Denver to Witness Resurrection of Iconic Death-Metal Band at Oriental

As a death-metal diehard, guitarist Matt Harvey remembers what it was like when Florida band Death, led by up-and-coming guitar god Chuck Schuldiner, burst onto the scene in the late ’80s with the one-two punch of Scream Bloody Gore (1987) and Leprosy (1988).

“Scream Bloody Gore was the first one I heard, in eighth grade,” Harvey says. “It was a very shocking record for me as a kid. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, which was an exciting thing. Like, ‘What is this?’ I didn’t even know if I liked it, but I knew I was taken aback by how extreme it was.”

By the time Leprosy came out, he was full-on infected, and destined to a lifetime of death metal.

“Leprosy came along, and that was the album that ended up being the flag in the ground for death metal as its own thing,” Harvey recalls, adding that the “landmark” record was what “kicked the door open and allowed everybody to come through,” such as similar-sounding bands that were previously floating around the tape-trading underground.

Harvey got the chance to see Death a handful of times, and at one show he even met Schuldiner, who died in 2001 from brain cancer at age 34. “I was just a little, goofy kid, like, ‘Dude, I love your band. I’m learning how to play your riffs. They’re so heavy. Thanks!’” Harvey recalls, adding that he still has the flier that Schuldiner signed for him — a Sadus Swallowed in Black promo.

Armed with those early Death riffs and inspiration, Harvey felt ready to start his own band, Exhumed, in 1990, when he was just fifteen years old. Behind such releases as Gore Metal and Slaughtercult, he and the band left their own mark on death metal, perfecting what’s now become known as goregrind. Harvey’s fretwork has afforded him the opportunity to keep Death's music alive, too, including touring with tribute band Death to All and playing 1990 album Spiritual Healing as part of Living Monstrosity with former Death members Terry Butler (bass) and James Murphy (guitarist). Harvey created another homage to Death by forming the group Gruesome in 2014. The band comes up with its own tunes, but in the same style as Death and its many incarnations.

But a full-circle moment occurred last year, when Butler and Rick Rozz, another ex-Death guitarist, asked if Harvey and Gruesome drummer Gus Rios would help them bring Scream Bloody Gore and Leprosy back to life under the moniker Left to Die. “Both of those records were a big part of how I learned to play heavier music and write heavier riffs,” notes Harvey.

The foursome is now on the road, and will be in Denver on Thursday, November 16, for a concert at the Oriental Theater. Mortuous, Mortal Wound and Street Tombs are also on the bill.

Harvey is pumped to be part of the lineup that’s playing these songs. After all these years and everything he’s done in music, he still sees himself as a Death fan more than anything. When asked what his younger self would say about fronting Left to Die, he replies, "At fourteen, I would think that I must have been the coolest dude in the world.

"It’s a really surreal position to be in," he adds. "I’m very grateful to the guys for allowing me the opportunity to have it. It’s beyond anything I could have imagined as a kid."

Left to Die isn’t the first band to carry on a musical legacy after the unexpected loss of a formative member. Queen regularly tours with vocalist Adam Lambert now, thirty-plus years after founding frontman Freddie Mercury’s tragic passing, and Pantera is playing out for the first time in decades, with guitarist Zakk Wylde and drummer Charlie Benante stepping in for late brothers “Dimebag” Darrell and Vinnie Paul Abbott.

It helps that Harvey knows Leprosy riffs better than some of his own songs at this point: “At the end of the day, it's just practice,” he says.

Stepping in for Schuldiner, meanwhile, is “something that I’m acutely aware of but I try not to think about," he adds. "These records are really personally meaningful to me.”

So it’s not surprising Harvey had his own Wayne’s World moment when considering the gig.

“For me, it was like a journey from ‘I’m not worthy' to 'Well, if not me, then who? I might as well give it a shot,’” he reflects. “On one hand, it’s unfillable shoes, so I just try to look at it as I’m here trying to help Terry and Rick play the songs that they played on tour way back in ’87 and ’88.”

For the audience, Left to Die is also bringing Death to its many fans who love the band but missed out on those original runs. Harvey, Butler, Rozz and Rios are simply providing a bridge between then and now.

“And I’m here because I'm one of the fans,” Harvey concludes.

Left to Die, 6 p.m. Thursday, November 16, Oriental Theater, 4335 West 44th Avenue. Tickets are $20.