"scream bloody gore" lit a fire in me. after i bought death's first record hassle-free from the nuclear blast shop in form of a fancy re-issue, i wanted more death. as i am hoping that relapse will re-press all the death albums post "spiritual healing" in the coming months, i focused on "leprosy" from 1988 and the said "spiritual healing" from 1990. no immediate ebay hit and so i hoped for a reasonable discogs offer.
it came sooner than i anticipated. a friendly discogs e-mail with a red vinyl copy of "leprosy" reached me, price and shipping were in my range and so i pulled the trigger on it. the seller came from the u.k. and to my advantage the exchange rate of the british pound is quite favourable for me mainland european at the moment. one week later i recieved my package.
when i opened it, the first thing that struck my eyes was the record not being housed in a protective pvc sleeve. i think i never got a record in the mail that wasn't delivered in a protection sleeve. fortunately the seller met my request and packed the vinyl outside of the cover sleeve, so no ugly seam-splits were in sight. the next strange thing was the final unveiling of the vinyl.
it wasn't the solid red vinyl as stated in the description but the clear purple version instead. another strong indicator after the missing pvc sleeve that i didn't deal with a collector here. i mean, sure, the purple colour isn't that far from red but clearly not red. anyway, i am pleased with what i got. the gatefold sleeve and vinyl are in prime condition. sharp edges on the cover and minimal to no sign of use on the record. good score.
the music is great. one can clearly hear chuck schuldiner's evolution as a song writer. the songs have more depth as on "scream bloody gore". fewer songs but more lengthy and with a little bit more complex structures. i especially love the four songs of the b-side. "choke on it" is a rager. even better is the picture of rick rozz on the back cover though. a protective hair curtain for the eyes. vinyl looks lovely held against the light. 500 copies made. back on black. 2010 re-press.