Left to Die brought Death back from the dead in Tokyo
Left to Die breathed new life into Death’s old-school Florida death metal. What a smashingly face-melting Death tribute this was!
Left to Die at Space Odd, Daikanyama, Tokyo, Japan on 14th March 2025
Old-school Florida death metal is alive and well in Tokyo. While Death’s leader Chuck Schuldiner died at age 34 in 2001, his important place in the creation of the death metal genre is undeniable. The band Death died with Chuck in 2001, but now we have Left to Die, a terrific celebration of Death’s first two albums. It features two former Death members, Rick Rozz (ex-Massacre) on guitar and Terry Butler (Obituary, Inhuman Condition, ex-Massacre, Six Feet Under) on bass. They have teamed up with singer and guitarist Matt Harvey (Exhumed, Gruesome) and drummer Gus Rios (Gruesome) to revisit the old Death catalogue. The band has announced that they intend to create and release new music in the near future. That is something we look forward to hearing. Having seen Terry Butler and Matt Harvey perform with other bands in Japan in recent years, I knew this was going to be great.
No fewer than three opening acts – The Convalescence, Death Rattle and Defiled – warmed up the audience before it was time for Left to Die. This evening, the second of two Tokyo shows and the finale on the band’s Asian and Australian tour, they performed all eight tracks from Death’s 1988 album “Leprosy” plus six tracks from Death’s 1987 debut album “Scream Bloody Gore”. Rick Rozz wrote or co-wrote six of the “Leprosy” album’s eight tracks. To do Death without Chuck isn’t an easy task. But Left to Die does it magnificently. This is such an excellent celebration of the past that allows the fans to relive, or experience for the first time, the magic of Death’s old-school Florida death metal. The band opened the show strong with “Leprosy” and “Born Dead”. The gig also featured crushing highlights such as “Open Casket”, “Infernal Death”, “Sacrificial” and “Evil Dead”. It was a set with not one weak moment. Sheer face-melting death metal joy! In the absence of Death, Left to Die has brought the band’s music back to life.
