Former DEATH Members RICK ROZZ And TERRY BUTLER Are Planning To Work On New Music With LEFT TO DIE

LEFT TO DIE, the new band featuring classic DEATH members Terry Butler (also formerly of MASSACRE and currently in OBITUARY) and Rick Rozz (ex-MASSACRE) paired with GRUESOME founders Matt Harvey (EXHUMED) and Gus Rios (ex-MALEVOLENT CREATION),recently completed its European tour. LEFT TO DIE performs DEATH's classic "Leprosy" album in its entirety, along with cuts from "Scream Bloody Gore".

Asked in a new interview with Germany's Moshpit Passion, how he and Rick approach LEFT TO DIE without making it appear like a "cash grab", Terry said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We approach it like Rick wrote quite a bit of material on 'Leprosy'. Rick was around in the demo days, and a lot of those riffs are also on [DEATH's debut album] 'Scream Bloody Gore'. Rick and I joined DEATH right as 'Scream Bloody Gore' came out, so we have history with that album.

"We're approaching this as a band," Terry explained. "We're eventually going to put out some new music; that's our gameplan. When we find time, put some riffs together, write some stuff, put an album out. So we are approaching this as a band. We're honoring the album 'Leprosy' and [late DEATH mastermind] Chuck [Schuldiner] by doing these handful of tours right now. Down the road, we foresee a future where we have new material, we're playing 75 percent of our new album and throwing in five or six DEATH tunes on top of it, kind of thing. So we don't look at it one hundred percent as a tribute band. We're looking at it as a band with some former members that have a lot of history in that band and have written songs in that band. It's not like we're doing a DARK FUNERAL tribute band. We're doing DEATH songs by people who actually wrote those songs. So that's how we approach it."

With regard to LEFT TO DIE's plans for original material, Rick said: "Like Terry said, we're definitely looking to record new music. Everybody has some riffs, and when we have the time, as a band, to put 'em together, we will most likely do that. Gus and I will probably end up doing some jamming while Terry and Matt are gone on tour, coming up in the next few months, and try to put a couple of things together and present it to the two of them and see what they think about it. And then, slowly but surely… We're not gonna rush. If it's meant to be, it'll come together. And it'll definitely be kickass. But we'll see what happens. But we're definitely looking forward to doing that, yes."

Added Terry: "And musically, obviously, it's gonna be in the same vein. It's not gonna sound like TRIVIUM or GOJIRA. It's gonna be 'Scream', 'Leprosy', [MASSACRE's] 'From Beyond', kind of all of that thrown into a blender, and there you go… It's good stuff. So why not have more of it?"

LEFT TO DIE completed its first U.S. tour in July 2022.

Butler previously stated about how LEFT TO DIE came together: "After the recent Chuck tribute shows that Matt, Gus, and myself did, Rick posed the question, 'Would anyone want to see some 'Leprosy' shows?' With a resounding 'yes!', the masses had spoken. Matt and Gus threw their hats in immediately and, in my opinion, they were the only real choice to bring this thing to life."

Harvey and Rios were both very excited about the project coming together. Harvey reflected: "When Gus and I started GRUESOME as a DEATH tribute, we never thought that it would lead to us playing some of our favorite songs alongside the guys that recorded them, but here we are — and I couldn't be more stoked." Rios added: "When Rick contacted me about his idea, I was immediately on board, since 'Leprosy' is not only my favorite DEATH album, but my favorite death metal album of all time! I'm very grateful and stoked that Terry and Matt were also on board."

LEFT TO DIE is:

Terry Butler - bass guitar
Rick Rozz - guitar
Matt Harvey - guitar, vocals
Gus Rios - drums

On December 11-12, 2021, several former DEATH members — including Butler — played two shows commemorating the 20th anniversary of the passing of the band's mastermind Chuck Schuldiner at Brass Mug in Tampa, Florida. Butler, James Murphy (guitar),Harvey and Rios performed DEATH's classic third album, "Spiritual Healing" (1990),in its entirety under the LIVING MONSTROSITY banner, while Steve DiGiorgio (bass),Bobby Koelble (guitar) and Kelly Conlon (bass) joined forces as SYMBOLIC to play songs from "Human" (1991),"Individual Thought Patterns" (1993),"Symbolic" (1995) and "The Sound Of Perseverance" (1998

Schuldiner died on December 13, 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor.

In recent years, DEATH's storied catalog has undergone a meticulous reissue campaign via Relapse Records.

Relapse released the first-ever fully authorized DEATH tab book, featuring 21 classic songs tabbed out for guitar from the band's entire discography. The book, which includes traditional notation as well as tablature, also comes with a digital download of all tracks.