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".