Left To Die are a death metal supergroup led by extreme metal maniac Matt Harvey (of Exhumed, Gruesome, Pounder, and Cold Slither) and his frequent collaborator and drummer Gus Rios. They’re joined by two former members of Death, Terry Butler and Rick Rozz. The band plays songs from the Mantas/Death pre-Scream Bloody Gore demo era to bring songs to the masses that may never have otherwise been properly heard with a modern coat of paint. It’s fitting that their first album is titled Initium Mortis, quite simply “the beginning of death”
I spoke to bassist Terry Butler about his history with Death and his relationship with Chuck Schuldiner, for whom he has nothing but the utmost respect. We also talked about what it was like to be in the nascent extreme metal scene and what your favorite death metal band’s favorite band was when they were 15 years old. Read on below for more stories about the band and their future plans.
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It’s impressive that Left To Die made it from an idea to out on the road in just a few months.
It happened fast. It just goes to show you the power of the Death legacy; people want to hear it.
Speaking of the Death legacy, you were around for some of the earlier iterations of the band. What do you find to be different about death metal in the late ‘80s to what it is now?
In the earlier days, it was all brand new, everything was fresh. Whatever you had come up with, nobody had come up with it yet. As you go through decades of the same music, it feels like everything has already been done. A lot of new things have come about, like orchestras and the rise of grindcore, deathcore, or whatever genre you want to call it. Back then it was just thrash and death metal.
The crowds are the same, the energy and vibe are still there. Now everything has been laid out for you, it is just a matter of how you arrange it for people to like it. The older bands like Possessed, Deicide, and Obituary are grandfathered in, their sound is their sound, you don’t want to get too far away from that sound because that’s who you are. We are lucky in that regard. However, newer bands have a harder time getting their name out there, so people try some crazy things like dressing up in costumes or weird music.
Now, you are playing with probably the biggest death metal dork on planet earth (said with love, of course), Matt Harvey. What is it like playing with a guy like Matt, who was certainly around in the ’90s and wise beyond his years with what he brings to the genre and the myriads of bands he is already in?
It’s great playing with Matt because he’s a great musician, he wants these things to be played properly and he has a legacy in his own right. He’s the kind of person who once he starts learning about something he goes into it headlong and absorbs it all, whether that’s comic books, horror movies, metal, or death metal; if he wants to be a part of something, he wants to know as much as he can. It is always a treat to be around him.
You came in after Leprosy was done and got to write Spiritual Healing. What are some first-hand experiences of what it was like to work with Chuck?
I got my feet wet when I was in Massacre for a while and then we went to Death and I thank Chuck for allowing me to be a part of the band. One of my favorite parts of being in the band was just to hang out, go buy records, and watch movies. The music will always speak for itself, and it was great to help write and record Spiritual Healing. Just being a dude and having a good time, those were my fondest memories of working with Chuck.
I think about the Schuldiner family and how much they remain a part of Chuck’s legacy to this day. Considering the large list of people who were in the band, what’s that all like today from your perspective, since Left To Die is such an ode to that band’s history too?
We have a good relationship with the family. We are respectful to Chuck and the music, we won’t do anything controversial or against the grain, that’s not who we are. They are totally down with it, that’s why we signed with Relapse since they have such a good relationship with the family too. I’ve been on there for a long time with Obituary and Matt’s been on there for a while with Exhumed, so signing with them just felt natural. One of the first tours we did as Left To Die, Chuck’s sister Beth and his nephew Christopher came out to the show and had a great time. We are in good standing with the family.
Besides “Legion of Doom,” since it has historically gotten the most traction, how did you go about filling out the rest of the track list for the album?
We went on a tour last year and we were kicking around some songs that we could add here and when we got home afterwards, we came up with 12 songs that represented the demo era of Mantas/Death. There were some songs out there that we did not do, but these were the 12 strongest songs.
With the artwork, was there anything more than the purple robe and chalice that was an allusion to Scream Bloody Gore?
Well, the album is called Initium Mortis, which means “the beginning of Death,” and the songs on here represent that. Without the Mantas demo, you might not have The Sound of Perseverance. You gotta start somewhere to get to this endgame. We kind of wanted to show the beginning of this whole thing. Because one thing we noticed when we started playing these shows three years ago is that there are these young kids at the shows and as a band we talked and said that there is no way they would know the older songs, the demo material. Let’s record the demo material, clean them up and give it a bit of a modern sound, so that they can hear these songs and hear where it all started, that’s why we named the album in the way that we did.
The actual album cover has the Scream Bloody Gore zombie coming out of the ground with the chalice, as this was the birth of what Death was to become. Dan Goldsworthy did the art this time around. He has done the Inhuman Condition album covers. He’s done artwork for Left To Die in the past and now he is starting to do artwork for other bands. We chose him because he gave it an Ed Repka feel, since it put a bow on top of this present.
Since you guys are on tour in Europe as of this recording, playing Death material out there, I think back to the Leprosy tour where you and Bill Andrews went over there and played. Since you have a great relationship with the family, has time healed all wounds from that kind of odd time?
We came over in ’89 for Leprosy and we did half a tour and it was a disaster as far as logistics, though the crowds were great. Then we came back with a weird, different version of Spiritual Healing. One of the reasons that the crowds over here are so awesome is that the early Death material didn’t get played much over here. There wasn’t much touring for the first three Death records at all. By the time Chuck came over here with the Human lineup, he wasn’t playing much of the earlier songs anymore.
Going over now, we were like, “Here are these earlier songs and this is as close as you are going to get to it.” For me, Matt really nails Chuck and his guitar playing. With that and myself and Rick (Rozz) back in the band, we want to give the vibe that, if you closed your eyes and were to just chill out you, might feel like you were in 1988 or 1989.
What was it like working with Rick here, too?
It’s cool. We’re on stage together playing these songs again like it was 39 years ago.
Since I like to curate my playlists, I thought it would be cool to make my own alternate history of Death with Initium Mortis, followed by Leprosy and eventually Gruesome’s Twisted Prayers, which, coincidentally, had a cover of “Legion of Doom” on it. Plus, I spun the last Inhuman Condition album, Mindtrap, just to get into that mentality and there is a clear throughline with all that stuff and that’s intentional because that’s what you guys play.
That’s a style we all like to play; I mean you aren’t going to ask AC/DC to release a new album and have it sound like Sleep Token or something like that. We play old-school death metal, that’s what we do.
Since I brought up Inhuman Condition, what is it that you are trying to accomplish with a band like that as opposed to the other band you are in, Obituary?
Inhuman Condition are a little more of the thrash-influenced side of death metal. We wanted to play good music and have people want to come out there and see us. I think we are different enough from Obituary so that it doesn’t tread on any toes. We are on our third full-length and just trying to get on some tours.
What drew you into metal? What records were you listening to? Why weren’t you content sitting idly by, but instead wanted to get out there and play the music too?
Early on, as a child in the ‘70s, it was Thin Lizzy, UFO, Deep Purple, Kiss, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and then all of this NWOBHM stuff started trickling into America like Venom, Raven, Tank, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest and this evolution had the sound getting darker. With Venom, you now see Hellhammer, Possessed, and Mantas; it starts getting darker and heavier and that’s what you want to be like.
We used to see a band called Nasty Savage back in the day. Everyone was there in the crowd, a whole bunch of 15-year-olds. Xecutioner, Massacre, Brutality, Death, Monstrosity, Morbid Angel; all of us in the crowd were just these kids who wanted to be on stage too. They really influenced us; it could even be another record like Slayer’s Show No Mercy; listen to how fast it is. “Oh yeah, you think that’s fast? Try Dark Angel’s Darkness Descends.” It kept stepping up.
It kind of feels like a race to the top.
It is a competition for sure. You want to one-up your friend or be the better band.
How far are you guys into this current European tour?
At the beginning of August, we will come over to do some festival and club dates. In September, we are going to South America for a full tour. Hoping for full US and European tours in 2027.
What has touring been like for Left To Die in general?
All of the tours that we did, everyone has been so receptive. The fans are very excited to hear it. We met a lot of people who saw the band back in the day, some of them have never seen them ever. Unfortunately, Chuck’s not with us and in that time frame, people were born and now come to the shows. We are all about getting people to the shows and having a good time.
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Initium Mortis releases tomorrow via Relapse Records.
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