Soul Remnants are a death metal band from Massachusetts, and their latest CD Plague of the Universe is a solid old school styled affair that should impress plenty of extreme metal fans looking for something other than the same old same old that normally gets passed around lately. For the recording, the band was comprised of vocalist Mitchel Fletcher, guitarist Thomas Preziosi, and drummer Brett Jean, but they've since added to the fold Dave Sluss on second guitar, and bassist Ryan Murphy.
You can certainly hear the influence of Morbid Angel, Edge of Sanity, and even some Death in the music of Soul Remnants, which is not a bad thing at all. Fletcher has a healthy, deep growl and bellow, which works well next to the crushing riffs and tasty solos from Preziosi. Plenty of highlights here, such as "Bloodsick", "Remembrance", "Voluntary Internal Erosion", and the epic title track. This last piece, which also closes out the CD, sees the band stretching out and adding tons of melody and atmosphere to their monstrous attack. As good as the rest of the album is, I'd like to hear more of this symphonic death/black metal style in the future from this band.
Plague of the Universe won't knock you over with originality, but damn if these guys don't hone in on that early 90's death metal style with plenty of conviction. Fans of the genre would be well advised to keep their eyes on this US horde, who are certainly only going to get better.
Track Listing
01. Chopwork
02. Voluntary Internal Erosion
03. Bloodsick
04. Ripping Through Life
05. Remembrance
06. Burning Reflection
07. Final Eternity
08. Plague of the Universe
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