Exclusive Interview: Death Remains on new material, endorsements and Beyoncé!

London Metalcore quintet Death Remains have been a band we’ve followed since we first heard single “Blood Brothers” back in 2013. Since then they’ve thrown a pair of albums to the Wolves at their door and with a pair of singles appearing in the last six months (including the brilliant “Self Reflection” which has some fantastic technical riffs!) we thought it was time that we had a chat. So here’s what they had to say about everything from re-recordings of older material to Pot Noodle.

It’s been the better part of three years since 2017’s sophomore long-player “Destroy / Rebuild“, which has seen yourselves playing shows all over the UK with some of the finest in the Underground Metal scene here. What was your stand out moments or milestones during that run? The release tour we did for that album was incredible. All the shows were amazing and having our friends in Bleed Again out on the road with us made it all the better. We capped the tour off with a massive set at Mammoth Fest in Brighton so that definitely stands out. Headline shows across mainland Europe were insane too. Also, the response to the album by the media and fans surpassed all of our expectations – which was real humbling after the trials and tribulations we had to go through after the first album.

A pair of new singles in “Peace In Misery” and more recently “Self Reflection” seem to have found you in an introspective mood and with some distinctive blue lighting in the cover art of both. How have things changed in the recording process between times? We actually recorded both tracks, ‘Peace in Misery’ and ‘Self Reflection’ mid last year with Meyrick (de la Fuente) from ‘Floodgate Audio’ who we recorded ‘Destroy/Rebuild’ with, so it was a pretty similar process. We had been sitting on the songs for a while and was waiting for the right time to get them out there but wanted to make sure we did the songs justice with the right media and artwork to go along with it. We’ve really been digging the 80s vibe, so wanted that to reflect with the colour scheme and artwork which we think we’ve pulled off pretty well. 

What have been the influences and inspirations behind the new material? As we’re getting older and having experienced so much over the years the songs are now a lot more personal. Delving into the corridors of your mind can be pretty dangerous sometimes so we’re definitely trying to put a positive message out there and help others when they feel down and out.

Re-recording prior works is always met with a certain amount of trepidation, but it hasn’t stopped Anthrax, Exodus and now In Flames from doing just that with their current line ups, the latest gear and modern production value. If could go back and re-recorded your 2013 debut “Stand.Fight.Believe“, what would you change? To be honest we wouldn’t change anything about that album. It was a perfect reflection for where we were at the time and showed the potential we had as a young band. Also working with [Former SikTh vocalist] Justin Hill on that album was an absolute pleasure and a time we’ll always have fond memories of.

Fearless Records approach you to record a Metal version of a pop song for their long-running “Punk Goes Pop” series. What would you choose? Tough question haha. “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” by Beyoncé? Because why not? That and it would be a killer challenge to scream that haha! It’s definitely an interesting idea though and something we would be open to doing if we were ever approached to do it. It worked for Betraying the Martyrs, didn’t it? haha

In the US, getting your song picked as the entrance music for a WWE wrestler is a really big deal, getting you noticed on the big stage. So if you had to pick one of your songs to be used as the entrance music for a Fury Vs Joshua title fight, what would you choose? “Rebuild” from our last album would be a cool one. It’s a big epic song and kinda relates to both guys especially Fury after all the hell he went through with his mental and physical health. Also for Joshua after he had to regroup after his shock loss to Andy Ruiz.

Endorsements are crucial to bands and when your previous tour mates Black Coast got endorsed by Yorkshire Tea, we couldn’t help but crack a smile. Which random non-music related endorsement would you love to pick up? Hell yeah! Was so pleased for the Black Coast boys when they got that endorsement! They love a brew haha. A cool endorsement would be Pot Noodle, you can’t beat a chicken and mushroom. It’s the perfect road food for when you’re on tour, just get your boiled water from the services if you don’t have a kettle handy!

Guest culture has seen a resurgence for late. If you could pick any guest to appear on your next album, who would you like to join you? Vocally it’d have to be [Light The Torch, ex-Killswitch Engage vocalist] Howard Jones, which would be epic! His voice is amazing and was one of the very reasons [our vocalist] Barry picked up a microphone and wanted to start a band. Another guest would be [Monuments guitarist] Olly Steele, mainly because he writes some epic rhythms and his latest solo on the song ‘Animus’ was incredibly tasty!