Former DEATH members James Murphy (guitar) and Terry Butler (bass) will perform the band’s classic third album, “Spiritual Healing”, in its entirety at two shows in Florida, as a tribute to the iconic guitarist and singer, and band’s mastermind Chuck Schuldiner, who died on December 13, 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor.
The December 11 and December 12 concerts at the Brass Mug in Tampa — where Murphy and Butler will be joined by drummer Gus Rios (ex-MALEVOLENT CREATION, DIVINE EMPIRE) and guitarist/vocalist Matt Harvey (EXHUMED, GRUESOME) — will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the passing of DEATH mastermind Chuck Schuldiner.
Originally released in 1990, “Spiritual Healing” marked a new turn in the DEATH discography, one which ushered in cleaner production, a new level of boundary pushing musicianship and songwriting skills that were previously unimaginable from a metal band. “Spiritual Healing” sets the standard for riffs, insane time changes and, of course, Schuldiner‘s masterful guitar solos.
In recent years, DEATH‘s storied catalog has undergone a meticulous reissue campaign via Relapse Records. Reissued in 2012 as a double CD housed in super deluxe packaging featuring brand new liner notes from Murphy and Butler, Chuck‘s sister Beth Schuldiner and VOLBEAT frontman Michael Poulsen, Disc 1 featured a completely new remaster of the original album and Disc 2 contained 16 previously unreleased rehearsal, outtakes and studio instrumentals.
In addition to the two-disc edition, a limited-edition (2000 machine-numbered copies) triple-CD digipak was made available exclusively from Relapse.com. The third CD featured a never-before-released live set recorded in 1990 featuring the “Spiritual Healing” DEATH lineup. An iTunes deluxe edition was also released containing five additional previously unreleased pre-“Human” rehearsal tracks not available on either of the CD versions.
Relapse released the first-ever fully authorized DEATH tab book, featuring 21 classic songs tabbed out for guitar from the band’s entire discography. The book, which includes traditional notation as well as tablature, also comes with a digital
download of all tracks.
