Forever Underground

I became aware of Vital Remains because of a contribution by the band to a compilation of Osmose. It was included in a relatively short-lived metal magazine. There, the Yanks immediately wowed me with "I Am God". Even now, more than two decades later, I can only report positive things about this monument. Already the beginning, the contrasting interplay of the heavy, thundering melody and the guitars dancing on glowing coals during the almost fragile breaks, is fascinating. No question, this god drags the listener deeper and deeper into the canyon. In the process, he makes the one or other swerve, cleverly varies the tempo and boasts with various torture methods. The piece has its strongest moments when it returns to the fanfare-like motif from the beginning, but each of the 577 seconds is a delight. Even the sometimes somewhat clattering snare and the genre-specific, but for my taste pretty monotonous, ultra-deep vocals do not diminish the excellent overall impression, which is also due to the almost unique, extremely successful "Spanish" solo. Flamenco dancers please step forward!

Often bands have a good sense of which song will be best received on their new album. Vital Remains seem to be no exception, because "I Am God" remains unmatched on "Forever Undergound". But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't pay attention to the other four pillars of hate (we'll forget about the short intermezzo at position four...). The artists create a threatening, dense and extremely vicious sound dimension at all times. They neither shy away from blast beats nor fall victim to an excess of repetition. The sound gives the stormy compositions an extra dose of brutality. No doubt about it, the sound engineers would have loved to hit every single listener in the face several hundred times with a hammer. But since that was unfortunately not possible and is even supposed to be forbidden, "Forever Underground" pours out of the speakers with a remarkable directness, straightforwardness and vehemence. Even during the crazy solos, for example in "Divine in Fire", nothing ends in sound chaos, but remains clear and distinct.

If I were to put a gun to my own temple and be faced with the choice of either shooting myself or picking the best track after "I Am God", I would choose the second alternative. Without question, the title track is also a massive piece of gloomy death metal. Especially the merciless droning mid-tempo sections supported by a bell, but also solos driven by a double bass thunderstorm, give the devil in hell the good feeling that all is well on earth. Finally, the chorus can shine with a certain catchiness - and last but not least, I like programmatic titles like "Forever Underground". It's more than a title, it's a creed. As a German, I still have the images from Wacken (before the f**king virus came) well before my eyes. I don't know if this "metal" festival with its 75,000 spectators (some of them in pink bunny costumes and similar nonsense) and hundreds of pointless, non-music-related gimmicks embodies the original spirit of metal. Probably not. But don’t worry. If you want to experience the true essence of heavy metal art, you'd better stay at home and listen to records like "Forever Underground".

It's not my username by any chance.

The music of Vital Remains takes a big step forward on this album, after two fantastic releases that placed a greater value on atmosphere and creative song structure, Forever Underground is still to this day the band's most technical album, although it doesn't display the frenetic madness that would later make them more relevant, the musicianship is appreciated in both the band members and the songs, allowing them to remain creative in their songwriting and at the same time show an over the top level in terms of performance. With these two strengths, a balance is found that would never be seen again in the band's discography.

The main reason why there is this gigantic progress on instrumental level is because of the inclusion of Dave Suzuki, he would quickly take a very important role in songwriting and of course in performance as he is the most skilled musician, even though there are many traces of the style previously seen in Vital Remains, in all the songs there is a strong search to create a dense and nightmarish atmosphere, if it wasn't for "Farewell to the Messiah" there wouldn't be a second of rest and even though the compositions are long, some will say that they are artificially lengthened due to the repetition of segments but I firmly believe that this aspect is necessary for the kind of music that the album tries to transmit, also the fact that the compositions are longer allows them to explore and show different facets making the songs varied and at the same time memorable, if they tried to do all that in a shorter composition it would be too chaotic.

Even with the aforementioned characteristics of the original sound of Vital Remains that prevail, there are many changes that will remain as indispensable trademarks for the following productions, although the speed is more measured than in these later albums, it increases significantly due to the rhythms marked by Dave Suzuki's drums, the same one that brings for the first time an acoustic guitar solo, being this an insgnia of the group to this day. It is in "I Am God" where we find this facet for the first time and curiously it is the song where we find more elements of the old Vital Remains, mainly because of the use of keyboards, showing a balance between the new and the old style.

But despite all that I have said about the kind of atmospheric and dense compositions, there is still room for displays of instrumental skill, from the aforementioned acoustic guitar solo to pure shred guitar solos to a drum solo that works as a build up to the finale of the first song being for me the highlight of the album, I fervently believe that this performance on drums by Dave Suzuki is the best he has ever done, it is not the fastest he had ever performed but it is undoubtedly the most technical, the way in which he executes a double bass incredibly marked and of incredible complexity together with the use of the fillers achieve an apotheosic moment of stasis that elevates this work from outstanding to an absolute masterpiece.And it is these kind of moments that give that final push that makes this album go from memorable to one of the peaks of American death metal, the solidity of the compositions, the intensity, the speed, all perfectly arranged and executed so finally these small displays of instrumental talent are placed as the icing on the cake, simply perfect.

I find it hard not to get overwhelmed simply because of how much I like this album, but the sound that is shown in these 40 minutes is of an incredible and unrepeatable quality, and I say unrepeatable because this album was a bridge to a change of style, it didn't specialize in a specific aspect like the others in the discography and that makes it unique. Also the success of the later style of the band meant that any chance of making something like this again was diminished, ending as the title suggests, underground.... forever.

I am forever underground

Rewritten 14 December 2021

The title of this review says it all. Vital Remains' third album, Forever Underground, is truly their best work. Dechristianize and Icons of Evil have NOTHING on this album. Forever Underground captures a very strong and memorable atmosphere with its mixture of black metal and death metal. Surprisingly enough, Forever Underground has remained a hidden, overlooked gem just like every other Vital album that doesn't include Glen Benton.

Every single song on this album captures this dark, obscure atmosphere. Each song tells its own story and there is not one filler track on the whole album. Forever Underground's songs contain such a large amount of variety in its riffs. The song structures for each song are diverse, going from slow, doomy, heavy riffs to fast riffs with blast-beats to sections containing these beautiful guitar solos and melodies. On Dechristianize and Icons Of Evil, most of the songs sound very similar to each other, each having the exact same song structures and same amount of fast, merciless riffs and brutality with no slowing down whatsoever. On these early albums, especially Forever Underground, the variety in the song structures are much different, letting some wicked, dark riffs to seep through in between fast riffs that blast off every once in a while. It's almost as if these less technical songs really breathe out something that sounds quite natural and spontaneous.

The musicianship on Forever Underground is, by far, the best I've ever heard from Vital Remains. Tony Lazaro perfectly mixes black metal riffing with the style of American death metal riffing, and the guitar tone is perfect, it's not really deep and muddy, it's not too clean, it's right in the middle and it has this excellent crunch sound to it. It is unfortunate that Jeff Gruslin quit the band before the making of this album, but Joe Lewis delivered his own death growls; a slightly deeper voice than Jeff Gruslin's. Dave's raw, tin-sounding drums really fit the sound of this album, although it takes a lot of getting used to. But if you really like raw, analogue production quality, this album obviously has it. No compressed, digitally-recorded drums or any instruments to be found here. And also, this album introduces Dave Suzuki's fantastic neo-classical guitar solos. These solos are another way Vital Remains try to stand out from all the other death metal bands who would never try something like mixing such a style with the fierce brutality of death metal music. Vital Remains mixed neo-classical with death metal and this album proved that it works for them. The two different styles when fused together doesn't create a goofy, cartoonish sound like some people may expect, but an genuine, innovative death metal sound. The solos become an interesting contrast when mixed with heavy and brutal riffs. Tony and Dave really defined a new and very superior sound on this album.

Overall, this is Vital Remains' magnum opus; a truly underrated classic in death metal. I highly recommend it to any fan of black/death metal and to any new Vital fan who thinks Dechristianize is the best death metal album they've ever heard. Forever Underground remains a fantastic, satanic, dark masterpiece!

Long before Glen Benton and headlining tours, Vital Remains proved to be the exact definition of an underground death metal band when they literally were shadowed by Florida’s sudden metal uprising in the early 1990s. Four full-length records emerged before you could find Providence’s finest selling out shows, but sadly, those great releases have suffered repression much like these madmen faced in their early days; however, they’ve never had a slither of a chance to show what lurks within, and that’s the cruel reality “Forever Underground” has been dealt. People always enjoy blasting their “Altars of Madness” or whatever, but where’s the death metal that just screams of brutality much like its classic competitors? Where’s some death metal that can feel epic, exciting, dynamic, and beefy all in one setting? Where’s some death metal that’s able to impress you today and tomorrow? Simple answer to all those questions: right here.

Funny thing is, “Forever Underground” fabricates itself around Vital Remains’ old-school death metal approach as expected, but not without implementing longer songs, keyboards, complex riffs, and solos that focus more so on style than technicality. Tony Lazaro’s guitar playing strictly resembles an instrumental peak in both his creativity and talent levels, mainly due to his voluminous licks exploiting scorching speed, pulverizing mid-paced sections, and stellar tempo changes. Dave Suzuki’s debut in Vital Remains shows the multi-talented musician literally flexing onto every part of his drum set while avoiding the blastbeat commonplace that turned so many individuals away from their later works; “Battle Ground” is really the one track containing a fair amount of blasting, but like I said, it’s just fair in quantity. Also, his shredding influence is felt entirely, especially when experiencing those memorable leads that almost feel well-known in an atmosphere similar to “Dechristianize” or “Icons of Evil.” Take “I Am God” and those flamenco solos for instance…just too cool.

Vital Remains had suffered lineup change after lineup change during this stage in the band’s life, so instead of dealing with typical crap, they agreed on sticking Joe Lewis at both the microphone and his primordial bass, yet here’s the kicker: he fucking rules at growling! Parched barks are constantly exiled from Joe’s twisted larynx while his morbid moans become one with Lazaro’s axing riffs and Suzuki’s outrageous drumming, which seems somewhat surprising considering his original place. Beings able to fit all these pieces together sounds like a band being born again, yet it’s completely clear each mentionable quality has been upgraded even further than before. Matured and redefined, “Forever Underground” comes off as some miners whom finally found perfect diamonds after years of digging over their specific foundation; it’s got the best riffs, percussion, bass lines, vocals, and general song schemes than anything else on Vital Remains’ original full-length collections.

As for production, we have not a single tweak of digital improvement; rawness reigns supreme on all instrumental levels. When placing this disc in the presence of your ears, you’ll be quickly consumed by rough guitars squished against chunky bass lines; it just has such a dirty background, and that’s how I like it, baby! But of course, the finest contribution resulting from keeping rareness intact is Dave Suzuki’s wild percussion, which honestly couldn’t sound more fitting on “Forever Underground” and its general muddiness. His snare’s volume quickly alters between crushing snaps and tiny pops, which are obviously based on his speed, yet those frisky toms he uses so intelligently also appear to be one with the undercooked as well. Be away with your triggered drums! We need not those swallow customizations!

It really sautés my tilapia to see “Forever Underground” in such a state of neglect after stuff like “Dechristianize” gave Vital Remains modernized publicity. Hell, it even adds a fat layer of butter on my tilapia when witnessing the Benton-only fans purposely ignoring this wonderful album just because his name sound familiar, whether it be from Deicide records or the Satanic gimmick he’s known for. Hypocrisy, I say! Discarding that mild inconsistency, please understand Vital Remains’ third chapter completely defines great death metal throughout its forty minutes of madness. A high-powered observation overall, and like its name, truly is – and shall eternally remain – forever underground.

This review was written for: www.leviatan-magazine.com

Now if that isn't a rally call to true, underground metal, I don't know what the fuck is. The title track alone could very well be THE death metal anthem; epic, raw, heavy, and evil as all hell. Kicking off with a rather grandiose riff, that builds into a heavy chug, before a furious barrage of double bass and flesh grinding riffs tear you apart, this song demonstrates Vital Remains' ability to build a song. And indeed, it passes through all sorts of moods, all of them being very, very pissed off.

FOREVER TRUE! FOREVER BLACK!

Well, I can't say that there's much black metal on here, but this is fucking true death metal, and not the "tr00" or "kvlt" kind, at that. "Battle Ground" starts off with a big kick to your face with a furious blast, before going to a half time grind. And you wouldn't think that any groove would find its way on here, but "I Am God" has quite a bouncy main riff to it. And by bouncy, I mean bouncing your head off the wall. Damn! That's catchy! Like every song on here, it goes through several tempo changes, and features a flamenco guitar solo in the middle. "Eastern Voyage" is the fastest track on here, with pummelling riffs and nasty drumming coming in at you from all angles.

"Farewell to the Messiah" sounds kind of like music for some fruity mideaval porn, so I skip it every time. "Divine In Flames" has some nice moments, but overall, it doesn't kick as much ass as the other monsterous songs on here.

Dave Suzuki makes his debut on drums and lead guitar here, and I think that the band grows in leaps on bounds with his addition. His drumming just sounds malevolent, as if he wants to punch you in the face with each beat. And he's no slouch on guitar, having a pretty clean, neo-classical style that almost sounds pretty.

Joe Lewis has my least favourite voice of all the Vital Remains frontmen, but when you're stacked against Jeff Gruslin, Thorns, and Glen Benton, you face very, very stiff competition. He's no slouch, but not the best these guys have had.

As for Mr. Lazaro...well, this guy just oozes excellent riffs. He's almost the Dave Mustaine of death metal, because nearly every riff he comes up with hits a nerve.

I think that after the last album, they went back to a rawer sound. The drums on here, especially, don't sound triggered. Hell, even the guitars have a ripping sound with a minimum of special effects. This gives the album a very badass sound. Very death metal, and very underground.

Largely overlooked before Glen Benton of Deicide joined their ranks, which is unfortunate because I believe this album to be the embodiment of Vital Remains. Each song is an epic journey of audio violence with variety being the key point, so even though the songs are all very long they remain interesting. Keyboards and acoustic guitars are used in strategic places to increase the epic nature, never over done. As a whole, Forever Underground (FU) has more of a live feel in both the production and the performance, as opposed to their current slick and processed material. I think this suits them better and wish they stuck with it.

Raw and aggressive guitars are the driving force here. Lots of riffs, frequent tempo changes and unique song structures are what this album is about. Every song contains solos, which is a good thing even though they're of average quality. The bass doesn't have a real presence, it's used mostly to fill out the sound and follows the guitars.

Dave Suzuki makes his debut here and does a precise and varied job on the drums. He pays more attention to the song's dynamics on FU than his triggered blast obsession of the Benton-era.

Vocals are mid-range growls timed well with the music and convincingly delivered. Musically Vital Remains have their own voice but they're spewing forth, as always, standard Satanic/anti-religious lyrics.

The keyboard instrumental in the middle of the album is the only low point, bringing to mind images of a Middle Eastern circus (though I've never seen one). On the positive side it's short but I still find myself skipping over it.

At the time of this review Icons of Evil is out and I would have to say FU is still the highlight of their discography.

6 tracks: 5 songs, 1 keyboard instrumental.