Excruciating Pain

Vital Remains' second demo is an exercise in classic death metal style executed to perfection and still relevant today, like any good work the years don't affect it and highlights the band's early genius.

This work would be the prequel to the debut album "Let Us Pray" which would be the absolute consolidation of the band's crafty and atmospheric style, while many of their contemporaries aimed to reach higher speed levels, Vital Remains prefers the emotional charge of their music without renouncing to the strength, it's a slower death metal but it doesn't even have traces of doom metal, it's just the way they fit the songs to the rhythm of punctual blastbeats together with careful riffs loaded with a mighty malevolent aura to emphasize the musical aspect of the band's theme.

Some may find it pretentious for a demo to include an intro and outro based on the same elements giving a cyclical impression that marks the demo listening experience as a journey, I see it as Vital Remains taking their music seriously, and if the intro can give the impression of that, they confirm it in the very first song, "Human Sacrifice" demonstrates a maturity in terms of songwriting that is quite incredible for mere teenagers, without stopping the machine for a single moment, the song progresses by boasting heavy riffs and guitar virtuosity going through different phases at higher or lower speed but always with the same intensity.

The highest point I find in the following track, "Resurrected" demonstrating not only a more than remarkable musical structure but also showing the very best level of all the members, from Jeff Gublin's impeccable vocals that adapted perfectly to the cold and macabre style of early Vital Remains to Paul Flynn's leads of clear Slayer's influence, with Ace Alonzo's eclectic drumming style and the huge Tony Lazaro (the king in this party) setting the tempos of a tricky Vital Remains that shows us the song closer to what would become their defining style in their earlier career, with lots of variations throughout the song, repetition of segments to foster the atmosphere and above all, the use of the flanger pedal that they have always used so situationally, this is my personal taste but how much I wish more bands would implement it, used in the right way it manages to create a hellish atmosphere.

Only for side A the demo would be worth it but side B is not far behind, the songs on this side although they follow the same patterns as the previous ones have to be developed in a faster way, which doesn't help the set up of that atmospheric character that is so important, but even though they are shorter they are perfect they way they are. The homonymous "Excruciating Pain" is the most outstanding of this side, not only for being the most furious and powerful with a crushing and effective chorus, but also because if you look closely the intro of the song is an early version of what would end up being the intro of the song "I am God" one of the best tracks of the band.

Don't let the cheesy cover fool you, this is a strong piece of classic death metal but far from sounding like a standard death metal band, this shows the creative ability of Vital Remains and their unique approach to performing their music, a style that to this day I haven't seen anyone else perform as well as them, and as if it was the easiest thing in the world they already conquered and mastered it. With their second demo, they were already better than most of the bands of their genre that existed and that were still to come, simply incredible.

I never really took the time to listen to Vital Remains' pre-album stuff, I should've way sooner. All I can say about this demo is WOW, this is great stuff right here!

First of all let's start off with the atmosphere. Eerie, evil, horrific....just how it should be when it comes to old Vital Remains material, you need that evil and dark atmosphere. Secondly, the music transcends greatly, the musical ability is great! It shouldn't be exactly perfect playing as if on a studio album. This is a demo, it should be loose and fun to maintain that amazing demo vibe. Studio perfection isn't needed here at all, this demo is perfectly raw how it should be.

(old) Vital Remains is one of those band that likes to slow down and focus more on their musical originality and origin meaning of the music. It's good that there's some bands that do this, because not every death metal band should sound that way. With Excruciating Pain, the band presented their core style for their upcoming releases. More on the slower side, atmospheric and being true to their thoughts and beliefs; while still maintaining death metal status.

Let's talk about the songs, all the songs are good! They're all different, all played very well, and all got something different about themselves. This demo has variety and isn't boring or lame, score!

Now, the instruments. Guitars are great, they have the perfect tone and sound that goes along with the drums and everything else perfectly. The drums are good as well, the snare has that solid sound along with the bass drum, which makes a solid ground for every song. Also, this is one of those death metal releases that doesn't need blast beats and continuous energy. If you have the atmosphere (especially that), good lyrics to fit it, guitar parts that add on to the atmosphere of the music, and raspy vox that back up all that atmosphere and vibe, that's pretty much all you need in total. Not all death metal releases need blast beats and fast energy, and this demo proves that well.

The artwork on this demo is awesome as hell too. It's the perfect way to illustrate what excruciating pain looks like. Also a badass name for a demo too, Vital Remains did a great job putting out a demo like this. Great artwork, name, lyrics, music, etc. This is the whole package right here.

Excruciating pain and Vital Remains in general is VERY VERY underrated and overlooked. These guys got the talent and originality. It sucks how much people don't fully appreciate material like this, its highly needed and great. Once again, this is a good ass demo these dudes put out, VERY GOOD DEMO. Self-defining amazingness.

Recap: This demo has literally no flaws. The musical ability is great, all the songs are great, the sound of the instruments are fantastic, just how a demo should be. Such a great musical introduction for the legendary death metal titans vital remains.

If you're looking for a good demo to listen to, or are a Vital Remains fan looking for more stuff to listen to, I suggest you listen to this. 100% worth it. This demo is pure gold.