Vital Remains... say what?

[Jim LotFP]

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=68386

Good for the band for not changing their cover art for distribution reasons, but it's the promotional blah-blah-blah in the second half of this news item (that's still presented as "news") that concerns me.

Drawing from classic '80s metal bands such as VENOM, BATHORY, MERCYFUL FATE, MORBID ANGEL, DEICIDE and SLAYER, VITAL REMAINS based their survival through a DIY, underground approach that earned them a rabid legion of fans.

OK.

After four full-length releases, the group's biggest break would come in 2003 as they signed to Century Media and released the genre-defying epic "Dechristianize".

One sentence, "DIY, underground approach," and the very next sentence, "signed to Century Media." Cute.

The whole Olympic Records thing has been written out of history then?

It was hailed by critics and fans alike as one of extreme metal's most accomplished and ambitious works that ever garnered mainstream acclaim.

"Mainstream acclaim"? Even if they did get positively mentioned somewhere, I still think it's interesting that somebody wrote promotional material that says "DIY, underground approach" and two sentences later talks up "mainstream acclaim."

The album quickly elevated the band into the death metal elite and was supported by four full U.S. tours, further solidifying their status as one of the genre's hardest-working acts.

Wow, a sentence that sounds like proper hype (although I should check how many of these four full US tours the band managed to headline, as should be happening in the promotional world of "elite" bands, right?). Funny how this works though, all this talk about Dechristianize being designed to gain attention for Icons of Evil.

VITAL REMAINS continues to bring to the table nothing less than barbaric war metal the way it was meant to be: fast, brutal and tasteful.

Tasteful barbaric war metal?

 

[Occam's Razor]

Are they not only now getting attention because Glen Benton is involved. I remember them as a bad sounding also-ran in the whole death metalwave of the nineties, being more fond of their satanist image than the actual music. They are selling old wine in new bottles. Actually, that cover problem reminds of the one Deicide had with Once Upon The Cross - on which label was that back then?

 

[Krilons Resa]

Dawn of The Apocalypse is an excellent album. Dechristianize is also excellent but would be a lot better if Benton would shut the fuck up. The music though is phenomenal.

 

[circus_brimstone]

Dawn of The Apocalypse is an excellent album. Dechristianize is also excellent but would be a lot better if Benton would shut the fuck up. The music though is phenomenal.

I like "Dechristianize" a lot, and I really enjoy Benton's vocals on it - more so than anything he's done with Deicide. I do find it weird, however, when people make claims like "genre-defying," yet don't give reasons as to why it is such.

 

[Cheiron]

No reason for PR to give reasons. They just hope that everybody will start calling it genre-defying too. That way the old "if everybody is saying it, it must be true!" factor works in their favor. This is done.... all the time in music. X band's legendary album. Buy the latest album from X, a legendary chicago metal band. X band, known as starting an entire genre on their own!

 

[circus_brimstone]

No reason for PR to give reasons. They just hope that everybody will start calling it genre-defying too. That way the old "if everybody is saying it, it must be true!" factor works in their favor. This is done.... all the time in music. X band's legendary album. Buy the latest album from X, a legendary chicago metal band. X band, known as starting an entire genre on their own!

Oh, I know. Just sayin'.

 

[Zealotry]

Why is it that wherever Glen Benton goes, unabashed stupidity follows?

 

[DBB]

Why is it that wherever Glen Benton goes, unabashed stupidity follows?

I don't know...but while I don't care for Deicide or Vital Remains, Benton is a straight shooter and a cool cat from where I'm sitting. Some of the best interviews I've read in the past year or so were with him.

That cover looks a lot like this one: