"the Remains"

The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation's third and fourth (and final pair of) albums, To Mum, from Aynsley and the Boys and Remains to Be Heard, are combined into this two-CD reissue, which adds lengthy historical liner notes by British blues-rock expert Harry Shapiro. Although Remains to Be Heard would be cobbled together from outtakes and recordings done without Dunbar, their third LP, To Mum, from Aynsley and the Boys, was truly the final proper full-length release by the original group. Dunbar had expressed some interest in moving further afield from the blues-rock format around the time the record was done, and the addition of keyboardist Tommy Eyre (from the Grease Band) to the lineup was one step in that direction.

Firing up audiences on tour with the likes of At The Gates, Obituary and Municipal Waste as well as European festivals including the UK's Bloodstock, Richmond Virginia's Enforced take their spot as torchbearers for crossover thrash with War Remains. Mixed by Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Kreator), War Remains is an absolute classic in the making with riffs that rival Slayer at their most furious and thrash anthems like "Nation Of Fear" that will cement Enforced's spot in the annals of metallic hardcore history.

“The Entombment Of Chaos” is the fourth album by LA’s death metal act SKELETAL REMAINS, who have been inspired by the genre’s legends of the 80’s and 90’s like Death, Morbid Angel, Gorguts, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse and Pestilence yet manage to combine old school roots successfully with an up-to-date, massive sound and their own inimitable intensity. On “The Entombment Of Chaos”, SKELETAL REMAINS now reach a new creative peak resulting their finest album so far. Vocalist/guitarist Chris roars like Schuldiner or Tardy in their heydays, plays leads that bear the melodic feeling of James Murphy - whose band Disincarnate SR covered this time around – whereas drummer Charlie Koryn (Ascended Dead) pummels the listener with his ferocious performance.

Ruins and Remains, a suite for piano, string quartet and percussion, was composed by Wolfert Breferode in 2018, to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. Over time, however, it has come to embody meanings broader and more personal, with wide-ranging resonances. “At a number of levels, the piece has to do with grief and loss and learning to stand up again,” Dutch pianist Brederode says. There is a vulnerable but resilient quality to the music, as it hovers over its emotional terrain, with moods both bleak and guardedly hopeful. Highly sensitive playing by Brederode, percussionist Joost Lijbaart and the Matangi Quartet (increasingly regarded as one of Holland’s most adventurous string quartets), distinguish a special album recorded in Bremen’s Sendesaal in August 2021 and produced by Manfred Eicher.

The title What Remains of String Quartet No. 4 (2019) by Joey Roukens can be understood in various ways. On a poetic level, the words correspond to the character of the music, which often seems to hark back to ‘something remaining’ from a previous era – ruins, ghosts, scraps or memories. This interpretation, both of the words and of the music itself, marked the beginning of the associative exploration that led to this album of the same title. A fascinatingly curated programme from the Dudok, drawing on music from the 13th, 14th and 16th centuries, with 20th century works by Messiaen and Reich, and into the 21st century with the work that provides the album’s title, the 4th String Quartet by Roukens, commissioned by the Dudok Quartet. Both Reich and Roukens’ music was influenced by Gregorian chant, and the early organum and polyphonic music that followed. Time, travel, locomotion – journeys through time and the memories of these journeys all come together on this thrilling new album from the Dudok Quartet, Amsterdam.

Although marketed as an Annihilator album, Remains is actually a full fledged solo album by band founder Jeff Waters. And while it’s true that both King of the Kill and Refresh the Demon were also largely created by Waters with minimal help from other musicians, Waters replaced drummer Randy Black with a drum machine for this album! Aside from minor contributions to two songs by John Bates & Dave Steele, everything you hear on this album is Jeff.
What he’s accomplished here is actually quite admirable and should be viewed for what it is - a solo album done almost Completely solo. Jeff takes this opportunity to experiment with his songwriting choices, but really doesn’t veer all that far from his signature sound…