III

The documentary film A Band Called Death premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2012 and increased the obscure Detroit group's profile, even more so than …For the Whole World to See, a 2009 collection of the group’s 1975 recording sessions. The concrete visual evidence of the band's continued existence with remaining brothers Dannis and Bobby Hackney (their brother David died of lung cancer in 2000) gave clarity to where their music came from—and where it went. There was still more music left unreleased. In 2011, Spiritual Mental Physical collected Death's early demos and rehearsals. 2014’s III cleans out the vaults. Starting with a solo guitar instrumental from the late David Hackney (“Introduction by David”), III gives way to music that’s more varied than the original sessions. The eight-plus minutes of “We Are Only People” capture transcendent, stripped-down soul music. “Restlessness” features fantastic stinging guitar solos and a relentless drum pattern. Just when it seemed as if music fanatics had exhausted the rarities of the ‘70s era, up came Death to prove there’s always something more.