Sepultura "Beneath The Remains" CD

Sepultura's career certainly had its ups and downs, from their brutal death metal roots to their forgettable nu metal and tribal-influenced days, but the band's thrash metal era was definitely their peak. Beneath the Remains and Arise are the two pure thrash records, released during the tail end of thrash metal's golden age, but they are two pillars of South American thrash that perfectly embody the region's sound. Brutal. Technical, but not overly polished to the point that any emotion is sucked out. And most of all, fun as hell to listen to.
After a warm intro, the band gets right into the carnage with pummeling riffs and Max Cavalera's growls. The guitar tone sounds tough and chunky, and as the band transitions from one riff to another the intensity never lets up. All of the songs on this album are perfectly crafted to showcase the sheer heaviness the band's sound was birthed from. The most comparable sound would be Sarcófago's debut, but Sepultura executes deathrash to a caliber that very few other bands can match. The tremolo picking from Max's riffs glides smoothly over Andreas Kisser's bass lines to create this uniform beam of riffing, and it's a sound that feels very unique to the band (even if the band utilizes some Metallica-esque chugging every once in a while).
This album is loaded with little tricks that add a haunting effect, like the guitar lick at 2:20 on "Inner Self" (and elsewhere on the album). Max uses an echo on some of the vocal passages as well, creating this distant, ghostly delivery. Most of the songs sound like they don't have a hook, even if they do, but they're dynamic enough to where it actually helps. A distinct hook would soften the sound, and Sepultura keeps the focus on the riffs, the core of the genre. Any good thrash band knows an album isn't built on hooks, it's built on riffs.
The strongest songs are on the A-side, but the B-side is far from a slouch. "Lobotomy" has some epic drum fills, especially on the bridge, and the soaring guitar solos on this song and the rest perfectly contrast the solemn atmosphere that's created. The songs feel well-written, tight, and meaningful. It isn't that the lyrics are anything atypical for the genre (death, hatred, suffering, the usual), but the music behind them is so forceful that they come across incredibly harsh, in a good way.
Of course, no thrash album would be complete without exquisite production. The mix on this album is very clean, all of the instruments are loud and the precision playing is reminiscent of the remastered version of Bonded by Blood from Exodus, but Sepultura doesn't go overboard. This record is produced with enough clarity to let the technicality shine, but it still maintains that edge that made Schizophrenia (their previous release) such an uncompromising listen. The songs are heavy and thick, but the band seems to have mastered translating the rage of their previous releases into brilliant songwriting. There are very few albums in thrash (and even in death metal) that come across with this much ferocity while keeping the clever song structures and catchy rhythms intact. Arise is a great album too, but Beneath the Remains was the best thrash album of 1989, and makes a case for the best thrash album ever recorded.

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