Vital Remains - Icons of Evil

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#FOR FANS OF: Brutal Death

It's a toss-up for me, either 'Dechristianize' or this one 'Icons of Evil'. I don't pay attention to anyone else's reviews, so there is no influence on scores or review material latched onto. I think 'Icons of Evil' is a little less raw and I favored it a bit more than the predecessor, it was a little more death metal oriented too. I like a bit of the guitar harmonics as well. Glen sounds like he does on later Deicide releases. A little monotonous but that's alright. It fit well with the music and lyrical topics (since he is a Satanist). I enjoyed the whole album, just didn't key into the lyrics since they're not my cup of tea.

A long album, but that's a little atypical of death metal releases. The average is about 30–45 minutes, this one is over 60 minutes! I thought that it was good, though they spent a while with the songwriting. And I liked the guitars, not so much the leads, just the rhythms and harmonics (like I mentioned). Brutal music, but I thought better than the earlier Vital Remains. Too raw for me, not 'Dechristianize' but their earlier work. Wasn't a big fan of the earlier stuff. They have not released an album since this one, but they're still active. I'm not sure when they're going to come out with new music but this one and 'Dechristianize' I'll settle with.

The production was top-notch I believe thanks to Erik Rutan who's now in Cannibal Corpse replacing Pat O'Brien. I'm not sure if there are any original members left of the original band. They've gone through so many line-up changes! And even though they're continuing on the Satanic route sort of death metal they could sure put out something of the "newer" sound for the band. We'll have to wait and see. I don't think Glen is going to do any more guest lead vocals since he's still tied up with Deicide. But I'll be watching for that, and he did a great job filling in with the time that he had with the band.

I had to order these CDs from eBay ('Dechristianize' and 'Icons of Evil'). They (to me) were worth ordering. Even if it is the only two that I'll ever own of the band. Don't expect anything utter than brutal death metal with a tinge of melodic work from those albums and this one even more brutal. Both 'Dechristianize' and 'Icons of Evil' are some of my favorite death metal albums of all time. I'm glad that I took the time to wait and see how they were on Spotify before purchasing both. I collect CD's so these two are greatly precious to me. Let's just not get into the lyrical concepts! Long live Vital Remains! (Death8699)

(Century Media/Osmose Productions - 2007/2022)
Score: 80

https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/album/icons-of-evil

Vital Remains - Dechristianize

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#FOR FANS OF: Death Metal

I got this on my digital release before I decided to buy the album. I still like their latest more, but oddly enough I'm scoring it the same as that one. The main beef I have with the album is the snare drum, other than that I thought it was an impeccable release. The songwriting is amazing. I love the riffs and intensity. It seemed like this one did well but I'd have to say that 'Icons of Evil' was more suitable to my pallet upon listening to and times I've listened to it. However, I thought that this one was a bit faster tempo-wise and aggressive. I don't care much for the early stuff and I have no idea what the new stuff is going to sound like when it's complete.

I'll probably just stick with the two Vital Remains releases not the old. I think the newer is less raw and more likable. This one is downright amazing. The riffs are just everywhere and brutal. They really hit-home with this one. I think that they just are great with having Glen via Deicide voluntarily in for lead vocals on here. He sounded more like the "newer" Glen on his vocals. The lineup is forever changing and I don't think there are going to be any of the original members on the new stuff. All of it is pretty much 21st century members. Time will tell when the new album arrives (if ever) and we'll see how it pans out.

The production quality is quite good, a little bit raw though. But the music sounds top notch despite that. The guitars are fantastic. I felt that overall an impeccable album. They got better than the older (quite fast) and seemed to be the most mature on 'Icons of Evil'. I think that they deserve all the praise they seemed to on this album. Really innovative songwriting (as I say) and wicked leads. Overall, a very dark and depressing album. And the perfect lyrics for Glen right up his alley with the Satanism. If you might want to not read the lyrics to this release if you're bound by religion, but just maybe learn the titles of the songs.

Like I did, I downloaded this album first but didn't check it out right away. I waited a while. I thought that the new album was just more suitable to me. But most were in disagreement. I think that both are just amazing death metal. I don't think that anything on here was done wrong, I though that all the songs were solid. And the leads were top notch. Glen sounded brutal, just applicable to the music of this release. He did them justice both albums. So yeah, this was unrelenting and amazing, I wouldn't change much of any of it except the snare drum! Other than that, check it out! (Death8699)

(Olympic Recordings/Cosmic Key Creations - 2003/2020)
Score: 80

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