Review by Kevin de Haas

 

Last couple of years there has been a large amount of bands trying to really grasp the essence of this 80's death metal sound. This makes the scene now even larger than it has ever been before. I am a big fan of this movement and new killer albums pop up on my radar almost every day. In the heart of this new wave of old skool death metal we find BURIAL REMAINS. Formed in 2017 by Wim de Vries, Philippus Yntema and Danny Boonstra, Burial Remains is a fairly young band. Checking out every member's history in metal answered my question of why these guys sound so incredibly good and experienced. Bands such as Grim Fate, Boal, Dimaeon and Disintegrate formed the mould for this Dutch death metal colossus and it shows!

After their succesfull release of Trinity of Deception back in 2019 the taste for more increased significantly. Thus in 2020 they bring us their new full-length release Spawn of Chaos. A truly worthy successor to an already amazing show of skill, musicianship and good production. Everything is well balanced and nothing sounds forced or out of place. Again this nice cavernous feel is ever present and the sound of it all is heavely influenced by the early 90's swedish scene, wich in my opinion get's two thumbs up.

 

Other then the 5 second drum intro, the first track 'As Darkness Shall Reign' spends no time letting you settle in first. Catchy powerchord heavy riffs are smoothly blended with dissonant and melodic tremelo picking sections wich is a good example of the diverse and superb songwriting these guys offer on this, just under 39 minute, record.

'Slaves to the Cult' is yet again a fine slab of death metal. With a subtle, almost doomy section in the middel that really changes up the pace quit nicely.

 

'Swallowed by Suplhur' is my personal favorite track of the album. Starting of with a riff that i find quit hardcore influenced(wich is awesome!). And an uptempo melodic section at the two minute mark that really gets my death metal heart pumping and leaves me wanting to press the rewind button every single time.

Overall Spawn of Chaos is a solid release from a young but very solid and skilled band. Loving bands such as Paganizer, Tomb Mold, Death Courier and Firespawn, to me, buying this record is a no brainer and when it comes to any other person who loves some good 'ol death metal all i can say is: the same conclusion applies to you as well!

 

Score:
8/10