Gruesome Death Metal – Gus Rios of Gruesome


Photo Credit: Niuvis Martin

Photo Credit: Niuvis Martin

Paying tribute to the almighty Death and their founder Chuck Schuldiner has come in many forms in recent years, as their music has helped shape an extreme form of heavy metal that new generations of fans have grown to love to perform and worship the lifestyle that was created.

For the members of Gruesome, they rediscovered their love of the band and wrote music that paid homage to one of the originators of the genre. Band drummer Gus Rios talked about what Schuldiner’s music meant to him growing up.

Dude it would so fun if we fucking wrote songs that sounded like Death. I remember getting the first demo going ‘is this dude like totally doing séances with Chuck or what? What’s going on?’ The riffage is really authentic sounding, which made me wanna play drums in that span and falling for it. I even tuned my drums different. It brought out this old style of playing drums and it sounded better. He had no idea that it would turn into something as big as it has.

gruesome gus rios

He explained how he and vocalist/guitarist Matt Harvey (also of Exhumed) originally began this project around a demo of ideas and spawned from there. Those tunes are now featured on their debut album Savage Land.

Matt did the first DTA (Death To All) and I was a guest drummer on the second DTA. Exhumed played one of those shows and I was playing ‘Baptized in Blood’ every night and he liked the way I played that old school style song.

So me and him got hammered that night and just kind of chatted about how much we loved old school music. He’s my same exact age. We literally grew up listening to all of the same exact stuff and obviously we really loved Death’s first three records…Human too. It was one of those drunk, ‘it would be awesome if…’

gruesome live

Before Gruesome, a few different ideas were attempted and did not come together due to various factors. So instead Gruesome was born.

So I tried putting together a Leprosy DTA with Rick Rozz and Terry Butler with me and Matt. That fell through and Matt kind of jokingly said ‘dude let’s write our own songs.’

The ideas sat around for a while. I quit Malevolent [Creation] in February of [2014]. I actually thought about it and I sent him a message on Facebook and went ‘remember that crazy idea…?’ I guess a week or two later maybe he sent me the first demo and I went ‘damn…this motherfucker’s got some really good ideas.’ So I recorded drums for it because I have a studio. I sent it back to him and he went ‘this might actually be good.’

gruesome dan gonzalez

The next person to come into the fold was Daniel Gonzalez (Possessed), who instantly became the guy to handle the lead guitars on their newly crafted music.

Then he wrote another song and then we were like ok. I called Dan Gonzalez and I said ‘hey I think we might do something with this. We need a guy that can clone Chuck and James [Murphy], which is a tall order. Dan’s a really good guitar player. So he’s like ‘yeah I’m down.’ Then we immediately contacted Eric Greif, longtime Death manager and asked for his blessing. ‘This is what we want to do because we love Death. It’s sounding pretty cool.’ He was super cool about it. He totally gave us his blessing and he’s like ‘let’r rip. Hail Chuck.’

gruesome death metal

Once they got music completed, they pitched the idea to Relapse Records. While they were into the idea of releasing the album, there was briefly some hesitation over whether fans would accept such a record to be released.

Relapse loved it, and still even then we recorded the album and still we were like…’what if people hate us?’ You know what I mean? This is some hollow ground we’re treading on. Are people going to understand that we’re really not cashing in on someone. I mean its death metal – nobody’s cashing in.

The short version of it is apparently people understand that we’re coming from a genuine place and this is just…Matt said it once [that] this is our nerdy love letter to Death. If Chuck could hear us from beyond the grave this is our way of saying ‘dude your music changed our lives.’

For me it’s the funnest band I’ve ever been in, as far as loving the style. Leprosy is my favorite death metal album. If there ever was a band that I wish I could be in was Death, then now is as close as I could ever get.

Rios elaborated on Gonzalez’s role within Gruesome and how his guitar playing became a staple part of their sound.

Dan plays in Possessed. He lives and works in Miami where I work. He’s also an engineer so it was like Dan is a good enough guitar player where he didn’t need Matt to show him the riffs. He just learned the riffs and he recorded all of the guitars and he made demos. Actually it’s funny that in the emails with the songs, it was like solo one Murphy, solo two Schuldiner. Matt knew what kind of style he wanted Dan to emulate for whatever part he was trying. That was Dan’s job was to get inside the head of these dudes. We’re kind of like method acting a little bit. Like me on the drums – I’m thinking ‘what would Bill Andrews do here?’ You know what I mean – which is a very simplistic way of doing it, and which is not exactly the way how I naturally play I guess. It was fun – super cool and something that was out of my normal world. I remember recording the album with a smile on my face going ‘this is awesome!’ It’s fun death metal.

gruesome robin mazen

The final piece was bassist Robin Mazen, a veteran of the Tampa death metal scene and someone who came up within the classic scene. She instantly became interested in taking part and became a vital part of the band.

[With] Robin I played in a band with when I was 15 years old. That’s how far back I go with her. Not to get into that kind of politics but I know what it’s like to tour in a van with dudes that I maybe don’t get along with so well. I just wanted to surround myself, if it was a touring situation, with people who were genuinely friends. Robin’s the coolest chick in metal. Anybody who knows her would tell you. She’s fucking awesome. That was a no brainer.

Robin knew Chuck, lives in Tampa. She is as old school as any of us. She goes way back and I knew she would immediately get it. When she heard the demo, she’s like ‘this fucking rules!’ Actually it was her that said ‘watch this is going to be huge.’ We’re the guys making it. She had an outsider’s perspective on it. She was the one going ‘watch this thing is going to take off!’ I’m like ‘uhhh…it’s not really original.’ Nobody’s going to ever say Gruesome is an original band. We’re literally just reading Death’s playbook and trying to do what we think he would have done and in between the years of ’88 and ’89 really. Chuck would have never written songs like this, had he still remained alive – probably not.

gruesome savage land studio

While Gruesome was originally unintended on becoming a full time touring band, due to Harvey’s commitments with Exhumed, Rios admits they did a lot more than they anticipated. Their recent brief US tour this past summer crossed paths with a lot of new fans along the way.

Not really I don’t think. We figured maybe we’d do a festival here and there. Nobody anticipated the demand. I mean when the record came out, I remember Relapse was like with the presales ‘we sold out of the white vinyl in six hours.’ We went ‘really? People are gonna dig this.’ We had no idea. We’re just doing what we do. Obviously I’m super happy and obviously now we’re probably going to do another record next month and next year we’re probably going to see a bunch of more shows. He’s still got Exhumed so it’s never going to be a band that tours nonstop kind of a thing. It will be probably like select one offs, maybe one full US run, one full European run and festivals kind of a thing.

I think that will be cool because it will always keep the demand there. When Gruesome comes to town, it won’t be like every other day or every other month, or even three times a year. Plus me and Dan have real jobs and we can’t bail out whenever we want. Again we’re not really cashing in. I can’t quit my day job.

Lastly, he shared some of the interesting moments they experienced on their recently tour and talked about some of the interesting people they crossed paths with along the way.

I’ve gotta say playing ‘Born Dead’ with Terry Butler. I actually got goose bumps. I remember as a kid watching the Ultimate Revenge video…rewind – play – rewind – play. Death, for me…Slayer got me into this but when I heard Death, I was like – I found where I wanted to go in life. To be able to play a song from that era with the dude who was in it. He’s the legend.

I remember the whole song. If someone told the 14 year old me that this was going to happen one day, I would be like shut the fuck up. So that was a super highlight.

And today I got to meet Mike McGill. He’s an old skateboard legend. He skated in the Tony Hawk team in the late 80s called the Bones Brigade. I went to his skate shop today. It’s a Sunday and I don’t expect him to be there. I just wanted to buy some McGill Skate Shop t-shirts and the kid behind the counter was like ‘you want him to sign the shirts?’ I was like ‘the fuck? Is he here?’ I actually bought a deck! Sign a deck! I don’t care what it costs to take it home. I met Mike McGill. So that was pretty cool.

By Rei Nishimoto

 

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Tormenter – Prophetic Deceiver


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Hailing from Los Angeles, Tormenter (with an e, not an o) had an album and two EP’s under their belt ahead of Static Tension picking up sophomore album Prophetic Deceiver, which was originally self-released at the tail end of last year. And, fair play to them, they’ve picked up an album laden with quality non-cliché thrash, and while the band had previously flown under the radar, this is definitely a release that deserves to be promoted and pushed.

While Biotoxic Warfare may have already stolen the prize of this year’s surprise thrash package, Tormenter nevertheless have a very worthwhile product on their hands. Steeped in the aggressive tropes of Kreator, with the throaty barks of Carlos Rodelo adding the sharpest of teeth to the whirl of riffs and taut precision of Thomas Bonilla’s percussion, a further ace in the hole is Kory Alvarez and his Steve di Giorgio styled bass walks augmenting the sound with class.

The spirit of Schuldiner presides throughout, ingrained in the violence, an intrinsic and regular marker, but it is in the ball park of German thrashery and less staccato, more progressive music that Tormenter play, with Beneath The Remains (Roadrunner)  a ready comparator. In amongst some lock-jaw, rhythmic right-wrist pace songs loop off with 80’s Megadeth melodic fish-hooks before lurching into the crunch, and there are several welcome moments of diversity. Other tracks are spiky, technical numbers with more than an off-beat nod to the Scandinavian grind of the early 90’s.

That said, considering the seriousness and attack of the music, it’s a shame Tormenter have such a stock name and album cover, as the barrage of constricted riffage is serious, caustic and full of intent.   Yet, ignoring such peripherals leaves a release that has served not just to, rightly, get Tormenter noticed, but put them firmly on the map. Should they bring something different to the image and visuals, and with further progression and development of their song-writing by working on incorporating more of the …And Justice For All (Vertigo) dark, progressive elements of their sound, Tormenter could make an even bigger impression next time around.

 

7.0/10

 

STEVE TOVEY


Biotoxic Warfare – Lobotomized


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Separating a cynical copy-cat retro band from one who are reproducing the sounds and styles they deeply and passionately love can be a difficult task – the former approach smacks of creative redundancy, whereas the latter shows a celebration of a style and a desire to add to the legacy. Biotoxic Warfare, you’ll no doubt be pleased to hear, fall resoundingly into the second of those categories, with their joyous revisit of dark thrash on their debut full length, Lobotomized (Static Tension).

There are no prizes for guessing the Greek thrashers main influence (from ‘Chemical…’ to Biotoxic Warfare in, oh, 0.666 moves), but when they deliver the big riffs, with intricate attention to detail, such as the cuts to one guitar to bridge a section, or when to hit the Dave Lombardo double-bass drum groove, it’s easy to think they have sat down and thought to themselves “Slayer have been disappointing for twenty years, let’s write the album we wish they’d made after Seasons In The Abyss” (DefJam).

Indeed, speaking the Slaytanic ones, the album kicks off with the ‘Criminially Insane’ drum beat, though, boo, sadly we don’t get ‘Criminally Insane’. What we do get is a 3 minute intro that lets us know the band aren’t as silly as their throwback name implies, touching on some grade A Chuck Schuldiner riffing and Chris Poland lead phrasing.

The album ladles dark thrash in big servings, and Biotoxic Warfare provide aggressive choppy riffing, spiralling from Dark Angel to Kreator to (pre-Roots, natch) Sepultura (‘Baptised In Blood & Greed’ in particular showing some well-crafted Beneath The Remains (both Roadrunner) worship, before adding some cold Dissection bite in the form of ‘Dysphoric Reality’, which also possesses some big chugs, a big bridging groove, and some di Giorgio esque bass plunking cutting through.

When thrash made its throwback comeback with a plethora of idiots in radioactive shorts, it was easy to overlook the valid and vital contribution of the good hard, chunky, aggressive and serious mid-to-late 80’s thrash that Biotoxic Warfare have lovingly and fervently recreated, and rather than apeing a bygone genre, have added to in a most febrile  and welcome fashion.

 

8.0/10

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STEVE TOVEY


King Parrot – Dead Set


King Parrot - Dead Set

King Parrot do not fuck around. A quick drum fill, a few stabbed guitar chords of an intro and we are into the full-on no fucks given, no quarter asked nor given, modern crossover thrash violence of minute and a half like opening track ‘Anthem of the Advanced Sinner’, a song with a mid-section chug that recalls the classic head-snap of ‘Raining Blood’.

Mention thrash and people think of a creatively limited genre, mention crossover and people think of retro, mention a combination of the two and we tend to think we’ve heard it before. King Parrot couldn’t give a shit what you think you’ve heard before; born with more than enough middle fingers and ‘tood in fucking truckloads, they parade and stamp jagged anthems like broken glass into your ugly face. This is no quickstep of obvious moves, ‘Need No Saviour’ could be Exodus covering Morbid Angel, before lurching into The Great Southern Trendkill (EastWest) silt and swamp stomp, while ‘Reject’ swills punk around their mouth, before spraying out venom.

Thrash and hardcore are, to this King, to coin a phrase, just the beginning.

Matthew Young spits and tantrums all over the album, like a wound-up “Blitz” Ellsworth having been given a cheeky slap while three sheets to the wind and denied the chance to exact revenge, stomping around destroying the bar while mosh anthem after fight song barrel from the speakers.

Don’t think, though, this is an uneducated rageathon. Dead Set (Housecore) is focused and scripted, Ari White and Andrew Livingstone-Squires ripping choice cuts of classic Death Metal Massacre and Schuldiner riffs and thrashing them up, with Young switching up his yelp with a kidney-punch growl in the grinding menace of ‘Home Is Where The Gutter Is’, while ‘Sick In The Head’ is Bay Area at its most feral meets Sick Of It All.

Ultimately success in this type of arena still relies on songwriting, riffs people want to hear again and an X-Factor of energy and conviction, all of which the Parrot deliver in spades. There is defined Hannemann/King influence in the spiky riffing, but King Parrot bring their own grime to leave their own indelible mark over one of the most refreshing, visceral, unhinged-yet-concentrated and memorable hits from the underground and below this year.

 

8.5/10

King Parrot on Facebook

 

STEVE TOVEY


UnKured – Mutated Earth


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Hailing from Ohio, US death/thrash outfit Unkured self-released their sophomore album, Mutated Earth, late last year. Sliptrick Records has signed the band and re-released the album to give it a better chance of reaching a wider audience.

Currently a two-piece consisting of Cody Knarr (Vocals & Guitars) and Ben Stanton (Bass) after the recent departure of Adam Green (Drums) the band are progressively-leaning Thrash/death crossover outfit with some big ambitions.  Knarr’s vocals are very reminiscent of Chuck Schuldiner’s tortured screams, both in sound and phrasing, while the music behind it is equally adventurous as Schuldiner’s later albums with Death.

An ever-changing maelstrom of riffs, no two minutes on Mutated Earth are the same, let along two tracks.  From the opening assault of the title-track, Mutated Earth is a swirling barrage of staccato shredding, blast beats and snarling vocals. It’s relentless but the sheer volume of riffs on offer keeps this sounding fresh.

Aside from the heavy Death influences and a general aura of 90s death metal, there are moments recalling classic Slayer and the occasional nod the more melodic elements of Gothenburg-based melo-death, especially in the solos. The likes of ‘Anti-Terraforming’, ‘…Into Crumbling Ruin’ and ‘They Live, We Sleep’ are vicious but intricate, combining the seriously brutal with some impressively technical musicianship – especially on the solos and in the outgoing Green’s drumwork.

There’s nothing resembling hooks or choruses; this is complex and demands your attention to be fully appreciated. Mutated Earth is heavy, ambitious and adventurous. Not afraid to show off its influences, it balances paying tribute without being derivative better than most. Well worth a listen if you want to hear the music of Death brought back to life for 45 minutes.

 

8/10

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DAN SWINHOE


Gruesome Streaming “Savage Land”


Photo Credit: Niuvis Martin

Photo Credit: Niuvis Martin

Death inspired metal collective Gruesome is streaming “Savage Land”, off their debut album of the same name, out April 21, 2015 via Relapse Records below.

Channeling inspiration from one of death metal’s iconic, founding American acts, Death, into their own mangled interpretation, Gruesome’s Savage Land, a truly horrid slab of late-‘80s/early-‘90s Florida-styled death metal created in homage to the late Chuck Schuldiner’s early masterworks, humbly determined to keep the band’s sound alive as authentically as possible.

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Apocrophex – Suspended From The Cosmic Altaar


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I wonder if Justin Buell was the sort of guy who was naturally brilliant at everything at school, too? Well, either which way, he sure knows his way around a Death Metal release, providing guitars, bass and programming (I’m assuming from that, the drumming, though phenomenal, is not played by human hands and feet – not that this should detract from the overall praise for this release) as well as mixing and mastering a very pro sounding recording.

Ably backed up by the cleverly pitched vocals of Pete Colucci, Suspended From The Cosmic Altaar (Manicidic) is the debut release of New Jersey duo/project Apocrophex, and it makes a damn fine impression. Sitting comfortably in the Technical Death Metal field, where Apocrophex prove themselves more than able and one to watch is in their ability to be both dextrous of finger and riff, but without sacrificing their ability to pull together listenable and hook-laden, extreme songs.

Technical Death Metal is not just about string-skipped riffs, but about nailing the grooves and giving the listener something to latch onto. Well aware of this, in amongst the taut-to-the-point-of-snapping riffs sit dark discordant melodies, Apocrophex have moments of Morbid Angel’s complex but indelible from the brain once drilled in riffage, and pay reverence to the king and master of the balance of technicality and memorable extreme metal writing, Chuck Schuldiner with ‘Evidence of a Desolate Planet’ falling to its knees at the Human (Relativity/Relapse) altar. Elsewhere,  there is an awareness of the role of atmospherics with  touches of classic Dissection The Somberlain (No Fashion), adding even more succulent fruit to the pie.

Whether this is a first album or not, Suspended From The Cosmic Altaar would still have made a positive impression; it maintains consistency throughout and is one of the most listenable Death Metal releases for a while. Managing to sound distinctive, referential, be technically precise and memorable is a pretty difficult gig to get these days, but Mr Buell has proven his capability and ability to do just that.

 

7.5/10

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STEVE TOVEY


How the Goat found its Voice(s) – Sam Loynes of VOICES


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When spilling the beans about their critically acclaimed second album London (Candlelight), Voices guitarist Sam Loynes walked Ghost Cult through his own metal journey, and then onto how Voices was spawned from the ashes of the empire that was Akercocke

Where did the journey to Voices and current album London start from?

The band that got me into heavy metal, the band that got me to being a long-haired teenage twat smoking draw way too young was Metallica. No two ways about that. Metallica and Megadeth. I remember when I first heard ‘Blackened’ and ‘One’, at the time it was as extreme as anything I’d ever heard! In the same way that a few years later when I heard Akercocke and thought “This is the most extreme thing ever”, so ‘One’ did that for me then. After that, Master of Puppets is the most important record in my heavy metal upbringing prior to going into left-field stuff, then definitely Emperor and Death as the gateway, the ones that got me into extreme music and what I then went into.

I can hear a fair bit of Schuldiner in your riffs – the off time, the note patterns and structures…

That’s awesome man, thank you. Death are as close to an acute influence on my playing and Dave (Gray – drums)’s playing as it gets. There are other choice bands we try to emulate but without copying or assuming we can get anywhere near creating songs those guys did.

Have you heard the new Napalm (Death)? The fucking sound of that new Napalm is amazing. Have you seen them live before? I don’t know what it is, but they just blow everyone else off stage when it comes to extremity, and I was trying to realize what it was, to tap into it, and it’s fucking conviction. They play a headline show with a bunch of other bands supporting them, younger bands, and they may be technically better, or they may be faster, or whatever, but it just doesn’t come across. Soon as you hear Napalm Daeth, the punk rock influence elevates it to an unrivalled level of extremity. Totally unrivalled. There’s only a few others, perhaps, maybe Converge can do it, but fucking Napalm Death live is the best thing ever. Oh, mate, you must check them out.

akercocke

Coming on from your influences, you joined your current band mates Dave Gray and Pete Benjamin in Akercocke as their line up changed. First up, I’ve heard many different pronunciations of the “old band”, so, horse’s mouth, what is it…?

Ack – er – cock – err is how we pronounced it in the band

It’s an association that will always exist for Voices, but does the retained interest in Akercocke continue to surprise you?

I’m just a fan of the band. I was lucky enough to play with them in their last wave, though I’d known them for a number of years, but I was just a fan of the band like everyone else. But the legacy, the fact that people hark back to the Akercocke and say our sound is reminiscent of it sometimes, is all complimentary to me. They’re still an influence on me, particularly Jason’s playing and singing, so I only see the association as a positive thing, but we take that legacy and are looking to move forward with Voices. We are trying to establish ourselves with our own identity, which is happening.

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So, what happened with the transition to Voices, and the unwinding of Akercocke?

Unwinding is the right word, the best way to describe it. There wasn’t any specific moment or thing that led to it. Myself, Dave and Pete wanted to continue jamming whilst Jason (Mendonca – guitars/vocals) was in a position where, well, life took over. It got to the stage where we were trying to meet up weekly (with Jason) and it wasn’t happening, so we thought “While we’re here, let’s get some music together”. There was no intention to bring it into a band scenario, but between the three of us, some songs started to form. We realized it had serious legs to it and we wanted to pursue it while seeing if Akercocke would continue, because we didn’t know what would happen there because Akercocke is Jason’s thing.

What we were doing, organically became songs and then within a couple of months a whole album. It happened like that, quick but naturally and organically. There was a general idea to do something more minimal and primal, moving away from the progressive metal that Akercocke was steeped within. We wanted to strip it back and do a cold, harsh black metal band, but at the same time, not shy away from the disposition that Ak always had of doing something a little punky, a little avant-garde, and being open minded, while stripping it back from the complexities that Akercocke pursued.

We were definitely comfortable having played with each other for a number of years and in the same rehearsal space, but it wasn’t like we were looking to do material that would be the next Akercocke, because obviously Jason’s the man when it comes to Ak. So it was “let’s do something a bit different and see where it goes from there”. There was no attempt to re-do Akercocke, and there’s no way we could have done that as they were such an idiosyncratic band, but we have a musical language and understanding between us, which was why it was so fruitious in the early stages.

Do you think Akercocke is an entity that will be revisited?

I don’t have the authority to say one way or the other, but you just never know. Jason’s still a great musician who loves to play, Dave still loves to play, so it all depends on life and if it’s something they want to revisit, or just leave it with the legacy it has. I say, never say never, but right now, Voices is what’s happening and it seems unlikely Ak is going to return anytime soon. But like most other people, I’m saying fingers crossed for some point.

 

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Words by STEVE TOVEY


Death To All Tour Kicks Off Tonight, Gene Hoglan Replaces Sean Reinert


DTA fall 2014 tour poster

In just a few hours, the latest incarnation of the Death To All Tour (DTA) kicks off at Seattle’s legendary Studio Seven venue. Dubbed the “Swamp Leper Stomp Tour”, joining this celebration of the music of Death for the tour are Obituary, Massacre, and Rivers of Nihil. Fromer Death drummer Gene “The Atomic Clock” Hoglan has just announced as a last minute fill in for Sean Reinert (Cynic, Death), who will miss the tour due to an undisclosed illness.

A full list of tour dates is below. The tour is the brain child of former Death manager, producer, and caretaker of Chuck Schuldiner’s legacy and estate, Eric Grief.

 

 

Official Press release: 

Current Death (DTA) drummer Sean Reinert has been forced to leave the Swamp Leper Stomp tour today due to health reasons. Former Death drummer Gene Hoglan will take his place starting tonight in Seattle. Death lawyer Eric Greif broke the news saying “We wish Sean all the best and that his health will bounce back quickly!”


The Swamp Leper Stomp Tour featuring Floridian death metal legends
Death (DTA), Obituary and Massacre plus Pennsylvania newcomers Rivers of Nihil is easily THE death metal tour of the year. Conceived by Eric Greif, lawyer for the Estate of Death’s Chuck Schuldiner, Obituary and Massacre, as a means of getting old friends and musical comrades together; the Swamp Leper Stomp Tour kicked off last weekend in Los Angeles, CA and has already seen sellouts in two of the three markets. The three week tour includes a series of dates in Western Canada with additional support fromUntimely Demise and wraps up in Miami, FL on December 7th. A complete listing of dates is available below including additional dates with just Death (DTA).

The Death (DTA) line-up for this tour continues to carry on the torch of Death’s musical legacy, bringing the timeless music of Chuck Schuldiner to Death fans young and old. Consisting of legendary former Death members Gene Hoglan (Drums), Steve Di Giorgio (Bass) and Bobby Koelble (Guitar) with the addition of Cynic’s Max Phelpson guitar and vocals, the group’s set will consist of a cross section of the Death catalog, with songs from every album.

Death have recently seen an exhaustive reissue of their iconic catalog via Relapse Records, with 1988’s Leprosy being the most recent album to receive the deluxe treatment. All of the reissues can be streamed via the official Death Bandcamp page HERE and purchased direct from Relapse HERE along with an exclusive line of Death merch.

Swamp Leper Stomp ’14 Tour Dates:

Nov 18 Seattle, WA Studio Seven
Nov 19 Vancouver, BC The Rickshaw Theatre w/ Untimely Demise
Nov 21 Calgary, AB MacEwan Ballroom w/ Untimely Demise
Nov 22 Regina, SK Riddell Centre w/ Untimely Demise
Nov 23 Winnipeg, MB Park Theatre w/ Untimely Demise
Nov 24 St. Paul, MN Amsterdam Bar & Hall w/ Untimely Demise
Nov 25 Chicago, IL Metro
Nov 26 Cleveland, OH Agora Theatre and Ballroom
Nov 27 Toronto, ON Phoenix Concert Hall
Nov 28 Montreal, QC La National
Nov 29 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
Nov 30 New York, NY Best Buy Theatre

Death To All on Facebook

Death on Facebook


Death – Leprosy (3 Disc Reissue)


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Death were a band so good and pioneering that the Death Metal genre may as well have been named after them. Their place in extreme metal’s hall of fame had already been cemented long before front-man and guitarist Chuck Schuldiner‘s death in 2001, but reminders of the man’s greatness are always welcome. The Death back catalogue is undergoing the reissue treatment, with the sophomore 1988 album Leprosy (Relapse) the latest to be re-released in two and three disc editions.

 

The first disc consists of the original album, remastered. As a bona fide classic there’s not much to say about it that hasn’t been said before. It is old school Death Metal, mixing thrash with musical brutality and Schuldiner‘s evil bark, taken to a new level of extremity not heard before. A swirling mass of rapid riffs and time changes, it set an impeccably high standard for others to try and follow. Whether it’s ‘Pull The Plug’ or the menacing ‘Choke On It,’ this is the sound of a genre being defined. The band may have moved onto to more adventurous grounds, but Leprosy remains an essential part of Death Metal history. The new remastered sound has an extra crispness but keeps the atmosphere of the original release, inviting you to play it even louder.

 

Disc Two is a collection of demo tapes from a couple of rehearsal sessions. Obsessive completists will no doubt be chomping at the bit to listen to these, but there is little here of interest for the average listener. The sound is raw and muddy and few will particularly relish hearing rough versions of ‘Left To Die’ multiple times in a row. It provides a nice insight into the band’s recording process, but for most this won’t be essential listening.

 

Disc Three, however, proves more interesting, featuring live recordings from two shows: Backstreets in Rochester, New York and The Dirt Club in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Little more than glorified bootlegs, the sound is rough around the edges, but it captures the energy of a band on the rise. The changing volume levels and voices occasional talking over the music add to the bootleg quality, and as a little bonus has a few tracks from their debut Scream Bloody Gore sprinkled in the set lists. Better than the rehearsal disc, this still needs to be labeled under ‘one for the hardcore fans.’

 

Even after 26 years and countless imitators,Leprosy still sounds vibrant and essential, putting the majority of today’s Death Metal acts to shame. But, as with all reissues of classic albums, the question is always “Is it worth buying it?” And the answer is usually the same: if you haven’t already got a copy, get it. If you’re a Schuldiner worshipper, you’ll get it no matter what the reviews say. And if you’re a casual fan who already has the original, probably not.

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10.0 / 10.0

Bonus Disks 6.0 / 10.0

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DAN SWINHOE