.
Well, it’s a debut of sorts…
Original Death members Terry Butler and Rick Rozz have joined with Exhumed/Gruesome‘s Matt Harvey and Gruesome’s Gus Rios to reanimate songs from Death’s prehistory. Witch Of Hell, Legion Of Doom and Archangel are among the tracks being reborn.
Harvey says he “gleefully combed” through the Death/Mantas demos and rehearsals “looking for stuff that would make sense for a record”.
The result is Initium Mortis, “a kind of ‘alternate-universe’ version of the Scream Bloody Gore track list”, according to the guitarist/vocalist.
In bassist Terry Butler’s own words
“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.
“Witch Of Hell is a straight up banger. No frills; old-school death metal at its finest. This is how it’s done and it would be a blueprint for future death/thrash bands!”
The verdict on Witch Of Hell
Maybe some hardcore Death heads will deem this as sacrilege. But surely more level headed fans will savour the resurrected Witch Of Hell in all its gory glory: it’s a reminder that early DM was insanely catchy and wonderfully direct. It’s a reminder of the genre’s primal power, pulled straight from the source.
The solos slay, drummer Rios brings the thunder and Harvey channels Chuck Schuldiner with aplomb.
Magical stuff.
What’s next for Left To Die?
Initium Mortis will be released via Relapse Records on July 17.
Left To Die are heading out on an extensive European tour this summer, starting at the Rockstadt Extreme Festival in Romania on July 31. They’ll be hitting fests including Alacatraz (August 6) and Brutal Assault (August 8).
Left To Die photo by George Chalupa.