Photo by George Chalupa
Recent Relapse Records signees LEFT TO DIE will unleash their debut full-length, Initium Mortis, on July 17th. Today, the band shares the album’s second single, “Witch Of Hell,” which originates back to some of Death’s earliest live demos!
Comments Terry Butler (Obituary, ex-Death), “‘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!”
Stream “Witch Of Hell” on the Relapse YouTube Channel HERE and on all streaming services HERE.
Stream previously released lead single “Archangel” HERE.
Initium Mortis sees the supergroup – including original Death members Terry Butler (Obituary) and Rick Rozz (Massacre) – joining gore metal pioneer Matt Harvey (Exhumed, Gruesome) and Gus Rios (Gruesome) to capture the morbid depths of Death’s early catalog.
Initium Mortis will be released on CD, LP, cassette, and digital formats. Find preorders at Relapse.com HERE.
Members of LEFT TO DIE comment on the new album:
Matt Harvey: “After Gus and I performed Spiritual Healing in its entirety with Terry and James [Murphy], 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 US, 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. 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 [Schuldiner] and Chris [Reifert] recorded a version of Legion Of Doom for SBG 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.”
Terry Butler: “Left To Die went from a thought to doing a full US 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!
“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.”
Rick Rozz: “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.”
Gus Rios: “The band started simply because Rick called me and asked if I’d be into it… Which I very promptly replied by referencing bears, shit, 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!”
Featuring tracks like “Archangel,” “Witch Of Hell,” and “Legion Of Doom” expertly executed in the now, Initium Mortis is a must-have for Death fans and collectors alike. Ultimately, LEFT TO DIE celebrates a seminal band and the camaraderie of the genre’s most extreme corner of music.
Initium Mortis Track Listing:
1. Legion Of Doom
2. Archangel
3. Power Of Darkness
4. Zombie
5. Witch of Hell
6. Rise Of Satan
7. Summoned To Die
8. Mantas
9. Slaughterhouse
10. Death By Metal
See LEFT TO DIE live throughout Europe this August and Latin America in September! A full list of confirmed dates is available below. Stay tuned for more tour announcements in the weeks to come.
LEFT TO DIE w/ Livlos:
7/31/2026 Rockstadt Extreme Festival – Brasov, RO
8/02/2026 Colosseum – Kosice, SK
8/03/2026 Drizzly Grizzly – Gdansk, PL
8/04/2026 Hype Park – Krakow, PL
8/05/2026 Zescianek – Berlin, DE
8/06/2026 Alcatraz Festival – Kortrijk, BE
8/07/2026 Bastard Club – Osnabrück, DE
8/08/2026 Brutal Assault Festival – Jaromer, CZ
8/09/2026 Backstage Halle (Free & Easy) – Munich, DE
8/10/2026 Colos-Saal – Aschaffenburg, DE
8/11/2026 Turock – Essen, DE
8/12/2026 Bahnhof Paul – Hamburg, DE
8/13/2026 Dynamo Metalfest Pre-Party– Eindhoven, NL
End Tour
9/02/2026 São Luis, BR
9/03/2026 Teresina, BR
9/04/2026 Fortaleza, BR
9/05/2026 João Pessoa, BR
9/06/2026 Recife, BR
9/09/2026 São Paulo, BR
9/11/2026 Puerto Montt, CL
9/12/2026 Santiago, CL
9/13/2026 Concepción, CL
9/15/2026 Montevideo, UY
9/17/2026 Rosário, AR
9/18/2026 Buenos Aires, AR
9/20/2026 Córdoba, AR
9/22/2026 Lima, PE
9/24/2026 Medellín, CO
9/25/2026 Pereira, CO
9/26/2026 Bogotá, CO
9/27/2026 Cali, CO
9/29/2026 San Salvador, SV
9/30/2026 Ciudad de México, MX
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