SKELETONWITCH - The Apothic Gloom
August 24, 2016, 7 years ago
(Prosthetic)
A surprising number of eyes are on Ohio's Skeletonwitch to see how the black/thrash band is going to sound with new vocalist Adam Clemans of Wolvhammer behind the mic, and this new EP will answer all. And, if we're being honest, the vocals are just kinda there like they were always just kinda there with this band, the real attention-grabber being the guitar work and the frantic drumming.
Here, those two coalesce in a wonderful and melodic fashion in “Black Waters,” and in a raging, blackened-thrash fashion for much of the rest of the EP, the band grinding and blasting away in songs like cool closer “Red Death, White Light” as if they're a seasoned Norwegian black metal band, the song just going on and on and the riffs getting faster and faster like an old speed metal song, man, the band clearly on to something big here, this song alone showing the end result of all the things Skeletonwitch has always promised but so frustratingly never quite delivered until now. The EP's length is perfect and works in Skeletonwitch's favour: after 21 minutes you think, “That was good, I'll listen to that some other time,” the thrashing riffs energizing, the blackened blasting getting the adrenaline rushing, and the chemistry between all the members flowing, in a big way.