REVIEW: Recall the Remains - Revenant

On Revenant, Recall the Remains take a confident leap from potential to purpose. Having spent the last few years refining their hybrid metalcore-deathcore sound across the UK underground, this self-released debut full-length feels like the culmination of everything the band have built so far, and a statement that they’re just getting started.

The album wastes no time. Opener ‘Fairfield’ launches with razor-edged riffing and a feral dual-vocal performance from Jacob Collins and Jordan Barnes. Their interplay is the band’s not-so-secret weapon: brutal screams and clean hooks never feel tacked on, but instead feed the emotional momentum of each track. It’s a dynamic that not only showcases their range, but also makes their songs instantly memorable.

What sets Revenant apart from the wave of metalcore-deathcore hybrids is its sheer commitment to crafting moments. Every track on this album has at least one section designed to snap necks live or stick in your head for days. ‘Cerberus’ drops into mechanical, groove-laden breakdowns that echo early deathcore, while ‘The Night Will Bleed’ leans into eerie atmospherics without losing its teeth. Elsewhere, ‘Empty Woods’ provides a haunting (but definitely not calm) reprieve, allowing melody and reflection to take centre stage before crashing back into chaos.

There’s an undeniable theatricality to the record’s structure. It flows like a journey, with peaks and valleys rather than a wall of constant aggression. That pacing shows maturity; the band aren’t just throwing everything at the wall, they’re deliberate, letting heaviness hit harder by placing it in contrast with silence, melody, and dynamics.

Lyrically, Revenant is steeped in grief, resilience, and reckoning with mortality. It wears its heart on its sleeve, and there’s a tangible rawness in how those themes are delivered, especially in the emotional climax of the title track. This isn’t just heaviness for the sake of brutality; it’s grounded in something real, something lived-in. Production-wise, it’s slick without losing punch. Each instrument has space to breathe, with the mix giving equal weight to vocal texture, percussive depth, and riff clarity. For an independent release, the quality is impressively high and does justice to the band’s genre-blending ambitions.

Revenant is a huge step forward for Recall the Remains. It’s a record that bridges scenes. Deathcore kids will find plenty to sink their teeth into, but there’s just as much here for fans of modern metalcore, melodic death metal, and beyond. More than anything, it proves the band have both the chops and the vision to break out of the underground. With Revenant, they don’t just arrive, they erupt.

Score: 7/10

Revenant was released on May 1st 2025.

Words: Vee Richardson