Search - Vital Remains :: Dechristianize

Surprisingly good death metal

Rubin Carver | Gilbert, AZ USA | 10/18/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm very picky with the death metal I listen to. A lot of it sounds the same to me. When the first proper track (track 2, Dechristianize) began, I was almost certain I would regret investigating this band. But as the song and the album went on, I started to realize how good the BAND is.



Granted, the thing that made me skeptical at first was the vocals. It's not that I mind the screaming, but I feel that the vocals were mixed too far forward in front of the rest of the band. This flaw is why I gave the album 4 stars instead of 5. In some parts of the album the screaming is so prominant that you can't hear the fantastic lead guitar very well at all. This is a problem I also have with Nile when listening to them: the guitars are great but often you can't hear them under all the grunting and growling.



I also heard some Death influence in some of the lead guitar, which was a welcome sound to my ears.



I've begun to train my ears to filter out the screaming so as to better hear the music. If you are into death metal this is a purchase I would recommend making. If not... you're probably not reading reviews for this cd in the first place anyways, right?"

An Evil Storm of Pure Brutality...Love it!

MusicFreak | FL | 10/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, yes. This album came out more than a year ago, but bought it quite recently. Why? Because, with Metal in general, I have grown to be very, and I mean very selective. So even though I had only one Vital Remains album (Let Us Pray) which I think is an amazing one, and I also knew that Glen Benton of Deicide was the vocalist and had heard all the hype, it still took a while for me to give in. But I am glad I finally got it. Compared to that one other album by VR, this one is quite different. Whereas Let Us Pray used more churning, heavy, doomy rythms, with their brutally fast and aggressive passages, this one ups the speed and blast beats to the max. But, to my surprise, there are melodic guitar breaks, which remind me of Iron Maiden and such, which really elevate this album beyond a mere grindfest. The performances are all mind-boggling, especially the drumming. Though I must say, like some fellow reviewers, that the drums could have more punch to them in terms of production. This minor detail is not so bad that it ruins the experience of being pounded into dust by the sheer brutality of this music. If you thought Death Metal was dead, no one told the guys in Vital Remains, and I am proud of them for keeping the genre raging with vitality. As for the lyrics, they are beautifully blaspehmous. Lyrics do not make or break any DM band, but it is still delightful to hear Benton's venomous vocals amid such musical rage spitting out such violent words. Again, with any other lyrical themes it would be the same, as lyrics are not the be all,end all for any Metal band - just take a look at Obituary (the guy had like one line of lyrics for each song, the rest was wordless growling, and they still ruled). In short, this is an uncompromising, potent slab of Death Metal sure to satisfy those who crave extreme aggression and speed in their music, and who don't mind it being sporadically sprinkled with a powerful melody."

Pray unto your god and worship Him(that being Vital Remains)

The Brutal Kritic | Los Angeles, CA USA | 04/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Superb!!! Brutal Technical Death Metal at its finest. Hands down, mouths shut this truely is one of the greatest Death Metal albums of all Metal history. Suzuki proves himself worthy of being considered one of the greatest drummers/guitarists of our time. Lazaro still mercilessly delivers his always brutal bone crushing guitar riffs. And as for Glen...ha! he still has it! His demonic beast roars and death scream is still alive and bold and fits prefectly to back-up the brutal on-slaughter carnage that Suzuki and Lazaro relentlessly deliver. A must for TRUE METALHEADS that know their METAL. This more than enough to demolish any trendy, mainstream, pop-culturized, fake MtV, Hot Topic band(s).Horns Up"