The very first album I ever bought by Sepultura and still to this day a fixture in my collection, "Beneath the Remains" is arguably the band's best record and certainly their most aggressive. A perfect storm of thrash and early death metal influences, "Beneath..." is a no holds barred assault from start to finish. Blistering licks, pounding drums, ferocious vocals, and a pretty damn cool album cover make this album so special. I first picked this up at a used record store in Lyndhurst, OH when I was in 9th grade. My friend Anthony had pretty much forced me to listen to "Arise" (which I loved), but when I couldn't find that one I "settled" for this album because it looked like it had a cool cover and an old school sound. Although teenage years are defined by horrible decisions often, this was not one of them to say the least. "Beneath the Remains fucking rips! Somewhat overshadowed by the success of "Arise" and "Chaos A.D.," this album was definitely a game changer and assisted in the evolution from thrash metal to death metal. In the coming years Sepultura would bridge more gaps and, for better or worse, aid in the creation of newer sounds in metal and alter the course of music. Enough with all of the yappin' though, throw this tape, CD, or whatever on and get that head a bangin'!!!
"Mass Hypnosis"
- Joe