DEATH’s “Leprosy” To Get The Reissue Treatment
Thursday, 20th March 2014
The fifth installment in Relapse’s exhaustive reissue campaign of DEATH’s immensely influential catalog is Leprosy, the band’s titanic second album. Originally released in 1988 the pioneering LP built upon the thrash sounds of METALLICA and SLAYER but added a previously unheard level of raw extremity. These songs are the roots of an entire genre: death metal. While this was only the second record DEATH released, it immediately cemented them as heavy metal icons.
The Leprosy reissue will be made available on April 25 in Benelux, Germany, Finland; April 29 in North America and April 28 in the the rest of the world. The entire album, as well as the bonus material, has been painstakingly remastered by Alan Douches (MASTODON, NILE) and will be reissued in the following format:
* 2xCD/Limited Edition
* 3xCD/LP/Picture Disc LP/Limited Edition
* 2xLP Box set/Digtal
The Deluxe 2xCD contains 50 minutes of previously unheard and unreleased Leprosy demos and rehearsal material housed in an embossed o-card package with a 24-page booklet featuring unseen pictures of the band as well as brand new liner notes from Ian Christe (SiriusXM) and Jeremy Wagner (BROKEN HOPE). The LP features the remastered core album on wax together with a download card for all of the music included on the 2xCD.
A remastered version of the death metal classic “Pull The Plug” can be heard below.
In addition to the 2xCD reissue, a super limited 3xCD version will be available exclusively from www.relapse.com featuring everything included on 2xCD version plus an exclusive third CD featuring over 40 minutes of unreleased live material, housed in a deluxe embossed eight-panel digipak with a 24-page booklet, limited and numbered to 2000 copies.
Finally, a super-limited deluxe vinyl box set (limited to 500 copies) will be available exclusively from www.relapse.com containing: the remastered core Leprosy album on exclusive colored vinyl; a second LP containing unreleased rehearsal material from the “Leprosy” sessions housed in an exclusive jacket with original flyer art on exclusive colored vinyl; an exact replication of the original Combat newspaper print LP insert, a “Leprosy” turntable slipmat, and a download card of all three discs.
Pre-orders, including an exclusive new line of official DEATH merch, are available here.
Digital pre-orders are available via Bandcamp here.
Disc 1
1. Leprosy
2. Born Dead
3. Forgotten Past
4. Left To Die
5. Pull The Plug
6. Open Casket
7. Primitive Ways
8. Choke On It
Disc 2
Leprosy – 9/23/87 Rehearsal
1. Open Casket
2. Choke On It
3. Left To Die
4. Left To Die – Take 2
Leprosy – 12/05/87 Rehearsals
5. Left To Die
6. Open Casket
7. Pull The Plug
8. Choke On It
9. Born Dead
10. Forgotten Past
Disc 3
Live at Backstreets, Rochester, NY – December 13th, 1988
1. Leprosy
2. Open Casket
3. Zombie Ritual
4. Pull The Plug
5. Left To Die
6. Mutilation
7. Forgotten Past
8. Born Dead
9. Denial Of Life
10. Primitive Ways
11. Infernal Death
Live at The Dirt Club, Bloomfield, NJ – December 11, 1988
12. Leprosy
13. Pull The Plug
14. Forgotten Past
15. Primitive Ways
Digital Deluxe ONLY Bonus Tracks – Live at The Dirt Club, Bloomfield, NJ – December 11, 1988
16. Open Casket
17. Mutilation
18. Infernal Death
