Mondays are no one’s favorite, unless there’s some sweet, sweet death metal at the end of the day. In this case, two absolute excellences of American death metal made this still-warm late summer evening more bearable: INCANTATION and LEFT TO DIE at Helsinki’s On the Rocks on August 26th, 2024. A not-so-surprising sold-out On the Rocks made me legitimately think that death metal is in good health and that’s a very pleasant feeling.
For reasons that are sadly well-known, not having had the opportunity to see DEATH perform live creates a strange sense of nostalgia for many metalheads I know, myself included. Chuck Schuldiner, the singer, guitarist, and main composer, left this world in December 2001, following a long battle with cancer, and if you ask me, no one will ever replace him in his supporters’ hearts. However, seeing LEFT TO DIE was somewhat soothing in that sense. In addition to taking their name from the fourth track of “Leprosy,” DEATH‘s second album from 1988, the band features guitarist Rick Rozz, co-author of “Leprosy” and ex-MASSACRE, along with Terry Butler (OBITUARY, ex-MASSACRE, ex-SIX FEET UNDER, and in DEATH as well on “Spiritual Healing”) on bass. They recruited the founders of GRUESOME to form a tribute to DEATH focused on the early albums: Matt Harvey (EXHUMED) on vocals and guitar, and drummer Gus Rios (ex-MALEVOLENT CREATION). What could possibly go wrong? Literally nothing.
Co-headliners INCANTATION took the stage a bit later than scheduled, and the venue was so packed that leaving my spot next to the stage in order to get some water was quite risky, so I gave up, well aware that the concert I was about to witness was worth a bit of dehydration. “Carrion Prophecy” worked perfectly as an opening tune: its slow, doomy pace matched beautifully with the singer’s deep growl, one of the best I have ever listened to, to be honest. Everyone in the audience was banging their heads, and the interaction between us and the band was joyful and energetic: singer John McEntee even had a nice fist-bump moment with a couple of attendees in the front row, and guitarist Luke Shively incited us to make that “horns up” gesture, along with his bandmates. I noticed that there were many youngsters in the audience, and I felt like it was a good sign that people born in the early 2000s get to appreciate some old-school death metal. In that sense, the point about INCANTATION is, in my opinion, their ability to keep the genre true to itself while making it also fresh and enjoyable throughout the years—a delicate balance every historical band should take into consideration. I spotted some people making a circle pit behind me and others having fun in other ways: sipping a beer, banging their heads, and whatnot. The audience’s reaction to “Unholy Massacre,” from their masterpiece “Onward to Golgotha” which dates back to 1992, confirmed my impression of them being absolutely iconic, as older tunes always hit differently.
A few more songs were left to play, and despite the themes they are about, the atmosphere was cheerful, as everyone was enjoying the moment to the fullest. Before getting off stage, someone came onto the drum platform to take a picture of INCANTATION with the audience as a background—a nice memory for a memorable night!
LEFT TO DIE took the stage around 21:30. “Love the Dead” by Alice Cooper was playing as a soundtrack while they were setting up their instruments, and I clearly spotted Rozz mimicking the piano part on that song. Hilarious and fun. Whoever said that experienced metalheads take themselves too seriously never saw this American legend of death metal getting ready for a live show…
The opening tune was “Leprosy,” to which I reacted with not-so-unexpected goosebumps since the very first notes of the intro: as a long-time fan of DEATH, and with “Leprosy” being my favorite album of theirs, having the chance to witness such a high-profile lineup playing it in its entirety had an overwhelming effect. I took off my earplugs and let the music flow, well-aware that it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments I would never forget. “Born Dead” and “Forgotten Past” followed, exactly as on the album’s tracklist, and it totally felt like listening to it for the first time, with the same excitement I had as a teenager: it was magical, and weirdly nostalgic. I wish I could tell that teenager in her room at her parents’ place that she will see this with her own eyes one day, but words can barely describe the feeling. Chuck Schuldiner’s music touched so many lives, according to the number of people attending the show. It was one of those moments when suspension of disbelief occurs and we end up being in a different dimension, where space and time do not mean a thing.
Quite a few songs from DEATH’s debut album “Scream Bloody Gore” were in the setlist too, which I enjoyed a lot. One of the numerous highlights occurred when singer Matt Harvey asked us to sing along to the guitar intro on “Sacrificial”: that was absolutely epic. He introduced his bandmates right after “Open Casket,” starting with drummer Gus Rios to whom the audience’s feedback was very warm and loud, and a smile appeared on my face at Rick Rozz’s reaction when Matt pointed at him and said, “this is the man who wrote the fuckin’ bible!” clearly referring to “Leprosy”: Rozz looked to the right, as if he was talking about somebody else. Nice gag! A long list of bands was mentioned when the time came to introduce the bass player, as Terry Butler’s resume is really impressive. Then Matt went back to his opinion about “Leprosy,” as that album changed his life, and joyfully stated how happy he was to play every song from it for us. Well, in this regard there are no words to express my gratitude.
The audience was on fire at that point, and I could not believe it was happening for real. “Primitive Ways” and “Choke on It” followed, those two in the same order as on the album as well, during which we noticed bassist Terry Butler singing along with passion while delivering those epic basslines. Then they went back to two iconic tunes from DEATH’s debut “Scream Bloody Gore,” such as “Torn to Pieces” and “Regurgitated Guts,” whose uncompromising brutality did not go unnoticed. Gus started playing a tribal-like drum pattern after that, to which we reacted by clapping to the beat, and right after that, “Left to Die” followed, whose guitar intro was welcomed with some well-deserved excitement. The singer asked us to sing along to the last song on the setlist, which was “Zombie Ritual,” and we, of course, did what he said. The way his chant resembled Chuck’s was jaw-dropping, and even his appearance was surprisingly similar. They left the stage but came back after a while to delight us with some more of those eternal masterpieces, such as the title track from “Scream Bloody Gore” and the one I consider one of early DEATH’s most representative tunes, “Pull the Plug.” Before the latter, Matt stated that it was a shame Chuck Schuldiner was not there with us, but he was present in spirit, and we fully agreed, even though with a bit of sadness and a weird yet heavy sense of loss. We collectively shouted “Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!” to the beat, at the top of our lungs, feeling grateful to that man for the inestimable treasure he gave us. “Pull the Plug” was announced as the closing tune, which, ironically, makes a lot of sense. We all sang along to the chorus, and the mosh pit was still beautifully active at the center of the venue.
Matt asked if we wanted one more song. Guess what? To nobody’s surprise, we did! Rozz delivered “Evil Dead”’s guitar intro, and the other band members joined in. The call-and-response between us and Matt on the chorus was thrilling. I will hardly forget that feeling. They left the stage to the notes of the American TV series Sanford and Son theme: such a big contrast if you think about DEATH’s lyrics, but it totally matched the joyful atmosphere they created.
Altogether, no one will ever replace Chuck Schuldiner, but seeing LEFT TO DIE perform “Leprosy” in its entirety and seven out of ten songs from “Scream Bloody Gore” kind of managed to mend our hearts. A huge “thank you” to the guys for making this possible, and hopefully, they will be back in Finland soon.
Written by Licia Mapelli
Photos by Mirko L.
Setlist
- Leprosy
- Born Dead
- Forgotten Past
- Infernal Death
- Sacrificial
- Open Casket
- Primitive Ways
- Choke on It
- Regurgitated Guts
- Left to Die
- Zombie Ritual
- Scream Bloody Gore
- Pull the Plug
- Evil Dead
