Leprosy (album)

After releasing their debut album Scream Bloody Gore, the band cancelled a planned tour after rehearsing with Steve Di Giorgio of Sadus in Concord. Chuck Schuldiner then returned to Florida and recruited his former bandmate Rick Rozz, along with his bandmates in Massacre, Terry Butler and Bill Andrews. ==Music and lyrics==

Musical style and instrumentation Leprosy has been described as sounding "raw", "raucous" and "just absolutely pissed off". Scott Burns' production on the album has been described as "unfussy" and "organic", and musically, it has been said to retain the "morbid inertia" of its predecessor. It is considered the band's final "straightforward" death metal release, as they would take a more technical and progressive approach on later releases. The songwriting on the album has been called "structurally audacious." Jonathan Horsley of MusicRadar assessed, "Even this early in his [career], Schuldiner was a provocateur, upending the songwriting rule book, eschewing repetition, operating like the editor of an action movie in cutting together contrasting riffs and ideas with brutal efficiency." While Scream Bloody Gore contained lyrics pertaining to fictional subject matter such as zombies, Leprosy saw Schuldiner beginning to explore nonfictional topics in his lyrics as well. and has been called "a death metal contemporary of Metallica’s One". == Artwork ==

The album's cover artwork has been described as exhibiting a "robed and goulish figure riddled with skin lesions and tissue loss." Author Jeremy Wagner stated that the album cover gave him "an immediate impression of heaviness and unease." ==Reception and legacy==

Released in 1988, Leprosy is considered to be ahead of its time musically, and a groundbreaking achievement in the genre. According to Eduardo Rivadavia of Loudwire, the album made it apparent that the death metal genre was "already advancing by leaps and bounds." Jonathan Horsley of Guitar World wrote, "There is an argument to be said that, of all the great death metal bands, Death were the least heavy. [But,] if Leprosy is not the heaviest death metal guitar album, it’s possibly the gnarliest, worthy of Ed Repka’s career-best cover art, and essential listening." 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. 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. The album cover is featured in ''Metal: A Headbanger's Journey''. In 2013, author Ian Christe wrote: "Now, twenty-five years and twenty-five thousand death metal bands later, Leprosy sounds almost normal. The essence of these cries has echoed with a tormented dimension all along. As you breathe the rotten scent, try not to go insane with awe that Death's early brilliant depravity could change the world so completely. Leprosy proved that this death metal shit was for real, and today it has become inescapable." In 2024, Joe DiVita of Loudwire named the album's cover artwork as one of the "31 Scariest Metal Album Covers of All Time". ==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. ==Personnel==

Death • Chuck Schuldiner – guitar, vocals, bass • Rick Rozz – guitar • Bill Andrews – drums • Terry Butler – credited with bass but did not play on the album Production • Dan Johnson – production • Scott Burns – engineering • Michael Fuller – mastering • Edward Repka – artwork • Frank White – live photos • J.B. Stapleton – band photo • David Bett – art direction • Alan Douches – mastering (2014 reissue) ==References==