I grew up playing in a death metal band called Severed Remains that recently decided to pick up the gear after twelve years and bother you all once more with our brand of sickness. In the early 2000s death metal in Cleveland was king. The Ohio Deathfest was, before Maryland, the biggest gathering of extreme metal bands in the US and bands like Regurgitation, Morgue, Mutilated, Gemisuadi, Dislimb, Defenestration, and others played nearly every weekend at the Pit. It was a cool time to be into this type of music and one record came out that kicked the living shit out of everyone in the scene, Foreshadowing Our Demise by New York's Skinless. Although their debut record "Progression Towards Evil" turned a few heads, their first Relapse effort became an instant classic with its unique mixture of technical brutality, dynamic vocal assault, and hardcore-tinged breakdowns that caused more brain damage than Four Loko ever will. I remember seeing Skinless three times between 2000 and 2003, and each time I was floored by the amount of energy their live show included. Something about this band was different than typical death metal bands, they seemed to approach the music with a different attitude than their peers and the crowds responded in a way that influenced other death metal bands to incorporate other influences from outside the confines of death and thrash. Sure, it was intense and extreme, but the added element of fun is what made this record stand the test of time while many other albums from the era are forgotten. Along with Dying Fetus' "Destroy the Opposition" and Eternal Suffering's "Drowning in Tragedy," "Foreshadowing Our Demise" was truly a crossover sensation that had arguably the biggest influence on Severed Remains and many other bands in our scene. If you missed out on this record, do yourself a favor and give it a spin. If you haven't spun it in years, remind yourself that death metal doesn't have to be all about hair spins and mean mugs. In the words of one of my good friends Andy Evensen, "this is definitely moshable."
- Joe