1st March 2021

Review: “Dead Dreams” by Recall The Remains

When you have a career that has already seen you play a host of festivals including Mammothfest, Derby Alt Fest and HRH Metal Festival, sharing the stage with Bleed from Within, Decapitated, and Rhapsody of Fire, as well as undertaking countless headline shows and tours, there is a certain pressure when it comes to the next studio release. Looking to maintain their momentum Recall The Remains, a West Midlands Metalcore act who formed in 2017 and cite influences in Trivium, Thy Art is Murder and Whitechapel are set to unveil “Dead Dreams” to do exactly that. This debut EP cuts adrift the bands debut single “The Will of Your God” which has reached its fourth anniversary but has room for a pair of singles released in 2018 and 2019 respectively as the band look to build on their foundations.

There is no doubt that all of the songs on this debut EP from Recall The Remains are tried and tested in the live arena, something which has afforded them the opportunity to sharpen them up and remove anything that the fans haven’t perhaps bought into. “Darker Path” is a prime example of what Metalcore is like in 2021, blending elements of Groove Metal with clean and unclean vocals, throwing down both Melodic and Heavy parts that are well balanced. The surprise here is the Deathcore breakdown segment accompanied by a brutal roar which elevates things to another realm of existence. That trend for touching the void into Deathcore continues in “Deadlines” with a consistent flow between the pair of styles well executed. As you might expect that means that the track is laden with breakdowns piled high like you might find in a scrap yard and that serves the mosh pit well. “First Inversion” has moments that Lamb of God would be proud of while the bass drive into the slick haunting leads is particularly enticing. The vocals throughout the EP show off great range, there are fervent moments of emotionally engaging cleans that are easy to sing along to while also having plenty of bark and bite in those unclean moments. The songs have been cleverly constructed to allow for both the dark and the light side of both sets of vocals to shine. arguably the heaviest song on the record is “The Night Will Bleed“, which takes from the 2003 Metalcore era playbook and drenched in lead work that is captivating but also has moments where the Whitechapel influence bleeds through with ferocious endeavour. Introducing some melody with some Jazz inspired fretboard magic on “Our Hell“, they still manage to pack plenty of punch and after a sample a pair of brutal breakdown sections complete with pig squeals is mind blowing. If you took that part alone and played it back in isolation against one of the melodic parts, you’d think you were listening to a pair of different bands. But Recall The Remains pair the two in style and its refreshing to hear a band who embrace both sides of their split personality and do them both justice at the same time [8.5/10]

Track listing