When it comes to metal bands hating God, Eyehategod might have snagged the name, but it’s hard to argue that any band has done the job more consistently and with more gusto than Florida’s Deicide. Raging at the big guy since 1987 (originally under the name Amon), Deicide turned frontman Glen Benton into the cartoon mascot for Satanic death metal. Benton was and is a legitimately wild dude who branded an upside-down cross into his own forehead, made GG Allin-style suicide threats, shot squirrels in the middle of an interview, became a target of bomb threats from animal rights protestors, and clashed with radio evangelist Bob Larson like a pro wrestler cutting promos on behalf of Lucifer (“My lord is going to spare no mercy on you, Larson!”).
All this is to say that if Glen Benton agrees to front your band, your God-hating cred is solid. From 2003 to ’09, Benton was the vocalist for Providence, Rhode Island’s Vital Remains. While not as well-known as some of their contemporaries, Vital Remains can lay claim to similar longevity and intensity. Formed in 1988, with a staggering number of former members (founding guitarist Tony Lazaro is the only O.G. still in the lineup), Vital Remains have since released six full-length albums of aggressive, blasphemous death metal. A new vinyl release of the compilation “Horrors of Hell” (in the Gimme store May 30) offers a look at the band’s earliest material and their swift evolution.
“Horrors of Hell” is sequenced in reverse chronological order, so it kicks off with Vital Remains’ 1991 EP “The Black Mass”. The band’s first vinyl release after a pair of demos does a great job incorporating Coil’s unused music for Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser” (legend says studio execs found it too terrifying) into the intro; bonus points for adding Satanic chanting to it instead of just jacking it as-is. It’s clear that the band has pinpointed EVIL, rather than speed or brutality, as its focus. (There’s a pretty gnarly fast section on “Of Pure Unholyness,” though). The B-side, “Frozen Terror,” is indebted to the Deicide and Mobid Angel records of the day, but the raw recording on this 7-inch gives it a chaotic energy its own.
The second Vital Remains demo, 1990’s “Excruciating Pain,” launches with one of those drum-heavy intros that lets you know shit will be going down on “Human Sacrifice” before the song erupts into high-speed thrashing and midtempo stomp. The fidelity is notably lower than the subsequent EP, and there’s more of a focus on speed, but the band is never sloppy. There’s a sulfurous whiff of “Hell Awaits” over the whole demo. Take note of the brief and extremely weird guitar solo in “Excruciating Pain” that sounds like it’s pushing its way into the song through a hole in the interdimensional fabric.
The first Vital Remains offer, the 1989 demo “Reduced to Ashes,” is where the real lizard-brained Neanderthals will feast. Beginning with one of the most iconic pieces of horror movie music of all time, “Ave Satani” from Jerry Goldsmith’s score for “The Omen,” these six tracks are as raw and savage as it gets. Take the earliest and nastiest Death material, give it the suffocating atmosphere of Sepultura’s “Morbid Visions,” and stick a cinderblock on the gas pedal. It’s interesting to note that Vital Remains were writing primarily about violence and gore at this stage rather than anti-Christian themes. “More Brains” is horror movie worship in classic death metal fashion, with astoundingly fuzzy bass and some fun vocal arrangements. Yes, I’m calling death metal “fun” because I’m a lizard-brained Neanderthal, this is fun for me. Vital Remains fans who only know the LPs might be surprised to hear the band in such primordial form on “Horrors of Hell,” and connoisseurs of raw and extreme sounds from South America or outsiders like Nuclear Death might be shocked at how noisy and savage they could get.
GET HORRORS OF HELL IN GOLD VINYL HERE!
—Anthony Bartkewicz