Scream Bloody Gore | ||||
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Studio album by Death | ||||
Released | May 25, 1987 | |||
Recorded | November 1986 | |||
Studio | Music Grinder in Los Angeles, California | |||
Genre | Death metal | |||
Length | 37:51 | |||
Label | Combat | |||
Producer | Randy Burns, Chuck Schuldiner | |||
Death chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
Sputnikmusic | 4.5/5 |
Scream Bloody Gore is the debut studio album by American Death metal band Death, released on May 25, 1987 by Combat Records. It was considered "the first true death metal record".Chuck Schuldiner plays bass and guitar, wrote all the songs on the album and provided all the vocals. John Hand is noted on the cover as playing rhythm guitar, though this was incorrect and Hand was only in the band for a short period and was not on the recording. This is also the only Death album to feature drummer Chris Reifert, who had joined for the Mutilation demo.
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.
Scream Bloody Gore 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.
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. "Zombie Ritual", "Mutilation" 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 album, though were included on the re-release, with the live audio tracks taken from the Ultimate Revenge II video.