Detroit is and was the home of many music acts including Ted Nugent, The White Stripes, Moby, Missy Elliott, Ashanti, Madonna and Eminem. The famous Motown record label produced some of the most soulful and poppy hit songs ever heard. Most important, Detroit is the home of the Stooges and the MC5, both influential to the punk movement. But there is a lesser known band that bridges the blues-infusing rock goliaths with their punky offspring and, after over 30 years of being hidden away, DEATH finally get their day in the sun.

Death was formed in the early 70s and was originally an R&B outfit until seeing either a live Stooges or Alice Cooper performance (or possibly both.) This event promptly influenced the band switching musical styles to harder, more aggressive rock music. The band would eventually fade to obscurity, with their only known recordings traded amongst zealot-like punk fans.

In 1975 at Detroit’s United Sound Studios, the band recorded seven songs. Two of the songs from the session became a 7” single (“Politicians in My eyes” and “Keep on Knocking”) of which the band self-released 500 copies.

That those seven songs can be found on Death’s most recent release, …For the Whole World to See, is a relief; this is music everyone needs to hear. Out on the infamous label Drag City, the songs are finally all released after 30 years of collecting dust in a basement.

Even today the songs feel quite fresh. With the hammering, powerful drums, and the super riffs that are comparable to Wayne Kramer of the MC5 and Fred “Sonic” Smith, the sound will enter through one ear, scoop out your brains and leave you wondering “where has this been all my whole life?” Popular albums get a chance to be re-released all the time, but there are always rare examples of something old still being new to discover. There is always a place to dig deeper in music, even a place like 70’s rock, which seems all too cleaned out these days. Death is not dead, it is just coming back to life and it will rock your soul into the grave.

Interested in hearing more about this album? Tune in to Radio K (104.5 FM or stream online at radiok.org) on Monday April 13 (or 20) at 8pm to hear hosts Phil and Mark gab about how much they love this record and even play a few tracks.