Beneath the Remains

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox album Beneath the Remains is the third studio album by Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura, released on April 7, 1989. It was their first release by Roadrunner Records. Continuing in the death/thrash metal vein of its predecessor Schizophrenia (1987), the album had improved production and songwriting compared to the band's previous black metal-influenced works.<ref name="btrln97">Kay (1997), from the liner notes of Beneath the Remains.</ref> The album was the band's breakthrough in extreme metal circles, bringing them to international attention in the scene. Though no singles were released from the album, the band's first music video was made for the track "Inner Self".<ref name="MTV HBB">Template:Cite web</ref>

Retrospectively, the album has received acclaim as a classic in the thrash metal genre.<ref name="allmusic">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Terrorizer #109 (2003), page 35 (author unknown).</ref> According to vocalist Max Cavalera, Sepultura had "really found [their] style" on this album.<ref name="btrln97" /> In January 2013, Beneath the Remains was inducted into Decibel magazine's Hall of Fame, becoming the second Sepultura album to do so, the first being Roots. This induction would make Sepultura the first band to have more than one of their albums being featured in the Decibel Hall of Fame.<ref name="dB HoF">Template:Cite web</ref>

Background and recording

Max Cavalera travelled to New York in February 1988 and spent a whole week negotiating with the Roadrunner label.<ref name= barcinski60>Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 60.</ref> Although they offered a seven-record deal to Sepultura, the label was unsure of the band's sale potential.<ref name="barcinski60" /> The album's budget was a small amount by the label's standards ($8,000), but in the end the cost was almost twice its original budget.<ref>Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 67.</ref>

Scott Burns, who had previously engineered records by death metal acts Obituary, Death and Morbid Angel, was the chosen producer. Burns agreed to work for a low fee ($2,000) because he was curious about Brazil.<ref>Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 64.</ref> Sepultura spent the last half of December 1988 recording the album at Nas Nuvens Studio in Rio de Janeiro, from 8 pm to 5 am.<ref>Barcinski & Gomes 1999, pages 64 & 66.</ref> The studio was specifically chosen because it was the one where some years before Brazilian rock band Titãs had recorded their classic album Cabeça Dinossauro, which impressed Sepultura.<ref name="viceBTR">Template:Cite web</ref> Burns had brought some drum equipment and Mesa Boogie amps to Brazil (a rare item for production standards at the time) which helped to improve the sound quality.<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

Musical style

The album represents the conclusion of the band's transition away from black metal, instead adopting elements of death metal and thrash metal,<ref name="rm 2020" /><ref name="allmusic" /> as well as influences from Black Sabbath and the early U2 and Corrosion of Conformity albums.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The album was one of the earliest examples of the deathrash subgenre.<ref name=aln97>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

Cover art

This was their first album to feature cover art by Michael Whelan. Sepultura had initially planned on using a different painting by Whelan, Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre; Igor Cavalera had even gone so far as to get part of the painting tattooed on his arm. Roadrunner Records convinced Sepultura to use Nightmare in Red<ref>Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 69,</ref> as they felt it was better suited for Beneath the Remains. Monte Conner of Roadrunner later sent the original artwork to Obituary, who used it on their album, Cause of Death, which was released a year after Beneath the Remains.<ref>Mudrian 2009, page 104.</ref> For years after the incident, Igor Cavalera was upset with Monte Conner for giving away their album cover.

The cover art is acrylics over pastels.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Release

The album was released on April 7, 1989. The album reached no. 9 on the UK Indie Charts, and became the band's breakthrough in Heavy Metal circles. To support the album, the band went on their first tour outside of Brazil, opening for Sodom. The band also released their first music video, for the track "Inner Self", which received heavy airplay on Headbanger's Ball.

Reception

Template:Music ratings Beneath the Remains has received critical acclaim. AllMusic writer Eduardo Rivadavia noted that the album "marked the band's transition from third-world obscurity to major contenders in the international extreme metal arena", and called it "one of the most essential death/thrash metal albums of all time."<ref name="allmusic" /> Adam McCann of Metal Digest called Beneath the Remains a "real heavy metal classic".

Personnel

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 Sepultura

• Max Cavalera – vocals, rhythm guitar
• Igor Cavalera – drums, percussion
• Andreas Kisser – lead guitar, bass (uncredited)
• Paulo Jr. – bass (credited, but did not perform)

Guest musicians

• Kelly Shaefer (Atheist) – background vocals on "Stronger Than Hate"
• John Tardy (Obituary) – background vocals on "Stronger Than Hate"
• Scott Latour (Incubus) – background vocals on "Stronger Than Hate"
• Francis Howard (Incubus) – background vocals on "Stronger Than Hate"
• Henrique Portugal – synthesizers

Template:Col-2 Production

• Scott Burns – producer, engineer, mixing
• Sepultura – production
• Max Cavalera – mixing
• Monte Conner – executive producer
• Antoine Midani – assistant engineer
• Tom Morris – mixing at Morrisound Recording, Tampa, Florida, January 1989
• Jeff Daniel – producer (reissue)
• George Marino – remastering (reissue) at Sterling Sound, New York City
• Don Kaye – liner notes (reissue)

Artwork

• Michael Whelan – front cover illustration ("Nightmare in Red")
• Wesley H. Raffan – back cover photography from lightandshadow.com
• Mark Weiss – photography
• Eric de Haas – photography
• Twelve Point Rule, New York City – album redesign

Charts

Chart (1989)	Peak position
UK Indie Chart<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	9

Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chart

Chart (2020)	Peak position
Croatian Foreign Albums (TOTS)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	3

References

Works cited

• Anonymous (2003). A Megaton Hit Parade: The All-Time Thrash Top 20. Terrorizer, 109: 34–55.
• Barcinski, André & Gomes, Silvio (1999). Sepultura: Toda a História. São Paulo: Ed. 34. Template:ISBN
• Mudrian, Albert (2009). Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces, 104.
• Harris, Keith (2000). Roots?: the relationship between the global and the local within the Extreme Metal scene. Popular Music, 19: 13–30.
• Sepultura (1989). Beneath the Remains. [CD]. New York, NY: Roadrunner Records. The Sepultura Remasters (1997).