Former DEATH and MASSACRE bassist Terry Butler has ruled out any future involvement for Kam Lee in LEFT TO DIE, describing the vocalist and drummer as difficult to work with. The comments matter because LEFT TO DIE revisits material from DEATH’s earliest years, when Lee, Butler and guitarist Rick Rozz were connected to the group’s MANTAS-era history.

Butler made the remarks while discussing LEFT TO DIE’s debut album, “Initium Mortis”, released on 17 July through Relapse Records. The band, which includes Butler, Rozz, Matt Harvey and Gus Rios, performs songs from DEATH’s “Leprosy” and “Scream Bloody Gore” as well as newly recorded early material; Butler acknowledged Lee’s vocal contribution to the old songs but said he and Rozz would not work with him again. Lee previously said he wrote lyrics and drum patterns for much of MANTAS and early DEATH’s demo material, while Chuck Schuldiner and Rozz wrote the guitar riffs.