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Death’s Leprosy turned 20 yesterday. In 1988, I was deep in the thrall of glam and thrash metal; I didn’t hear Leprosy until long after the fact. When I did, I was underwhelmed. I got into Death through their later records (Individual Thought Patterns onwards), and Leprosy seemed kind of boring. It wasn’t otherworldly like the later stuff, and it wasn’t vicious and raw like Scream Bloody Gore.
But after revisitation, I “get” Leprosy more. It’s a transitional record – just like every other Death record after SBG. The thrash influences are intact, and Chuck Schuldiner’s growl is still amazing. (My only gripe with later Death is that Schuldiner’s voice had considerably thinned out by then.) But Leprosy feels so different from Scream Bloody Gore, no doubt due to the new lineup: Schuldiner + 3/4 of Massacre. Rick Rozz’s Kerry King-esque whammy bar divebombs contrast sharply with Schuldiner’s more technical solos. Some riffs foreshadow the melodic later records, and Schuldiner’s lyrics start dealing with real life death (“Now you’re in the real world / Where pain and death are felt”) as opposed to the fictional, zombified kind.
The snare sound is awful, and I’m not a fan of that old-school pillowy reverb. But there are loads of killer songs here – “Born Dead,” “Left to Die,” “Pull the Plug,” “Open Casket.” Like every other Death record, Leprosy has a definite identity. It’s softer than Scream Bloody Gore and not as technical as Spiritual Healing. Ed Repka’s cover perfectly fits this atmosphere. And, hey, Dan Swanö likes it: “Personally, I take Leprosy for the only real perfect death metal album.” A lesser classic, but a classic nonetheless.
I started on Death with “Human”, and never cared about anything pre-”Spiritual Healing” for many, many years after discovering the band. But I’m the same way, ’cause over the years this album definitely clicked with me far more. “Pull the Plug” is an outstanding fucking classic on every level. The chorus is just ridiculous (in a good way), ha…
Leprosy is an all-time classic and my first seriously extreme metal record (I’m excluding the Metallicas and Anthraxes of the world). It completely blew my 15 year old mind and shaped my conception of heavy music in a way that still resonates to this day. I remember thinking that this was it ? music could never get more extreme than this ? what little I knew!
I know the term “Death Metal” comes from Possessed, but to me, it will always be this record, by this band, that defined the genre for me. IMHO, ?Pull the Plug? and ?Choke on It? are two of the first perfect Death Metal songs, and have only been matched by a handful of key tracks since.
PS – I grew up in Philly and I think I went to high school with some of the dudes in the pit at that show!
First time I heard this I was standing in Record Bar flipping through vinyl. I thought it was Possessed. Sure as shit doesn’t sound like SBG, and it’s better for it.
West Coast blah blah blah; Suh-vee-dun blah blah blah; it’s really always been about Flooredah.
Awesome album. And you didn’t even say anything about Rick Rozz’s moustache + laser guitar.
Oh man, 20 years! I feel so freaking old now.
I kind of had a similer reaction to Leprosy. I liked it but sure wasn’t Scream Bloody Gore, which I loved.
It’s been a looooong time since I listened to it but I still remember some of those songs, so I guess that says something for it.
I’ll need to go back and listen to this if I can find the tape(!).
andrew – Human: now *that* would be interesting to revisit. That’s the Death album I like least, b/c it seems to occupy a wishywashy middle between brutal and technical. But, of course, the lineup is killer.
lou – I’m jealous you heard this the first time around.
stew – I’m reading the Swedish Death Metal book now, and seeing all the stuff between the cracks that I missed, I’m seriously reconsidering my death metal Florida-centricity.
anon – The moustache may very well have contributed to Rozz’s departure.
rob – In metal, age is a good thing.
Where the hell did you get that book? I’ve been looking for it for a while.
I’ll gladly challenge my FLADM allegiance w/ the Sveeds… Can’t imagine anything besting early Death, Morbid Angel, Obituary, and Deicide though…
Ian Christe’s Bazillion Points imprint has reissued the Swedish Death Metal book at a much more affordable price (and with likely much better binding) than the original. You can order it postpaid from the Bazillion Points website.
I think ultimately Florida and Swedish death metal are different but equal. It’s hard to top the Sunlight Studios tone, for example, but Morbid Angel had vastly superior songs compared to the Swedes.
Classic album, I drove from Tucson to Phoenix just to buy a copy of this while in school.
This was the first death metal album I bought when I was 16 in high school. It immediately made me stop listening to Slayer because I thought they weren’t heavy enough.