SEVEN DAYS REMAIN is a Dutch Death/Thrash/Groove Metal band, formed in 2008. They are said to be inspired by KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, SOILWORK, MACHINEMADE GOD, HATESPHERE and similar. Anno 2010, early October, the band put out its first release, a self-titled EP. This EP was recorded at TomsterProject, which belongs to Tommie Bonajo from the band BLINDSIGHT. To promote the release, SEVEN DAYS REMAIN toured in their own country for the “Overzeas Defiance Tour”. While playing shows here and there, the band is currently working on new material, which should see the light of day in 2011. At least, based on the quote “The band has great plans in store for 2011, so be sure to keep an eye out for SEVEN DAYS REMAIN!”. The line-up consists of 5 members, but drummer Roel Pieters recently (March 1, 2011) left the band, due to not having the desire to carry on. So, a new drummer is being looked for. But let’s focus on “Seven Days Remain”, the EP, on which not Rik Janssen played bass, but Marcel Hendrix, guitarist in the Black Metal band CARACH ANGREN.

You’ll find 5 tracks on this release and the tracklist itself is doubtful, if I may say so. Metal-Archives.com and some review sites display it as follows:

1. Introduction To Hate
2. Kingdom Come Undone
3. Leaving This Life
4. The Stampdown
5. Close The Door

The band itself ordered the songs like this:

1. Leaving This Life
2. Close The Door
3. Kingdom Come Undone
4. Introduction To Hate
5. The Stampdown

Now, which one is the right one? What caused the error, if one can call it that? You could argue that it’s of no importance, but it is, very much even. Yes, you could play the songs in random order without much problems in terms of continuity, but that still would not solve the issue. So let’s assume the right order is the one that band indicated, thus starting with “Leaving This Life”. This is definitely my favourite on this EP. You get a fury of Death/Thrash riffing and drums. Along the way a powerful breakdown is added. Melody comes out in the bridge, where vocalist Steven Leijen sings in a clean way, though with a rough edge. Atmospheric backing makes the music complete. The music in general is very much comparable to the defunct Swedish Death Metal band CENTINEX (where a.o. Jonas Kjellgren from SCAR SYMMETRY used to play in), but also, to my ears, the Italian Melodic Death/Deathcore band STIGMA from Italy. The chorus on the other hand is on the slow(er) side, but also quite melodic and with clean vocals. The verses are of course as violent and aggressive as can be, which make for a nice contrast throughout the song.

“Close The Door” is next and it is a title that could easily serve for the last track, to end the EP. This is an aggressive, Metalcore-ish song, where screams and cleans each take turns. Solid material, though, in my opinion, the least good song. “Kingdom Come Undone” starts with rolling drums, groovy guitars and growling vocals. Uptempo Death/Thrash is the chosen direction. The growls soon enough make way for screams and shrieks in this whole that can be seen as dark, violent and more. Compare it to a more aggressive IZEGRIM or HATESPHERE, for example. Standing out here is the catchy riffing. All in all another very nice piece of Extreme Metal. And so is “Introduction To Hate”, which commences instantly. Groovy Death/Thrash is on the menu with appropriate vocals. This is one big violent thunderstorm, devastating and destructive in all places. Save in the melodic chorus, where the tempo goes down a bit (to let the band strike back as fiercely as before). Last but not least there’s “The Stampdown”, also kicking in in a direct way, albeit a liiiitle slower. The growls go very well with the violent character of the music, where the tempo is fluctuates. Furious as a typhoon in the verses, more melodic in the chorus and with clean vocals. The created contrast is big, perhaps too big, and maybe it wasn’t the best idea to go clean here, or better, keep some roughness in the singing. But that’s a trivial element, as the end result is worth checking out.

And once again an unsigned band comes to the surface to show what’s it got on offer. SEVEN DAYS REMAIN have invested a lot of time and effort to write own material, with the needed dose of catchiness and diversity, as hard as it may be when playing Extreme Metal and especially a mix of Death, Thrash and Groove Metal. The production certainly is well done. Of course the music is comparable to other bands and of course this prevents the Dutch from putting an own stamp on the songs, but one has to start somewhere. SEVEN DAYS REMAIN may be proud of what they’ve achieved so far, but no doubt that there’s still a way of (un)certain length to go, which is the case for many young bands. Practice makes perfect and over time it can only get better. Fans of extreme Metal should in any case check out “Seven Days Remain”. 21 minutes of relentless aggression and destruction. Well, not all the way, else it would be tedious, but you get the point. Let’s see what this band has indeed in store in 2011.

http://users.telenet.be/mettal/ThoughtsOfMetal/reviews/reviews_cd2010.htm#seven_days_remain-sdr