Chuck Schuldiner left this cursed plane of existence in 2001. The Orlando musician was best known as the mainstay vocalist-guitarist of death-metal innovators Death, who helped perfect the death-metal template of guttural vocals, riffs that actually sounded gory (possible!) and a fascination with the bloodier side of life — and then, over the course of seven studio albums, took particular delight in twisting and stretching that original template into wild new shapes and forms. Late last year, Tampa’s Brass Mug hosted a two-night musical tribute to Schuldiner’s art with all-star ensembles (the majority creative fellow travelers with Schuldiner) re-creating classic Death music. Several participants in that event — Death alumni Rick Rozz and Terry Butler, as well as Gus Rios and Matt Harvey from Gruesome — regrouped after those shows as Left to Die. The brief is simple and yet herculean: Play Death’s classic second album, Leprosy, live on stage every single night of a North American tour, plus a clutch of other classic Death tunes. These men are uniquely qualified for this daunting task, and you’d best not miss it. Opening are Skeletal Remains, Mortuous and Intoxicated.
This article appears in Jul 6-12, 2022.