"all life depends on death to evolve"

Instead, I would say that evolution depends on variation followed by selection. Historically, that selection has taken place by differential avoidance (for a while) of death. But the better alternative is selection by intelligent design :-)
(by which I mean that both the variation of DNA and the selection of it can be carried out by intelligent humans, rather than relying on nature red-in-tooth-and-claw).