LEFT TO DIE has signed to Relapse Records and today announce their debut full-length Initium Mortis, set for release on July 17, 2026.

DEATH alumni Rick Rozz and Terry Butler join forces with Gore Metal pioneer Matt Harvey and Gruesome drummer Gus Rios to form LEFT TO DIE. Their new album, Initium Mortis, pays homage to the brutal beginnings of DEATH.

Initium Mortis, the upcoming new album from LEFT TO DIE, sees the supergroup—including original DEATH members Terry Butler (OBITUARY) and Rick Rozz (MASSACRE)—joining Harvey (EXHUMED, GRUESOME) and Gus Rios (GRUESOME) to capture the morbid depths of DEATH's early catalog.

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 tracklist, 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 3 months! Pretty remarkable. We wanted to play the early material for the fans that weren't able to 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. ‘Archangel’ is a great way to introduce this album. It's controlled chaos at its finest: catchy and riffy with a killer evil-sounding middle section!”

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 “Arcangel,” “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.