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May 25, 20234 min read

Death — Scream Bloody Gore (1987)

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

On this day (May 25) in 1987, Death released their debut full-length studio album “Scream Bloody Gore” via Combat Records.

Track List:

Side A:

Infernal Death (02:52)
Zombie Ritual
Denial of Life
Sacrificial
Mutilation

Side B:

Regurgitated Guts (03:43)
Baptized in Blood (04:28)
Torn to Pieces (03:35)
Evil Dead (02:58)
Scream Bloody Gore (04:31)

Album Lineup:

Chuck Schuldiner (R.I.P. 2001) — Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Lyrics, Songwriting

Chris Reifert — Drums

Guest/Session:

Randy Burns — Percussion

Album Layout & Production:

Edward J. Repka — Design (album), Cover illustration

Chuck Schuldiner (R.I.P. 2001) — Producer, Logo

Steve Sinclair — Executive producer

Randy Burns — Producer

(Chuck Schuldiner)

Overview:

The albums cover was designed by famed artist Edward Repka, known for his logo art and model designs for the Hellraiser films, along with creating the album art for bands such as Megadeth, Atheist, Dark Angel, Massacre, Sanctuary and many more.

Not only is “Scream Bloody Gore” my gateway album into the world of Death Metal, it is considered by many to be "the first true Death Metal record" (while I love “Seven Churches” by Possessed, I’ve never respectfully considered it a true Death Metal album).

Chuck Schuldiner; the band’s founder and leader played guitar, bass and sang, Schuldiner also composed and wrote all tracks on the album.

John Hand is noted in the album's credits as playing rhythm guitar, though this was incorrect and Hand was only in the band for a short period and never performed or recorded on the album. This is also the only Death album to feature drummer Chris Reifert, who had joined for the “Mutilation” demo, and the only one of the band's albums to not be recorded at Morrisound Recording.

(Death, "Scream Blood Gore" advertisement for the Under One Flag label release)

Background:

The album was actually recorded twice, with the second Los Angeles-based session being released as the complete album by label Combat Records (later Relativity). It was first recorded in Florida, although only the rhythm guitar and drum tracks were recorded. The track listing consisted of "Torn to Pieces", "Legion of Doom", "Scream Bloody Gore", "Sacrificial Cunt" (later shortened to "Sacrificial" because the label asked the band to do so, possibly because "they didn't want to get P.M.R.C. on their case"), "Mutilation", "Land of No Return", and "Baptized in Blood". The label were unsatisfied after hearing the initial mix, so Schuldiner and Reifert re-recorded the album in California with Randy Burns as producer. Once returning to Florida, the first session was released as a promotional tape, and was eventually bootlegged. "Legion of Doom" was a longtime staple of Death's rehearsals and live shows, and was indeed the first song written, reaching back to when they were known as Mantas.

(Chris Reifert & Chuck Schuldiner, circa 1987)

Despite the many songs written during Death's demo days, only half of them were re-recorded for the album, the rest being new compositions. "Infernal Death" and "Baptized in Blood" originally appeared on the “Infernal Death” demo. "Mutilation" originally appeared on the "Back from the Dead" demo. "Zombie Ritual" and "Land of No Return" originally appeared on the Mutilation demo, and "Evil Dead" and "Beyond the Unholy Grave" were originally on Death By Metal. "Beyond the Unholy Grave" and "Land of No Return" were also cut from the vinyl and cassette versions of the album, though were included as CD-only bonus tracks and on subsequent re-releases in other formats, along with two live audio tracks taken from the “Ultimate Revenge II” video.

Certain songs on the album were inspired by horror movies. "Regurgitated Guts" was inspired by the 1980 film “City of the Living Dead” (a.k.a. The Gates of Hell), "Beyond the Unholy Grave" was influenced by the 1981 film “The Beyond”, and "Zombie Ritual" was inspired by the 1979 film “Zombie”, all of which were directed by Italian director Lucio Fulci. "Evil Dead" was named after the film of the same name, while other tracks such as the title track and "Torn to Pieces" were inspired by “Re-Animator” and “Make Them Die Slowly”, respectively.

(Chris Reifert & Chuck Schuldiner)

Reissues:

Perseverance Holdings, Ltd. and Relapse Records reissued the album on May 20, 2016, on CD, vinyl, and cassette. The album was remastered for this release, and also included the original Florida session as well as recordings of rehearsals performed in 1986.

(Reissue Cover)

Reissue Bonus Tracks:

11. Beyond the Unholy Grave (03:04)

12. Land of No Return (03:00)

13. Denial of Life (03:45)

(Relativity Records CD repress)

Reception & Legacy:

As previously mentioned, “Scream Bloody Gore” is often considered the first true Death Metal album. Although some critics consider “Seven Churches” by Possessed to be the first Death Metal record, Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic writes that, "Seven Churches” was a transition between Thrash Metal and Death Metal, while “Scream Bloody Gore” defined the core elements of Death Metal".

According to music journalist Joel McIver, Death's debut album was a "turning-point in Extreme Metal", and qualified it as "the first true Death Metal album".

Canadian journalist Martin Popoff indicated Schuldiner as the musician who introduced "a new level of convolution that will mark the beginnings of the next stage in extreme."

Writer Ian Christe stated in “Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal” that "Scream Bloody Gore” emulated Hardcore Punk. It also evoked the dark moods of horror sound tracks from the drive-in zombie and cannibal horror films of George Romero".

Metal Forces described the album as "Death Metal at its utmost extreme, brutal, raw and offensive – the kind that separates the true death metallers from countless trend-following wimps".

In 2016, a re-release of the album was one of the top 200 selling albums in the United States in its first week of release, marking Death's first appearance in the US Billboard 200 chart at No. 174.

In 2017, the Power Metal band Dragonforce covered “Evil Dead” as a bonus track from their album “Reaching into Infinity”. It was also covered by the Norwegian Black Metal band Mayhem for the vinyl bonus disc of their 2019 album “Daemon”.

(Chuck Schuldiner)

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells

Link to “Scream Bloody Gore” via Apple Music; https://music.apple.com/us/album/scream-bloody-gore-deluxe/1098036518

Death — Scream Bloody Gore (1987)

Track List:

Album Lineup:

Guest/Session:

Album Layout & Production:

Overview:

Background:

Reissues:

Reception & Legacy:

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