Leprosy
Studio album by
Death
ReleasedNovember 16, 1988
RecordedApril-May 1988
StudioMorrisound Recording, Tampa, Florida, US
GenreDeath metal
Length38:37
LabelCombat
ProducerDan Johnson
Death chronology
Scream Bloody Gore
(1987) 		Leprosy
(1988) 		Spiritual Healing
(1990)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal4/10[2]

Leprosy is the second studio album by American death metal band Death, released on November 16, 1988, by Combat Records.[3] The album is notable in its different tone and quality from the band's 1987 debut, it is the first example of Scott Burns' work heard on many of the death metal and grindcore albums of that era. The cover is featured in Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. It is the first album to feature drummer Bill Andrews and the only one to feature guitarist Rick Rozz.

In a poll by the German Rock Hard magazine, Leprosy was voted the number one of the 25 most important death metal albums of all time. On April 29, 2014, a three-disc remastered edition containing bonus tracks was released via Relapse Records.[4]

The title track was covered by the blackened death metal band Akercocke on their 2007 album Antichrist. Dutch melodic death metal band Callenish Circle covered "Pull the Plug" as a bonus on their Flesh Power Dominion album, released in 2002; shortly thereafter, Norwegian band Zyklon also recorded "Pull the Plug" to be used as a bonus track. Finnish thrash metal band Mokoma covered the track "Open Casket", with lyrics in Finnish and titled "Avoin Hauta", on their EP Viides Vuodenaika. "Pull the Plug" was also covered by American band Revocation.

Track listing

All music written by Chuck Schuldiner and Rick Rozz, unless stated. All lyrics written by Chuck Schuldiner. All songs published by Mutilation Music.[5][6]

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Leprosy"Schuldiner6:19
2."Born Dead" 3:25
3."Forgotten Past" 4:33
4."Left to Die" 4:35
5."Pull the Plug"Schuldiner4:25
6."Open Casket" 4:53
7."Primitive Ways"Rozz4:33
8."Choke on It" 5:54
2008 Century Media remastered digipak version[7]
No.TitleLength
9."Open Casket" (live)4:49
10."Choke on It" (live)5:50
11."Left to Die" (live)4:35
12."Pull the Plug" (live)4:26
13."Forgotten Past" (live)4:33
2014 reissued Relapse Records version (bonus disc 1)
No.TitleLength
1."Open Casket" (Rehearsals September 23, 1987)4:55
2."Choke on It" (Rehearsals September 23, 1987)6:15
3."Left to Die" (Rehearsals September 23, 1987)4:41
4."Left to Die - Take 2" (Rehearsals September 23, 1987)4:34
5."Left to Die" (Rehearsals December 5th, 1987)4:27
6."Open Casket" (Rehearsals December 5th, 1987)4:42
7."Pull the Plug" (Rehearsals December 5th, 1987)4:17
8."Choke on It" (Rehearsals December 5th, 1987)5:37
9."Born Dead" (Rehearsals December 5th, 1987)3:19
10."Forgotten Past" (Rehearsals December 5th, 1987)4:26
2014 reissued Relapse Records version (bonus disc 2)
No.TitleLength
1."Leprosy" (Live at Backstreets, Rochester, NY - December 13, 1988)6:24
2."Open Casket" (Live at Backstreets, Rochester, NY - December 13, 1988)4:59
3."Zombie Ritual" (Live at Backstreets, Rochester, NY - December 13, 1988)4:40
4."Pull the Plug" (Live at Backstreets, Rochester, NY - December 13, 1988)4:20
5."Left to Die" (Live at Backstreets, Rochester, NY - December 13, 1988)4:41
6."Mutilation" (Live at Backstreets, Rochester, NY - December 13, 1988)3:40
7."Forgotten Past" (Live at Backstreets, Rochester, NY - December 13, 1988)4:35
8."Born Dead" (Live at Backstreets, Rochester, NY - December 13, 1988)3:23
9."Denial of Life" (Live at Backstreets, Rochester, NY - December 13, 1988)3:24
10."Primitive Ways" (Live at Backstreets, Rochester, NY - December 13, 1988)4:22
11."Infernal Death" (Live at Backstreets, Rochester, NY - December 13, 1988)4:21
12."Leprosy" (Live at The Dirt Club, Bloomfield, NJ - December 11, 1988)7:29
13."Pull the Plug" (Live at The Dirt Club, Bloomfield, NJ - December 11, 1988)4:43
14."Forgotten Past" (Live at The Dirt Club, Bloomfield, NJ - December 11, 1988)4:51
15."Primitive Ways" (Live at The Dirt Club, Bloomfield, NJ - December 11, 1988)4:45
16."Open Casket" (Live at The Dirt Club, Bloomfield, NJ - December 11, 1988)5:09
17."Mutilation" (Live at The Dirt Club, Bloomfield, NJ - December 11, 1988)4:29
18."Infernal Death" (Live at The Dirt Club, Bloomfield, NJ - December 11, 1988)3:31

Personnel

Death

Production

References

  1. ^ Huey, Steve. "Leprosy - Death". AllMusic. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  2. ^ Popoff, Martin (November 1, 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
  3. ^ "Death – Leprosy | Metal Archives".
  4. ^ Huey, Steve (March 20, 2014). "DEATH's 'Leprosy' Album To Be Reissued With Bonus Material". Blabbermouth. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  5. ^ Primitive Ways as registered at BMI.com Archived November 6, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, the percentage filed is 75% Schuldiner, 25% DeLillo (Rozz)
  6. ^ Death (Official), Facebook page administered by Relapse Records and Eric Greif (the lawyer for Chuck Schuldiner's Estate), (retrieved November 18, 2011)
  7. ^ "Death (2) - Leprosy (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. June 2, 2008. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  8. ^ Frank Albrecht (December 1991). "Counterattack". Rock Hard. Retrieved July 7, 2022.

External links

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