SKELETAL REMAINS - Devouring Mortality

May 19, 2018, 5 years ago

(Dark Descent)

Greg Pratt

Rating: 8.0

review black death skeletal remains

SKELETAL REMAINS - Devouring Mortality

California's Skeletal Remains assembled the dream team of Dans here, getting Swanö to do the mixing at Unisound and Seagrave to do the cover artwork, which is classic Seagrave. Not a bad way to get the world to notice your third album, although the trad Floridian death stomp isn't hurting either, the band pulling out all the right Cannibal Corpse and Obituary albums for influence here. 

The band's first two albums were capable but ended up lacking in personality and longevity; here, they seem to be doing everything right, opener “Ripperology” (love it!) hitting all the perfect classic-DM spots, with tons of energy and high spirits propelling it along. “Seismic Abyss” follows it up with a brisk death metal speedwalk, the band sounding like Asphyx on 45, which is a really, really good idea. Skeletal Remains occasionally lays down blastbeats, but are most comfortable at the fast Cannibal scissor-beat tempo, and do they ever wear it well here, the guys really getting to the heart of what makes meat-and-potatoes death metal good on this wildly enjoyable album. Nice to see a band stick it out and then, a few albums in, really nail it.



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