Review by Adam M on October 25, 2025.

This is a vicious display of thrash metal that is one of the quintessential albums of the genre and very hard to overlook.  It is very raw compared to some of their later albums, but captures the aggression that made albums like Reign in Blood so good.  It is fast paced and never lets up on the gas throughout its runtime.  There is also an evil vibe to the album that begins to get lost on their more groove-oriented releases.

The music is quite strong in terms of musical performances and has a great deal of emphasis on potency.  There is a scathing aspect to the guitars that is one of a kind and makes this one to remember.  The drums are also pounding and form a good background.  Max Cavalera’s vocals are a bit underdeveloped at this point, but still manage to hold their own amongst the cacophony.

In terms of flaws, the album does not have the benefits of albums like Chaos A.D. and its groove aspect because it is more flat-out aggressive in nature, but it is still quite spectacular and one of the best albums of the genre.  Each song such as “Inner Self” has its own strong points and makes for a heavy display, though there isn’t as much groove as later albums.

The overall thought with the album is that it is one of the most vicious displays of thrash you shall find and a very worthy experience.  There are very few moments where it lapses or lets down and the entire thing will take your breath away.  The very harsh nature of the album is perfectly fitting and makes for a breathtaking experience.  This falls a bit short of Reign in Blood, but is still outstanding.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10

Review by Felix on February 14, 2021.

Beneath the Remains has become a prime example for the positive part of the make-it-or-break-it slogan which is omnipresent when it comes to the third album of a promising band. It catapulted Sepultura on the global map of thrash. Of course, Schizophrenia had already been a big step forward after the pretty crude Morbid Visions, but Beneath the Remains marked a real quantum leap, maybe not in terms of the musical quality, but with respect to the degree of attention the dudes received. It was amazing. Sepultura were the new darlings of Metal Hammer and further metal “mass media”.

Anyway, Beneath the Remains was and still is a good album. It does not have the explosiveness of its precursor. Moreover, Schizophrenia scores with a higher level of juvenile defiance. Honestly speaking, I am sure that the more controlled approach opened the quartet the door to the metallic high society. Doubtlessly, tracks like 'Lobotomy' or in particular 'Primitive Future' are fiery thrash projectiles. Their jagged riffs, their cool melody fragments and the average velocity make it easy to enjoy them. I just miss one iota of madness, the ingredient that made tracks like 'Escape to the Void' that fascinating. On the other hand, the album from 1989 proved evidence that the Brazilians had learned to write catchier and more compact tracks. It goes beyond my imagination that Sepultura could have thought about putting another seven-minutes-instrumental in the centre of the album.

From the beginning to the end, the entire material scores with great riffs and especially the first three tracks are absolutely terrific. Sepultura create long-lasting effects with simple means. Single parts like the bridge of the opening title track (“Who has won? Who has died?”) need exactly only one spin to keep sticking in the ear. 'Inner Self' convinces with its dynamic tempo changes, it's great riffs and the evergreen outlaw attitude of its lyrics. 'Stronger Than Hate' mixes intensive high velocity sections with some less furious sounds. It has some rather melodic guitar parts that give the song an individual note, although it possesses a lot of generic thrash riffing as well. This triple strike at the beginning of the album shows impressively that Sepultura were not just the next media hype. Of course, Roadracer Records guaranteed them a better distribution, a higher budget and an almost omnipresent lobby than Shark Records or any other company before. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to call them just profiteers of the next hype.

Of course, a little bit of criticism is also necessary. Beneath the Remains could perhaps use a little more variety. But taken on its own, every single song scores. Even 'Mass Hypnosis', which only has rather flat verses and a relatively weak chorus, improves considerably in the middle part and serves up many good melodies out of nowhere, with a surprising break thrown in for free. Apart from that, there is nothing to complain about. The production deserves no extra praise, but no criticism either. Without the charm of the underground, but with a good portion of clarity, directness and guts, Beneath the Remains pounds out of the boxes. Whether due to conviction or zeitgeist, here Metal Hammer and Co finally promoted the right ones.

Rating: 8.4 out of 10

Review by Adam on March 21, 2001.

Unrelenting! A masterpiece! Pure metal brilliance! Is that enough praise for you! Hopefully, because does this cd ever give the goods or what! Straight off the heals of their monumental album Schizophrenia, Sepultura are back with are bigger and better album Beneath The Remains! It is an album stuffed with power and talent that speaks well for the band's credit! This is the band's first album with Roadrunner records and is really the beginning of it all for the band. For 1989, this was one of the top thrash metal albums of the year and is said to be able to hold its own up there with the likes of Slayer's Reign In Blood album and who am I to disagree!

Bottom Line: Sepultura fan or not, NO Metal fan is to NOT have this album! It is a landmark not only for the band, but for the thrash/speed metal genre!

Rating: 9.5 out of 10!

Review by Adam on June 26, 2001.

Sure this group owe quite a bit to metal acts such as In Flames among others, but these guys play with such style and originality that it becomes very difficult to just write them off as In Flames ripoffs. Most the music here is a cross breed between melodic death metal, hardcore, and the type of thrash displayed by Metallica's earlier works.

The cd begins with a short dark intro then bursts into a metal frenzy instantly bringing their hard-hitting thrashy style into full gear. There are three types of vocals present on this release which is also a special quality that helps take this music to a higher level. One man sings in traditional death style, one singer does less deathy type screams, and the other sings in a more hardcore style and also does the clean vocals on the record.

Tracks such as Crushing Belial and To Ashes do a very good job at really representing what this band is capable of. These songs are complex with several tempo changes and really capture the versatility of these musicians. For me the standouts on this disc are the title track and The First Noble Truths. The lead and vocal harmonies in these songs are first rate! The thing I like most about these guys are that their vocals are incredibly unique and fit the music very well.

If you are a metal fan, you will have no problem finding something you like on this cd. Every song totally commands the listener and has them screaming metal with their horns up in the air the whole way through. Shadows Fall are a definetly a band to look out for in next year or so.

Bottom Line: If you like metal, then there is really no way you could go wrong with this disc.

Rating: 7 out of 10