VITAL REMAINS - DECHRISTIANIZE
Olympic Recordings - 2003
By Rodrigo Escandon
After four years since their last studio album and with Glen Benton now in the mix, Vital Remains is posed to become one of the leaders of death metal if not THE leader. Dechristianize is the latest blasphemous offering of Tony Lazaro, Dave Suzuki and the aforementioned Glen and it is easily ranks not only as one the best death metal album of the year but simply the best in the last two or three years. Yes, these are bold statements being thrown around but this album is seriously that good.
Forsaking the death metal "formula" of constant blast beats and a lot of musical noise Vital Remains instead makes the perfect mixture of brutality, musicality and melody. Yes, there are plenty of blast beats to be found but they don't sound annoying or crappy. The songs are fast, they are brutal but there are excellent melodious breaks in between that add creativity, technicality and above all just simply kick ass! Examples would be the acoustic interludes that jump in during "Entwined by Vengeance", the melodic solo at about 2:10 of "Rush of Deliverance" or the twin guitar melodies found in the awesome title track "Dechristianize" (a song that should become a future classic) that drive the middle and last parts. Finally, the addition of Glen (someone who needs no introduction) definitely enhances the band and his performance is truly phenomenal and should send shivers down your spine. He does such a pheonmenal job that at times you begin to forget about the music and vice versa.
Vital Remains has seriously enhanced the genre (much like I thought Vehemence did last year with their awesome album) with Dechristianize. They have shown that death metal can still be brutal and fast but have added enough wrinkles that basically nobody else seems to do. This is death metal at its finest and any person that dares to call himself a death metal fan must own Dechristianize.
Olympic Recordings Website
Vital Remains Official Website
Olympic Recordings - 2003
By Rodrigo Escandon
After four years since their last studio album and with Glen Benton now in the mix, Vital Remains is posed to become one of the leaders of death metal if not THE leader. Dechristianize is the latest blasphemous offering of Tony Lazaro, Dave Suzuki and the aforementioned Glen and it is easily ranks not only as one the best death metal album of the year but simply the best in the last two or three years. Yes, these are bold statements being thrown around but this album is seriously that good.
Forsaking the death metal "formula" of constant blast beats and a lot of musical noise Vital Remains instead makes the perfect mixture of brutality, musicality and melody. Yes, there are plenty of blast beats to be found but they don't sound annoying or crappy. The songs are fast, they are brutal but there are excellent melodious breaks in between that add creativity, technicality and above all just simply kick ass! Examples would be the acoustic interludes that jump in during "Entwined by Vengeance", the melodic solo at about 2:10 of "Rush of Deliverance" or the twin guitar melodies found in the awesome title track "Dechristianize" (a song that should become a future classic) that drive the middle and last parts. Finally, the addition of Glen (someone who needs no introduction) definitely enhances the band and his performance is truly phenomenal and should send shivers down your spine. He does such a pheonmenal job that at times you begin to forget about the music and vice versa.
Vital Remains has seriously enhanced the genre (much like I thought Vehemence did last year with their awesome album) with Dechristianize. They have shown that death metal can still be brutal and fast but have added enough wrinkles that basically nobody else seems to do. This is death metal at its finest and any person that dares to call himself a death metal fan must own Dechristianize.
Olympic Recordings Website
Vital Remains Official Website
