5 Albums I Want To Be Buried With #15: Survivalist!
As Groove orientated Deathcore heavy hitters Survivalist prepare for a run of UK shows before returning to Ireland for a run with Thy Art Is Murder and Heriot, they’re safe in the knowledge that their scorching new single “Radio Bleed” hitting 20.8k of YouTube and Spotify streams combined in just two weeks. If you’re in attendance at one of those shows then you had better make sure you do your vocal warm ups because grabbing the microphone and screaming along is as monitory as mosh pit violence when Survivalist are on stage. Taking a moment out of his busy rehearsal schedule we had the pleasure of a conversation with Survivalist vocalist Gavin Edward Sharp and he told us about 5 albums he wants to be buried with…
The premise is simple: “Back in ancient Egypt they believed that the items their Kings were buried with would travel with them into the afterlife and so part of the burial ritual would see the mummified bodies surrounded by chariots, gold and more. Fast forward to now. If there were five albums that you’d want buried in the coffin with you to take to the afterlife, what would you choose?”
1. Pantera – “The Great Southern Trendkill“
“This was the gateway drug, the record that slammed the door shut on casual listening and threw me headfirst into heavy music. I’d heard Pantera before, but Trendkill was where I felt it — “Suicide Note Pt. II” alone was like being mugged sonically, all aggression, angst, and pure pissed-off defiance. The tones, the riffs, Phil screaming like he’s leading a riot (even if he is a bit of a douchebag) — it was my introduction to music that didn’t just sound heavy, it was heavy. And yet it’s not just chaos: tracks like “Floods” prove they could be somber and atmospheric, before swinging back to sledgehammer grooves like “Drag the Waters.” To me, that album is a middle finger in CD form — 10 out of 10“
2. Eminem – “The Slim Shady LP / The Marshall Mathers LP“
“Alright, we’re breaking genre rules already, but I don’t care — hip-hop is my second great love, and Eminem was the doorway. When I first heard The Slim Shady LP as a kid, it flipped my whole perception of rap. Up until then I thought hip-hop was just about who could play the biggest gangster, but here was someone weaving skits, dark comedy, raw vulnerability, and genuine storytelling into it. It was dangerous, it was hilarious, it was human. That’s what pulled me deeper into the whole world of rap — from N.W.A. and Wu-Tang Clan to modern names like J. Cole and Logic. Without Em, I wouldn’t have that whole other half of my musical identity.“
3. Michael Jackson – “Bad“
“Before metal, before hip-hop, there was MJ. Michael Jackson was the guy who made me want to be a performer — full stop. Bad was the soundtrack of my childhood, played to death, front to back. I sang along, danced along, even won a dancing competition in a town square doing Michael’s moves (got a £50 voucher and a stack of CDs for it — my first “touring paycheck,” I guess). Musically, it’s packed with iconic hooks, but it also introduced me to guitar in a big way — Eddie Van Halen’s riff on “Beat It” is still one of the all-time greats. To me, Michael wasn’t just an artist; he was the reason anyone should even want to get on stage in the first place“
4. John 5 – “Songs for Sanity“
“If Pantera lit the fire and Eminem cracked open a new world of words, then John 5’s Songs for Sanity was the album that blew the doors off genre boundaries for me. It’s a masterclass in versatility — one minute it’s chunky, fast, metallic riffs with breakdowns, and the next it’s diving into country, bluegrass, even touches of jazz. It proved to me that guitar could literally do anything, and it made me rethink what music itself could be. Before that, most of what I listened to sat neatly in its lane — metal was metal, hip-hop was hip-hop, even the South Park album was the South Park album. Then along came John 5 with this Frankenstein’s monster of an album that somehow stitched it all together and made it sound class. As a guitarist first and foremost, that blew my mind. (Honorable grave mention: Frédéric François Chopin, especially the Nocturnes — because even the heaviest riffs don’t quite hit like a perfect bit of melancholy piano. Metal kids might not want to admit it, but Chopin was more metal than most of us.)“
5. Hatebreed – “Supremacy“
“Hardcore was always running alongside metal for me, even back when people acted like metalcore was some sort of crime against music. For years I stuck to the technical side — the riffs, the seven-minute epics, bands like Anterior blowing my mind — but hardcore didn’t fully click until about six years ago when I was going through some rough personal stuff. That’s when Supremacy landed like a punch to the chest. Hardcore isn’t just heaviness — it’s unity, self-belief, brotherhood — and I needed that. Songs like “Defeatist” didn’t just sound heavy, they meant something. That record made me believe in myself again. It reminded me why music mattered, why I wanted to be in a band at all. From there I went deeper into hardcore, but also found myself circling back to metal with a fresh drive. Hatebreed might not be one of my all-time favourite bands overall, but Supremacy is untouchable. It’s the record that made me stand back up“
You can catch Survivalist live as follows:
24/09 – The Old Sal, Nottingham
25/09 – Subside, Birmingham (free entry)
26/09 – The Gryphon, Bristol
27/09 – Santiagos, Leeds
28/09 – Trillians, Newcastle (free entry)
