Self Destruction

Beneath the Remains was an absolute beast of a band. Their history is obscure, and tracking all their recorded output is more difficult than it should be (given that they released some retrospective collections). Nonetheless, the songs on this demo ("Self Destruction") show an early sketch of the band. This dates to 1997, when the idea of hybridising death metal and hardcore was becoming more widespread. These guys came from the NYHC side of the hardcore scene, which had some history of death metal/hardcore crossovers (via earlier bands like All Out War, Merauder, Confusion and Darkside). Beneath the Remains were standing on the shoulders of such bands.

This demo is rawer and less polished than the band's subsequent "Quest of the Lost Souls" EP (released the following year). It is similar in most respects, and the band’s power and intensity is evident at this early stage. The vocals are harsh and shrieking (full of paint-stripping nastiness), the riffs are chunky and thrashy (often alternating between the two). There are some massive breakdowns which indicate that these guys were aiming to incite dancefloor violence. The songs are progressive, dynamic and gloomy, making them far more interesting than usual for bands at the 'moshy' end of the hardcore spectrum.

There are four songs. "Mutilation of the Mind" and "Last Breath" will be familiar to those who have heard the EP. These are the strongest and most elaborate songs on the demo. These early versions are not quite as sharp as the later versions but they still convey the sense of absolute mayhem. The rawness and clattering drums might even give them an edge in some respects. The mid-section of "Last Breath" sounds even more desperate than the later version (with passion dripping from every vocal utterance). The other two songs, “The Gathering” and “Storm of Confusion”, should not be underestimated. The former has a savage ‘beatdown’ riff at the end, whilst the latter is thrashy and chaotic. Both are excellent in their own right, this band did not write bad songs.

This demo is not the most essential Beneath the Remains recording. The playing is not as precise as on their later material, and the band sometimes fall out of time with one another. This is not much of a problem for rugged and ragged music like this. Anyone who enjoyed “Quest of the Lost Souls” will want to check this out, mainly for the songs that do not appear on that record. These guys were one of the best bands ever at making this kind of NYHC metal.