Dawn of the Apocalypse

Ever more becoming one of death metal’s most articulate and sophisticated blasphemy delivery system, Vital Remains made what is for me the apex of their work with this release. Guitarist and band figurehead Tony Lazaro and multi-instrumentalist Dave Suzuki have always favored long, composed cuts, and this album is full of what are surely his most well crafted creations.

Right from the morbidly catchy but epic “Black Metal Curse,” the balance of savage riffing and memorably written refrains is plain. Vocalist Thorn (a new arrival to the band) is extremely adept, balancing deep roars with shrieks and hissing screams more common to black metal, achieving a varied and dynamic performance. The title song brings in slightly more standard metal riffing to bear, but does so in the context of boosting it’s extreme sections even more. The fact that this track incorporates somber acoustic guitar passages under it’s brooding fury only adds to it’s menace. But with “Flag Of Victory,” the band achieve a masterpiece of their genre, and perhaps the single finest song they’d yet written. Balancing blasting tempos, melancholy respites, a towering chorus and their own trademark brutality, this is one for the ages, a track I loved upon first hearing And over the years my respect for it has only grown. And for the record the sound is pretty much perfect, balancing all elements with clarity and power, making it easy to hear why this is simply one of the most technically perfect death metal bands in existence.

Does this praise sound too high? I suppose it would if you haven’t heard this record or any of Vital Remains’ work in general. Simply put if had to choose only 10 death metal records with me to ride out my remaining days in a bomb shelter, this would be one of them.