Review by Alex on August 29, 2020.

Continuing where they left off in 2019 with Trinity of Deception, Burial Remains return with their sophomore full length album titled Spawn of Chaos. Their debut album was a decent run that showcased significant potential to take their music to the next level, thus the expectation of improvement rode heavily on this newest installment. With Trinity of Deception, Burial Remains surely put on a promising overall showing; however, they left a bit to be desired mostly in the riffing department. Hence, the big question is: did they deliver in Spawn of Chaos?, the answer is both yes and no.

My biggest gripe with their previous album had to do with the lack of guitar solos, that if utilized often, would have seen the album go from being a good debut to a frontrunner of 2019 within the genre. I had hopes that Spawn of Chaos would rectify that issue, instead this sophomore exacerbated it. Here's the problem, Burial Remains' melodicism became stronger with this album, which resulted in a far greater need for guitar solos than on their debut album. The only track that even attempts to implement the feature is ’As Darkness Shall Reign', that mind you, does so half-heartedly. There's no real commitment, instead the idea is poked-at momentarily, and to make matters worse, any attempt to do so is rarely revisited for the duration of the album such as on 'Spear of Destiny' that is (for me) the best song on Spawn of Chaos.

This absence would prove problematic as you make your way down to 'Where Death Begins' and 'At Dawn Came the Shadows', both of which exhibit significant improvement in Burial Remains' melodic song structures and lead guitar work. However, because the melodies are so potent, the songs cry out like sirens for guitar solos to truly exploit and finalize the music. The absence of such quickly becomes a thing of much frustration with tracks like ’Slaves to the Cult' and 'Swallowed by Sulphur' sporting 4+ and 5-minute runtimes. Instead of using the middle section to further solidify the tunes, rhythmic transitions are introduced to compensate for the lack-there-of, that while effective to some degree, comes across as filler. You can tell the band are avoiding solos and it sort of places a question mark over the material and Burial Remains. Like having a car move through all its gears, but never produce enough horsepower to hit its top speed in the most favorable conditions, the feeling is quite underwhelming especially when you know its capable of going above and beyond.

Not to be worried; the positives on Spawn of Chaos are as conspicuous as the downfall, that helps to save the album form an entirely negative summary. The production is a lot louder than on Trinity of Deception, thus giving the buzzsaw riffing an intimidating and often times imposing aura about it. To match such is the afore referenced improvement within the riffing department. Melody is evidently a greater factor particularly in the thrashing sections of the album, with 'At Dawn Came the Shadows', 'Legions of Death' and 'Spawn of Chaos' exhibiting a flurry of rhythmic fireworks in their main riff/leads. Along with the booming growls and attractive cover artwork, these features as a team helped the record over the finish line to earn respectful podium finish despite having a threatening infirmity.

It would be great if Burial Remains could transfer the good about Spawn of Chaos and apply it to the album's follow up. Their overall song writing has improved yes, but it’s an improvement that has changed the call for guitar solos form a good asset to play with, to a necessity. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this album so much that I can't count the amount of times I've listened to it thoroughly and I believe most connoisseurs of Swedish death metal of the mid 90s will too.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10

Review by JD on August 7, 2012.

There are times when I dread hearing some lone person or duo that has ‘recorded’ in their basement or front rooms. Don’t get me wrong, some are good, but there are those pretty bad, hideous bands out there that make crappy metal that should have never seen the light of day in the first place. Floridian Death Metal duo Never To Arise is one of those basement bands. Let us see what we have.

Michael Kilborn and Gordon Denhart make up the St. Petersburg twosome, and seem to play a borderline version Technical Death Metal like Suffocation and older DM like Death as well. Mr. Kilborn handles the main guitars and bass while his partner in metallic crime Mr. Denhart does vocals, guitars and programs the drums... and that is where I slip into high gear - or coma.

Getting past the ridiculously amateurish cover art that made me roar with laughter many times, I found that Never To Arise can play more than just acceptable metal. I love the infectiously heavy guitars as they pummel you into submission with its acrid lines and razor sharp solos, not to mention that the bass weaves its low end rumbling mayhem in to your cortex. With all that heavy and entrail painted goodness, the letdown of the album is not the demonic vocals but the cartoon like programmed drums that just fails to add any heart into the music and detracts from the wonderful gore covered music.

If Never To Arise got a few more players including a good HUMAN drummer, this would be on so many top ten lists around the world. As "Hacked To Perfection" stands, no one could ever overlook the digital staleness of drum programming that leaks through the music like a flood and this project falls from a possible ‘9' or better for a rating to what this album truly deserves in this state.

Too bad for the Floridian Death-dealers, this album could have blown my mind with a very good drummer anchoring the music and letting their massive sound live. The real musicians do let the music come, but the computer drummer left a bad taste in my mouth like a dose of ipecac... anyone got some strong Scope©?

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8.5
Atmosphere: 6
Production: 6 (drum machines must die!!)
Originality: 7
Overall: 7

Rating: 6.9 out of 10