Death was an American death metal band formed in Altamonte Springs, Florida, in 1983 by guitarist Chuck Schuldiner (who later became the band's sole vocalist), drummer/vocalist Kam Lee and guitarist Rick Rozz. Formed out of what would become the Florida death metal scene, Death is considered a pioneering band in death metal. The band's 1987 debut album, Scream Bloody Gore, has been widely regarded as one of the first death metal records, alongside the first records from Possessed and Necrophagia.

Death had a fluctuating lineup, with Schuldiner, aside from a European tour, being the sole consistent member. The group's style progressed from the raw sound on its first two albums to a more complex one in its later stage. The band disbanded after Schuldiner died of glioma and pneumonia in December 2001, but remains an enduring influence on heavy metal.

Founded in either 1983 or 1984 by Chuck Schuldiner under the original name of Mantas in Altamonte Springs, Florida, Death was among the more widely known early pioneers of the death metal sound, along with California's Possessed. Inspired by Nasty Savage, Death was among the first bands in the Florida death metal scene.

Together with Kam Lee, and Rick Rozz, Schuldiner started to compose songs that were released on several rehearsal tapes in 1984. These tapes, along with the Death by Metal demo, circulated through the tape-trader world, quickly establishing the band's name. In 1984, Schuldiner dissolved Mantas and started a band under the name Death with the same members. Tim Aymar, in an article written in December 2010, states that Schuldiner renamed the band Death in order to turn his experience of the death of his brother Frank years earlier into "something positive". Another demo was released, called Reign of Terror.

In 1985, the Infernal Death tape was recorded and released. Rick Rozz was out of the band by early 1985. Schuldiner and Lee played with Scott Carlson and Matt Olivo, bassist and guitarist respectively, of the band Genocide (later to be renamed Repulsion) for a short time. However, Kam had some "personal problems" that caused him to be ejected from the band. Combat Records had offered the band a deal if they recorded another demo, though the band was unsuccessful in convincing Kam to rejoin. Olivo and Carlson left soon afterward. Schuldiner moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and recruited former Dirty Rotten Imbeciles drummer Eric Brecht, then recorded the Back from the Dead demo. However, Chuck was not happy with this incarnation of Death and moved back to Florida without a band. In 1986, Schuldiner got an invitation from early Canadian thrash metal band Slaughter to play on their album, which he accepted, moving to Canada. However, this only lasted two weeks, and he returned to the States. He returned to Florida, then moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area again, where he joined with 17-year-old drummer Chris Reifert.

Scream Bloody Gore had been sent to me as promo. I looked at the cover and giggled a little, and thought “wow, that’s brutal” but never actually listened to it. And at that time, of course, all of the reviews for Death were horrible -- across the board. Anyone who claimed that they liked Death two years later [and tried saying] they liked Death when Scream Bloody Gore came out, was a liar [...] All off these established writers wrote off Death at the beginning. [...] It was a joke. Even the guy that signed Death to Combat, Steve Sinclair considered it a joke. He really only signed him at Don Kaye’s insistence.

Schuldiner and Reifert recorded the Mutilation demo in April 1986, which led to a deal with Combat Records. That summer, they began recording their first album, which was abandoned and written off as a mistake after Combat was not satisfied with the recording, which Reifert blamed on the studio engineers. In November 1986, the band was sent to Los Angeles to re-record the album at The Music Grinder with Randy Burns, which the band felt optimistic about due to his work on Possessed's Seven Churches. The basic tracks were recorded in a couple of days, while the bass, lead guitars and vocals were recorded by Schuldiner at Rock Steady Studios, which was also in L.A.

Scream Bloody Gore was released in 1987, widely considered a genre template for death metal. The band briefly had a second guitar player, John Hand, but he did not appear on the album (though his photo did). Schuldiner and Reifert recruited Steve Di Giorgio of Sadus and rehearsed in Concord for live shows, which never took place as Schuldiner decided to move back to Florida. Reifert had chosen to remain in California, where he went on to form Autopsy. Once back in Florida, Schuldiner teamed up with former bandmate Rick Rozz and two members of Rozz's band Massacre, Terry Butler and Bill Andrews.