Deepsend Records (2012)

For their sophomore release, Deadly Remains have dropped the thrash/death metal approach and gone for a much more brutal, technical sound. The riffs crunch and grind, the drumming is often a relentless barrage and the vocals are pure hate-filled gravel.

One of the best things about “Severing Humanity” are the surprises built in to many of the tracks. A bass run here, a brick-wall stop, a short bit of groove there, some pinch harmonics (I’m usually not much of a fan of these but they are used well here) and some strange and idiosyncratic guitar fills give the impression that Deadly Remains are deadly serious about impressing the listener.

What works best of all is the marriage of all of these elements. There is enough groove to drag you in, enough violence to satisfy the blood-thirst and a level of innovation that can’t be ignored. It delivers everything a fan of this type of music would expect, and manages to sound fresh at the same time.
Once again though, we have another death metal album that is kept off the top spot by the lack of variance of the tracks on offer, which is a pity really, since Deadly remains are a band with a lot to offer.

www.deepsend.com

Rating: 4 / 6

Composed by Peter Loftus