Black Death was released in 1984 by Auburn Records. The album included a bonus EP containing two songs "Here Comes the Wrecking Crew" and "Retribution".[3] The album was reissued in 2017 by Hells Headbangers Records along with the bonus EP.[3][2]
Reviewing for Louder Sound, Chris Chantler describes the album as an "invigorating keg party classic" with "cosmic stoner grooves, frantic punk energy and a faint residue of hard funk", while acknowledging the status of the band as African-American metal pioneers and praising the "powerful" remaster of an "undervalued rough diamond".[1]
In his review of the official 2017 reissue for Metal Temple, Lior Stein gave a 7/10 rating, saying that “(i)n comparison to the original recording from 1984…there is a margin of improvement in this reissue in terms of the digital remastering.” Stein deemed the songwriting “solid, not what you would call over the top, not aiming to be catchy, which is rather in their benefit but enough to be satisfied with” before concluding that the album “is still a relic, a collector’s must and earns the respects of the contemporary Metal scene.”[2]Kerrang! ranked the third track, “When Tears Run Red (From Love Lost Yesterday)”, at number 2 on their list of “The 10 Greatest Metal Songs by African-American Artists”.[4]