Beneath the Remains


Beneath the Remains is the third studio album by Brazilian thrash metal band Sepultura, released on April 7, 1989. It was their first release by Roadrunner Records.

Overview

The album had improved production and songwriting compared to the band's previous albums. In time it would be acclaimed as a classic in the thrash metal genre. According to vocalist Max Cavalera, Sepultura had "really found style" on that album. In January 2013, Beneath the Remains was inducted into Decibel Magazine's Hall of Fame, becoming the second Sepultura album to do so, the first being Roots. This induction would make Sepultura the first band to have more than one of their albums being featured in the Decibel Hall of Fame.

Cover art

This was their first album to feature a Michael Whelan cover art. There was a bit of controversy surrounding the cover art used for this album. Sepultura had initially planned on using another Michael Whelan cover art, Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre. Igor Cavalera had even gone so far as to get part of the painting tattooed on his arm. However, Roadrunner Records convinced Sepultura to use Nightmare in Red as they felt it was better suited for Beneath the Remains. Monte Conner of Roadrunner later sent the original artwork to Obituary, who used it on their album, Cause of Death, which was released a year after Beneath the Remains. For years after the incident, Igor Cavalera was upset with Monte Conner for giving away their album cover.

Production

travelled to New York in February 1988 and spent a whole week negotiating with the Roadrunner label. Although they offered a 7-record deal to Sepultura, the label was unsure of the band's sale potential. The album's budget was a small amount by the label's standards, but in the end the cost was almost twice its original budget.
Scott Burns, who had previously engineered records by Florida death metal acts Obituary, Death, and Morbid Angel, was the chosen producer. Burns agreed to work for a low fee because he was curious about Brazil. Sepultura spent the last half of December 1988 recording the album at Nas Nuvens Studio in Rio de Janeiro, from 8 pm to 5 am. Burns had brought some drum equipment and Mesa Boogie amps to Brazil which helped to improve the sound quality.

Track listing

Personnel

Sepultura
Guest musicians
Production
Artwork
Chart Peak
position
Croatian Foreign Albums 3