Tribute acts, what's the point? That's what I'd always thought anyway. For bands who are a going concern, I always wondered why you would want to go and see a cheap copy of a band you could go and see live anyway. Then again, you can wait for years for a band to tour and even when they do, the cost can be prohibitive. With some bands, the tribute act could be the better, more authentic option anyway. I'm pretty sure I'd rather watch Limehouse Lizzy than the current iteration of Thin Lizzy. For bands who have split up or lost key members then I suppose it makes more sense as it is often the only opportunity fans have to experience those songs live.
My attitude began to change in 2006 at the Sweden Rock Festival. They had a battle of the tribute bands that year, and as I was wandering around in between bands I stumbled upon a ZZ Top tribute band called The DH Power Trio. They were absolutely fantastic and completely changed my opinion on ZZ Top. Like most people of my age, I mainly knew them for their Eighties MTV era rather than their Seventies period and this tribute band forced me to re-evaluate them and go and check out their earlier classic albums. It also made me reconsider the worth of tribute acts.
Left To Die are essentially a Death tribute band. They are specifically replicating the 'Leprosy' era, with them playing that album in full as well as some songs from 'Scream Bloody Gore'. They do have pedigree though, as they feature former Death members Rick Rozz and Terry Butler, along with Matt Harvey and Gus Rios from Gruesome (who tout themselves as essentially a Death tribute act who happen to play original songs).
The crowd is a bit of a surprise tonight. I expected a lot of older people like myself, and there are quite a few, but I am shocked at how many younger metalheads are in attendance (especially with Lamb Of God playing just down the road). It blows my mind that so many teens are here for an album that was released in 1988.
Opening up the evening are the youthful Tortured Demon. They play powerful, energetic thrash with harsh vocals. Their aggressive thrash verges on death metal speed at times. 'Conflict Of Interest' has intricate Death style guitar work before the band thrash away in a blur of blastbeats. However, they seem prone to moments of clunky Pantera-esque groove. Overall though, they are good and you get the impression that they will get better.
I still feel an air of trepidation as Left To Die take to the stage. Without Chuck Schuldiner, will it just be Death karaoke? They annihilate that notion immediately. They sound fantastic. Matt does a great job vocals and really sounds like Chuck. 'Born Dead' is powerful and authentic. 'Forgotten Past' sounds heavy as hell. This is great and the crowd really responds to it. 'Mutilation', 'Baptised In Blood' and an immense 'Pull The Plug' all spark mayhem in the crowd. 'Open Casket' has the crowd punching the air along to the main riffs and it absolutely destroys. 'Zombie Ritual', like all the set, is played with a combination of deft technique and pure aggression. Listening to these songs, it's amazing how technical they are and how far ahead of the curve Death were at the time. 'Primitive Ways' is lightning fast whilst a rabid 'Evil Dead' closes the show. Classic death metal played the way it should be played.
Left To Die ****
Tortured Demon ***
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