MAKING OF THE ALBUM: Sepultura – Beneath the Remains

Two members of Sepultura were still teenagers when they recorded what would prove to be their breakthrough album, Beneath the Remains, in December 1988. By this time, the band had already been performing for four years, albeit with various significant lineup changes that would see original frontman Wagner Lamounier replaced by guitarist Max Cavalera, whilst lead guitarist Jairo Guedes was succeeded by Andreas Kisser. Their first release was an independently financed EP entitled Bestial Devastation, released in late 1985, whilst their full length debut, Morbid Visions, followed almost a year later. Although the album had gained minor attention from international heavy metal magazines, they had failed to land a major distribution deal outside of their native Brazil. Before commencing work on their second album, Guedes left the group and, after being rejected by Mutilator‘s Alexander ‘Magoo’, they approached Kisser, who at that time was performing with local group Pestilence, whilst also acting as a guitar roadie for Cavalera.

Once again producing themselves, Schizophrenia would demonstrate how the band had matured as musicians, but without a major label supporting them, their music was failing to reach a wide audience. Frustrated, Cavalera donned a suit and embarked on a business trip to New York City in early 1988, armed with a bag full of copies of Schizophrenia and a determination to land the group a record deal. Although the venture to North America at first seemed unsuccessful, Cavalera had aroused the interest of Monte Conner, the A&R head of Roadrunner Records, who had previously worked alongside artists such as King Diamond. Despite Sepultura‘s poor grasp of English (a track on Schizophrenia was originally translated to The Past Reborns the Storms), the label reluctantly decided to take a chance with the band and finance their first professionally recorded album, sending engineer Scott Burns to Brazil to produce and oversee the development of the group.

Recording primarily through the night, Sepultura, for the first time, were finally able to step out of the shadow of their influences and make an album that was both experimental and organic, far-removed from their inferior debut. Of the nine tracks that would be featured on Beneath the Remains, the lyrics to eight would be credited to Cavalera and Kisser, whilst Stronger Than Hate was written by Kelly Shaefer from Atheist (who also provided backing vocals). The sessions would take place at Nas Nuvens Studio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which, whilst not up to the standards of many American studios, was far superior to J.G. Estudio, where they had recorded Schizophrenia a year earlier. Entering the studio on December 15th 1988, the process would last a total of thirteen days, before later being mixed by Burns, Cavalera and Tom Morris at Morrisound Recording in Florida the following month.

1989 would prove to be a successful year for thrash metal, with bands such as Morbid Angel, Annihilator and Exodus producing acclaimed work. Beneath the Remains was released by Roadrunner Records in May and would become a huge success, launching the band into the mainstream and influencing a generation of metal fans to form their own groups. Roadrunner released Schizophrenia the following year with a re-recorded version of Troops of Doom (originally from Morbid Visions). Beneath the Remains would prove to be their last straight thrash album, as the 1990s would see them begin to experiment with other styles, culminating with Cavalera’s swan song Roots in 1996.