Death Remains: The Next Wave of Metalcore
Metalcore certainly isn’t what it used to be. Though it feels like a distant, much-beloved memory, we’re more than far gone from the flippy hair, roughly produced, ‘crabcore’, MySpace years of metalcore that dominated the late 2000s and 2010s. In ,etalcore’s short-lived years it’s undergone its own history of evolution, and has created almost a void that 2010 metalcore bands struggled to escape if they couldn’t evolve. One band that mastered the art of longevity, rising from the pitfall of 2010 metalcore to ride the next wave of this genre with their catchy hooks is London’s finest, DEATH REMAINS.
Returning from their three-year hiatus with their latest single Self-Reflection, the band explained what caused the three-year wait for their forthcoming album. “We thoroughly enjoyed the process of recording and releasing Destroy/Rebuild and the response we got was incredible. We have had quite a few set-backs considering the label we were signed to folded and we were no longer a signed band, as well as numerous line-up changes, the only original members left in the band now are Barry and Eljay.” But the guitarist assures us that, “this is not stopping us though and with everything we have learned from our history as a band and the newest members Kris Larson and Si Sheppard, we have a lot of experience and knowledge now to really make an impact with our band.”
Kicking through the scene in the early 2010s, this London quintet made their debut with the astonishing 2013 Stand. Fight. Believe. Closing in on almost ten years of breaking into the music industry, bracing against the hurdles of being young, broke musicians, and evolving with the world of technology, the band says their approach to music has probably been their biggest growth in this time. “The way we approach music has changed, including our writing process with the addition of new members. The changes in technology and the development of skills with each year that passes all play a big part in how we have grown as a band. We have had many hurdles over the years we have been together and with each challenge that has arisen, we have learned and adapted to overcome it. Having lost members of the band, it’s taught us how short life is, that you have to follow your passions and persevere through hard times.”
DEATH REMAINS rocketed into the scene at a pivotal time for metalcore, and their track record since then is something to be commended. The climate for metalcore in 2010 had become something comparable to that of ‘boy bands in metal’, it was every flippy haired, skinny white boy who could scrape some gutturals and have twelve chugging breakdowns before the second verse for themselves. DEATH REMAINS fit in with that scene but didn’t pander into it too heavily and always had a fine balance between newer styles of metalcore but still paying homage where they could to a lot of early 2000s metalcore, the likes KILLSWITCH ENGAGE or THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA for example. Looking back at the years of 2010-13, especially the virtual renaissance of music that was MySpace and Limewire, the band reflects from then to now and explains that times have changed.
“Everything is a lot more on-demand now and people have shorter attention spans. Bands have to keep evolving to keep up-to-date with everything that’s changing within the music industry and how people are consuming music. There’s still a fan culture, but your idols aren’t a huge mystery anymore and people are treated more like regular human beings. It’s so different now because people have a much higher chance of finding out about your music through playlisting and algorithmic recommendations. We think word of mouth is still a very powerful tool though, despite the prevalent digital realm.”
In light of recent events in America bringing awareness to the Black Lives Matter Movement and #BlackoutTuesday (also known as #TheShowMustBePaused) that was started by two black women, Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas, to offer one day for the music industry to take a step back and reflect on whether it was doing enough to promote diversity from boardroom to boulevard, we spoke to DEATH REMAINS about if they and in particular, their guitarist Eljay Lambert, had any racist encounters whilst working as musicians in this scene from just outright ignorance to micro-aggressions. Guitarist Eljay Lambert confirmed that sadly they had experienced this on more than one occasion. “I have had a mix of experiences through the years, from people telling me I don’t ‘belong here’ or that ‘I thought you would have been a rapper, not playing guitar in a metal band’ to interactions with Neo-Nazis and the scene kid that tried to talk to you like a roadman because reasons [laughs].”
He also shared one particular experience in the UK that will always stick with him. “After finishing our set, I was having a drink with the bar owner and a few of his friends. We somehow started talking about race in the scene and one man then begins to tell me about his past as a Nazi skinhead and proceeded to show me his tattoos. I continued talking to the gent and asked him what his opinions are now. He went on to explain he went to prison and had met a black gentleman who he had grown very close to. He eventually began to question his beliefs and decided to make a change. Since coming out he has continued to meet new people and share his story. Touring has taken me to many towns and countries I would have never had a chance to visit but it has also allowed me to meet a variety of people, good and bad.”
The band stressed that it’s important for musicians big and small to use their platform to promote issues like these, “we have a platform that not many people have,” they say. “So what we say can be taken for granted by people. We definitely support BLM and if we have fans that don’t agree or fully understand that black lives matter, then we would like for them to try and at least understand what the movement is about and be open-minded to changing your perspective. We are happy for those fans who are against the movement to kindly unfollow us as we do not support hate or racism in any form.”
In anticipation of the new album you guys already brought out Peace in Misery, how has the reception been toward that especially when you can’t play it live?
DEATH REMAINS: We actually did play Peace in Misery live on numerous occasions even before it was released to the public. We always got a great reception from the crowd when we played the song and it does sound heavier when played live compared to the recorded version. We played the track when on tour with THE FIVE HUNDRED last year and in January this year with INCITE and SWORN AMONGST. Some live reviews we received described the song as TRIVIUM-esque and we have a few Easter eggs thrown in there relating to our older material.
And what was the methodology behind releasing that song as a single of all the tracks on the album?
DEATH REMAINS: In 2020, we honestly believe that the album cycle is a dying breed for unsigned bands like us. Even when you look at some huge bands like BRING ME THE HORIZON and FALLING IN REVERSE who are killing the singles game at the moment. It doesn’t really make sense to us to release a full album only for some of the songs to not get the attention that they deserve. We definitely have enough material now to release an album and then some, but this just isn’t our prerogative at the moment.
Finally, with this new album launching you into another decade’s worth of music what are you most hopeful for in the next 10 years?
DEATH REMAINS: With our new line-up, we are prepared more than ever for the next 10 years. Our knowledge of songwriting, production, live sound and performance has escalated dramatically over the past three years since Destroy/Rebuild. We are going into the next decade full of confidence and with a new appreciation of modern metal music. We just want to bring people together again (when possible) and rebuild ourselves from the ground up to help bring that initial spark back into full force which is why we formed DEATH REMAINS in the first place.
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