Left to Die – Initium Mortis (Epitaphic Epigraphic Death Thrash)

 

“Respect one’s elders” is a maxim repeated ad nauseum all over the world, and in the metal community it takes high importance today with this unique release, Initium Mortis. Now, experienced fans will immediately recognize in the logo of Left to Die clear references to the band Death, as well as one of their album covers, Leprosy, so most likely there’s something old school happening here. But is it a new band? Not exactly, in fact, it’s somewhat difficult to define the direction here, because this particular gathering of old school ghouls consists of members of Death/Mantas, Gruesome, and Exhumed, and they’re doing something a bit different. Drawing all these powers together, Initium Mortis becomes at once an homage and a new beginning.

   

I probably didn’t have to say that if you can read Latin, but in case you can’t take the few moments to figure it out, that’s exactly what Initium Mortis is about. The beginning of the old (well, death). I knew immediately Left to Die had to be composed of members of at least Death, but the inclusion of members of Gruesome and Exhumed filled out the roster to create a truly unique direction that transcends the normal reissues and reworkings I’ve seen in the past. The goal here was to resurrect ancient Death demo tracks in the now to provide fans with a proper sense of the band’s origins, while also giving way to this band’s upcoming origins. So at once we have a combination of an epitaph and an epigraph. One gets an immediate sense of the band’s experience, as well as the history, yet the extremely crisp production allows the decayed sound to stitch together its bones for another crawl from the cemetery, one that certainly, based on this release alone, will last longer than even the band may expect.

 

Left to Die Official Instagram

Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls

Left to Die – Initium Mortis
Relapse Records
Cover Art: Dan Goldsworthy
4.8 / 5