Scattered Remnants has sadly become history. This American Death Metal band released two MCDs on their own label and the album "Destined To Fail" on Repulse Records. This album is a bloody good Death Metal and an obvious choice for all true Death Metal fans. We contacted Jason Hendershaw (vocals) for the full story.



1. Congratulations with your new album. How has the reactions been so far ?

Hello and thanks Lord ! Yes, our full-length album, "Destined To Fail," has been out for about a month now and is doing great. We have already sold 1,000 copies and are receiving orders every day. We are very pleased with the release! It is certainly our best material ever. We have just started to get some reviews and playlists for the new album, and they have all been positive. We received over 300 pre-orders and everyone that wrote back thoroughly enjoyed the disc and felt it was our best effort yet. We totally agree.

2. Please give us a Scattered Remnants biography.

Our band bio is nothing close to short! So, I will save you and me a lot of pain and only give you all the lineup changes that have happened since the recording of "Inherent Perversion." In the three years that transpired between "Inherent Perversion" and "Destined To Fail" the band went through numerous major changes that finally lead to the breakup. Immediately following the release of "Inherent," guitarist Jason Sarate left the band to move with his family to Alaska. He was replaced shortly after by Jamie Harman. We continued working with drummer Eric Roy for a few months following the release of the disc and wrote three of the songs that were recorded for the new album. Eventually Eric lost interest in the band and left to pursue a career and marriage. The band stayed without a permanent drummer for nearly two years. In the summer of 1997 the band made another major change in the lineup when bassist Ron Miles was asked to leave the band. Ron mutually wanted us to find another bass player and we parted as friends. Ron was replaced with former Exhumed(MA) bass player, Dan Egan. Dan added a fresh inspiration to the band and we continued to write new material for the new disc. Shortly before we recorded the new CD, Jamie left the band. He was becoming exasperated with the continual drummer problems and did not feel a new disc would ever be a possibility. Fortunately, with the help of longtime friend Derek Kerswill on drums, we were able to record the new album. After the recording, Jamie Harman rejoined the band to write new material and tour to support the album. Unfortunately, the continuous lineup problems had drained most of the desire and emotion out of the band and we collectively agrees to end the band before our music or performances were affected.

3. Please tell us more about your "Procreating Mass Carnage" demo from 1994.

Honestly, I would rather not waste too much time talking about this demo. It is so old and does not even come close to representing Scattered Remnants. There are some elements to this demo that we continued with throughout the years, and it certainly has become a cult classic in the underground, but it is nothing worth spending a lot of time on.

4. ….and the follow up "Inherent Perversion" demo from 1995.

I do not feel that we even produced quality death metal until the release of "Inherent Perversion," our second MCD. There were some redeeming qualities in our debut demo, but it was the second disc that really put us in the ranks of the top unsigned bands of the time. Musically, Scattered Remnants had become much more aggressive, faster, and far more elaborate and technical with songwriting, accents, transitions, etc. Lyrically, I evolved as well. I feel the release of "Inherent Perversion" was the real starting point for the band. I can still listen to "Inherent" and enjoy it. It still has so much even after all of these years.

5. Why did you sign on Repulse Records ?

There were certainly a lot of labels interested in releasing our disc, and in fact, we were originally singed to release "Destined To Fail" on Visceral Productions nearly two years ago! But as with anything with Scattered Remnants, we went through several changes in labels over the past two years. What happened with all of the changes was this: we originally signed with Visceral Productions in the summer of 1997. "Destined To Fail" was originally slated for a January 1998 release. Unfortunately, in October of 1997, Craig Rowe decided to close down Visceral Productions completely. This caused a huge delay in releasing the disc. Relapse did in fact pick up most of the bands on Visceral, but we were not included in the deal. I am not quite sure why Relapse was not interested in signing us, but I don't think we quite fit the Relapse image. We suffered two major lineup changes at that time, and the future did not look good for Scattered Remnants. But, with extreme determination and dedication, the three remaining members kept it together long enough to find a new label (Repulse Records) and record the new disc.

6. Please give us an insight in your new album "Destined To Fail." The recording, featured tracks, artwork, booklet, line - up etc. etc.

We are very pleased with the release of "Destined To Fail." It is certainly our best material ever. The layout and packaging are completely professional, and the production is devastatingly heavy and crystal clear. It is certainly our most intense and articulate release. I would compare the new disc as a combination of both previous demos, but at about twice the speed. We kept of all the heavier rhythms in and encased them in ear-shattering blasts and mind- altering grind. The full-length is eight tracks; seven brand new songs, and one done over from a previous demo. I encourage anyone who has ever had an interest in Scattered Remnants, or extreme death/grind to pick up a copy. They are available through the band until 2/29/99 for only $9.00 worldwide, postage paid.

7. Give us an insight to your lyrics.

To me the lyrics are just as important as the music. There have only been a handful of bands in the underground that I have come across that actually have lyrics worth reading. Most are immature, repetitive shit. But the bands that have good, meaningful lyrics know the true meaning of music and understand the importance of the lyrical content. When we began, I was writing the way too typical gore/horror lyrics. When I was younger, I lacked much conviction in my beliefs, and had no real life experiences to tap into for lyrical inspiration. As I grew older, the gore themes wore old and I began to write more intelligent and creative lyrics. I completely abandoned gore lyrics before the recording of our second disc, but some songs were already written (Vaginal Vomit/Amidst The Afterbirth) with explicit lyrics, so we kept them. The new album displays a much more personal and depressive lyrical content. I suffered a major loss in my life and was thrown into a mixture of anger and depression. I wrote much more realistic and meaningful lyrics for this release. The issues dealt with on the new release are issues everyone has to deal with at one point or another in their lives.

8. The female vocals on your album demand an explanations…..after all, the bowl of soup I lost on the head of my cat, killed it.

Yes, the female vocals were quite a variance to the normal Scattered Remnants sound. It was an experiment that I feel proved to be an incredible addition to the disc. It held a great meaning to the content of the song, and it certainly was a major component of the piece. Had Scattered Remnants continued, the female vocals probably would never have been used again. We would have tried something new for the next disc. It was beautiful on "Destined," but it would not have become a permanent part of the band. So far, no one has complained about it, but I am sure I will get some ignorant, close-minded idiot complaining that it wasn't brutal, or it was cheesy. But, I have dealt with that before; we had a mixed reaction to both the keyboard piece on "Procreating Mass Carnage" and the acoustic guitar piece on "Inherent Perversion." I ignore these people who cannot understand anything beyond what Cannibal Corpse plays or what Suffocation does. The worst example of stupidity in the underground mentality that I encountered was a letter written by someone who had bought "Inherent Perversion" and felt that "As The First Tear Of Blood Falls" was not brutal enough, and that I should have sang over it! Ignorance is a very ugly thing. I think anyone who has listened to Scattered Remnants knows that we always have some sort of break in our music on our releases, something to contrast the insane mayhem, and they will not be disgusted or disappointed with the female vocals.

9. Why do you do Death Metal ?

I did Death Metal for many years because I had a love for the extreme chaos that is Death Metal. My best memories from the six years being in Scattered Remnants have been meeting all the decent, hardworking members of the underground. I have made countless friends from all over the world as a result of being in the band. I plan to continue my correspondence with many of them even after the band has completely dissolved. We have had the chance to play with some of the best death metal bands ever and that is also a blessing. I would like to thank everyone that has ever supported Scattered Remnants in any way, big or small, throughout the years and wish all the honest people and bands in the underground continued success in their lives.

10. How would you place yourself in the American Death Metal landscape? Which bands would you compare yourself with?

I would say right before the breakup that we were one of the top bands in the US. I really wouldn't compare us to any other bands here as far as sound and style, but I would compare our success and notoriety to bands such as Dying Fetus, Internal Bleeding, and Nile. We were never able to get to the status of such bands as Suffocation or Malevolent Creation, but I think that is due to the massive lineup problems that plagued the band and the inability to tour extensively to support our releases. We certainly could have done more than we did, but I am happy with the success we did have.

11. What is your plans for 1999 ?

I plan on taking some time off from the music for a while. I need to close up everything with Scattered over the next month and once that is over I plan to take a well-deserved break before deciding on anything new. All I know right now is that Scattered Remnants is completely over and will never return. If I do decide to start another band, it will not be Scattered Remnants it would be something completely new. But right now I am focusing on my college education and my career. Presently I am a full-time student studying graphic arts. I am currently working for a company in Cleveland designing CD-ROM and DVD packaging. It is a great job and I have had the opportunity to work with such major companies as IBM, US Airways, Intel, and even the US Pentagon! So, I will continue on that for now, and if something happens to come up somewhere down the road, maybe I will go for it. Who knows.

That is exit Scattered Remnants from the scene. Sad, sad, sad, sad. They have left a brilliant album and this band will hopefully never be forgotten.