Search - Vital Remains :: Icons of Evil

Nothing new, but still mighty enjoyable

A. Stutheit | Denver, CO USA | 09/05/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"An album like Vital Remains' "Icons of Evil" is, for all intents and purposes, every extreme music fan's wet dream. It is an epic, skull-shattering album that weighs a ton and overflows with godly, highly technical music, including great riffs, fiery leads, blasting drums, crushing rhythms, and even lengthy, restrained, melodic guitar solos. Of course, with all of these things in place it makes "Icons of Evil" very, very similar to the band's last offering, 2003's "Dechristianize." And when Glenn Benton (of Deicide fame) adds his roaring, unintelligible, inhuman vocals to the mix, the two albums become almost identical. So, some fans are sure to be a bit disappointed that "IoE" does not expand Vital Remains' sound whatsoever and that it does not sound nearly as novel or unique as that four year old release.



But even if VR could have done a lot more with their fifth full length, it still makes for a very satisfying listen, so it's hard to complain about it too much. And even though it may not be at all innovative, "Icons of Evil" is, in a lot of ways, a more realized effort than "Dechristianize." The songs are faster and heavier this time around, and boast a lot more guitar solos (numerous melodic, classically-influenced solos crop up in every track.) Plus, the band's musicianship is even tighter and more mindblowing now than it was then (and that's really saying something!). As a result, Vital Remains now sound more, well, Vital Remains-y than they ever have before.



After beginning with an a capella, skin-crawling shriek from Glenn, the title track bursts the album's floodgates open with blinding guitar shredding, blast beats that make jackhammers sound slow by comparison, an ominous, doomy breakdown around the midpoint, and a lengthy solo that could peal the paint off a wall. And then -- from the mind-boggling drumming of "Scorned," to the barnburning, Slayer-on-steroids riffing of "Reborn...The Upheaval of Nihility," and on to an impressive (albeit barely recognizable) Yngwie Malmsteen cover ("Disciples of Hell") -- the onslaught never relents. This is a sixty-seven minute-long deluge of extremely brutal death metal that tears your head clean off your shoulders while ripping the rest of your body apart limb by limb. These songs are as heavy and fast as metal gets this side of the grindcore genre. "Reborn...The Upheaval of Nihility," with its breakneck intro, seemingly octolimbed drumming, and gorgeous (though brief) flamenco guitar solo, and "`Till Death," which weaves some especially melodic and wailing solos in between its pummeling, Nile-esque rhythm, are the two biggest highlights on hand here.



It's almost redundant to say because of the obviousness of it, but "Icons of Evil" is definitely not for everybody. This is a monstrous feast of death metal -- it's so big, in fact, that it will be overwhelming to a lot of listeners. But if you're looking for something that will be more than satiating when you get a hankering for the heavy stuff, there's no album that will get the job done better than this."