One of Brutal Death Metal’s most uncompromising and revered acts have re-mastered their mythical second demo offering. For the uninitiated, Scattered Remnants’ groundbreaking ‘Procreating Mass Carnage’ from 1994 is a demo tape that is both utterly furious and unsettlingly terrorising. To bear witness to its unique savagery for the first… or two-hundreth time may induce feelings akin to having one’s own brain matter burst out of its pressurised cranium. It is a release that dragged the notion of Death Metal vocal performance into previously unheard territory, alongside titanic-sized instrumentation and some truly bizzare paranormal atmospherics. With a fresh remaster handled by Peter Rutcho, this legendary release has, at long last, been blessed with a fresh lick of audible paint.
Compared to the original sound of ‘Procreating Mass Carnage’, this remaster breathes more detail into the raw and mid-scooped guitar sound of the tracks here. The release has a much more percussive punch whilst retaining most of the aggressive harshness that the demo is renowned for. This is a tastefully handled remaster that certainly adds a contemporary, vibrant aural sheen without sacrificing the bare-bones sound that long-time fans are accustomed to. The re-release features a wider sense of scale to the instrumentation throughout. However, the claustrophobic enveloping guitar tones still drown these tracks with their signature tidal-wave density. Jay Hendershaw’s phenomenal vocals are granted a moderately increased amount of presence within this mix. His gutturals on ‘Ridding Genital Flesh’ feel fuller and more muscular, whilst his higher distinctive death whistle-like shrieks have a more pronounced and three dimensional tone. The opening bass on ‘Anal Birth’ also sounds fuller and more tangible and this track showcases the highly crunchy distortion of the guitar with more detail.
Whilst I’ll always love the original sound of ‘Procreating Mass Carnage” for it’s stripped-back and more primitive, primal approach, this new remaster certainly brings much of the demo’s rawness to a new place of overall immersion without sacrificing on quality. If you’re a veteran listener to Scattered Remnants, then this version is certainly a good reason to revisit this brilliant track list and appreciate it from a slightly fresh angle. However, if this is your first exposure to this demo then I would suggest that you strap in and play it as loud as you physically can to bask in the violent disturbing brilliance that is ‘Procreating Mass Carnage!!
