Pelican - What We All Come To Need (Southern Lord, 2009)

I have to admit that my first reaction to What We All Come To Need was a disappointment. I've been listening to Pelican's instrumental insanity a lot over the last few years and have become particularly attached to City Of Echoes. It took me a while before I could step back and give Pelican's Southern Lord debut some space. It was worth the effort.

The first thing you'll notice about this album is a change in the rhythm section. Larry and Bryan Herweg have been oft criticized by Pelican detractors. They've certainly stepped up their game on WWACTN. They sound positively vicious. At the same time, they're much further forward in the mix – almost to the point of washing out the guitars at times. At the very least, the drums and bass are turned up to 11 here. The overall effect is a less passive sounding album. WWACTN demands your attention.

Trevor de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec are masters at marrying sludge metal riffery with clean post-rock guitar melodies. Trudging, downtuned riffs drive each song, while distinct melodic movements develop on top. This pattern still works to fantastic effect on WWACTN. Unfortunately, I think it starts to get a bit formulaic here at times. There are still tons of incredibly inspiring moments on this album. There are also plenty of riffs that will make your head bang uncontrollably. I guess my main issue is that there doesn't seem to be much sense of adventure on WWACTN. I realize that this is a cognitive, not aesthetic issue. With each subsequent listen, though, this thing wins me over a little bit more.

“Glimmer” opens up the album with a guitar riff that evokes Gustavo Santaolalla's dusty Latin vision. The rhythm section thunders in, and you've got your first indication that things have changed. Following their well-worn formula, the leads interweave with the sludge in a pleasing manner. Four and a half minutes into “Glimmer,” we get the first melodic break. Clean arpeggiations follow a nice bass line in a staccato dance. Gorgeous stuff.

“The Creeper” starts with an almost bluesy riff that makes me think of driving across vast American landscapes. From there, it breaks into a prototypical Pelican stomp. This song moves, and you can't help coming along for the ride. Generally less complex than the average Pelican ditty, there's something irresistible about “The Creeper.” “Ephemeral” follows, taken from the EP of the same name. It's a fantastic song that definitely sounds great live. It also contains the thrashiest riff on the album. It demands noddin' of the noggin.

“Specks of Light” is driven hard at first by a feral bass line. In short order it gets a helping of memorable melodic sauce. Close to the three minute mark, we get a ringing mellisonant moment that really grabs you. There's definitely some of the spacey The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw feel here.

The remainder of the album is mostly engaging, and when whenever it lulls, a heavy riff draws you back in. The razor sharp drum and bass production also serves to focus your attention more acutely on the music. WWACTN is an album that thirsts for the open road. Great driving music. The most joyous song ends up being the title track, towards the end of the album. It ends with an effect-laden melody that devolves into thin air.

The guest appearances from Aaron Turner and Greg Anderson go mostly unnoticed in the instrumental din. The most notable outside contribution to the album is Allen Epley's vocal performance on “Last Breath.” To be honest, I think the singing diminishes the song. Epley's voice makes me think of Jerry Cantrell. Although it works well, I don't think it's necessary or innovative.

WWACTN is a worthy addition to the Pelican catalog. It took a while to grow on me, but that's OK. If I were a newcomer to the band's music, I'd certainly start elsewhere. I think in the end, what we all come to need is just more Pelican. I'm psyched to hear some of the new tracks live. I'm planning to check them out in December at The Highline Ballroom in NYC.

85/100

Pelican Myspace - it appears the entire album is currently streaming here.

From Exile - Monolith (Self Released, 2009)

From the opening notes of "Arrival," you might be inclined to categorize Monolith as melodic death metal of the highest caliber. That is, if there were a shred of death metal vocals to be found. But there aren't. Instead, Atlanta's From Exile present us with a metal album that melds the aggressive soul of melodic death metal with an emotive progressive spirit.

The guitar riffage is superlative, with an upbeat vibe a la latter day Soilwork. With the first soaring lead lick, you know this is going to be a fucking shred-fest. Impressive keys chime in from time to time, taking on multifarious roles.

The vocals appear for the first time in the second track and are actually only featured in three songs. Highly processed and distorted, it takes a few seconds to comprehend the fact that you're hearing a human voice. From there, the singing starts to become more clear. I really like these vocals. I don't see any particular reason to occlude and distort them, but they fit in nicely with the tunes. The singing reminds me of the clean vocals on The Faceless' Planetary Duality, which I love. Maybe shades of Symphony X's Russell Allen? Can't go wrong there.

"Impure Visionary" continues with an absurdly good classical guitar interlude. Then we get into a soaring, narsty solo. Hot damn, I'm getting vibes of Cynic, Opeth and Dream Theater. Leads here and there evoke Marty Friedman back in the day. Did you have any of his preposterous solo albums? I sure did. I sometimes pop in Introduction (1994) to reminisce, but that's beside the point.

There is lot of synthesized sound on Monolith, both keyboards and guitar. Thankfully, none of this music is besmirched by fromage. It all works, creating some sort of time capsule from 1992. Here and there I hear the mark that Peter Wichers has stamped on melodic death metal guitar. The melodies are all aces. And fuck, the solos are just killer. Beautiful stuff.

Somewhere around "Apparition," that magical metal moment occurs for me. Without realizing it, mind and body converge, and I start banging my head involuntarily. The song kicks a bucket-load of ass. We get vocals again with "Exhumed," but the singing isn't quite as strong as it was earlier.

"The Unlearning Dissent" is more of the lightweight, Marty Friedman musing. The lead sometimes brings "Fear of the Dark" to mind. The title track, "Monolith," starts to settle down into the stylistic realm of Symphony X. I think this is where From Exile are most comfortable. "In The Faded Silence" brings to mind Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence era Dream Theater.

This is reassuring, empowering, raise your fist to the sky and bang your head kind of stuff. If I heard this back in the day I would have played it until the cassette wore out. The question here is whether the different styles brought to the table make for a well balanced metal meal. I think Monolith comes pretty close. It's not surprising to see a band with so much technical prowess go unsigned in this day and age. What is surprising is the caliber of songwriting skill From Exile have to go along with the chops. I highly recommend checking this out. With maybe just a bit of refinement in the vocal department, From Exile could be a (metal) household name.

The album is co-produced with Dååth's Eyal Levi, who also contributes a guest solo on the last track. Emil Werstler performs a guest solo on "Apparition." The production is pretty good, considering there's so much going on here. Either way, it sounds excellent for a self released album. But you don't have to take my word for it - you can stream (and buy) the whole thing below. I picked up the album in FLAC. Awesome.

84/100

From Exile Myspace

Wormrot - Abuse (Scrotum Jus Records, 2009)

I have to admit I'm no connoisseur of grindcore. I live for Napalm Death, love early Carcass, worship Nasum and crank some occasional Terrorizer. But when I dig deeper into the world of grind, I'm usually driven away by some piece of the modern grindcore aesthetic. When a grind album does resonate with me, it's usually because it leans towards the death metal side of things. I'm a sucker for grooves, discernible riffage and just a bit of breathing room. Abuse, the absurdly awesome debut album from Singapore's Wormrot, has all of that and more. I'm pretty sure this album is essential for any fan of extreme metal.

When I first put on Abuse in the comfort of my own home, I felt an immediate physical reaction to the album. Within seconds I was raging around my downstairs, gesticulating wildly, like a demented Barney Greenway. My home is conveniently laid out to facilitate one man circle pits. I can only be thankful that the thing clocks in at under 22 minutes; one more minute and my head would have flown off my shoulders and my heart would have exploded.

Abuse is a godlike clinic of grind riffage. Each of the 23 songs is driven by addictive, simple, effective and memorable guitar lines. The guitar sound is to die for. When a groove kicks in, I want to eat this guitar tone. Something about the sound literally makes me salivate. What the hell does that mean?

Stylistically, the guitar work sticks mostly to the grindcore ideal. It's so familiar and so refreshing at the same time. The main riff in “Good Times” is preposterous. 54 seconds into “Freedom to Act,” a riff appears with a bent note melted into the groove that will bend your brain. If you don't bang your head 40 seconds into “Murder,” then you should surrender your badge. When guitarist Rasyid deviates from the expected, the results are spectacular. 30 seconds into “Fuck...I'm Drunk,” a melodic riff evokes a mutated, ground up Iron Maiden. Win.

The vocals are exactly what you'd expect – guttural gurglings versus satisfying screams. The lyrical subjects are just what I like – political and social awareness tinged with dark humor. The cover of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs song “Rich” is absolutely hilarious.

The drumming is fantastic, precise and damned good. There are a plethora of rhythmic styles represented on Abuse. More species of blast beats live here than my weak grind taxonomy can identify.

Have I raved enough? Wormrot are unfathomably awesome in my book. Abuse will certainly be among my favorite albums of the year. Brief, to the point, and expertly articulated, this album is a near perfect expression of the things I like about grindcore.

I have to thank Andrew Childers over at Grind and Punishment for recommending this album. I picked up my copy of Abuse through the Relapse web store.

92/100

Wormrot Myspace

Barren Earth - Our Twilight EP (Peaceville, 2009)

Barren Earth are a crew that look quite impressive on paper. Active members of Swallow the Sun, Kreator and Moonsorrow join a couple of Amorphis alumni to cook up some fine Finnish cuisine. Melodic death metal is the foundation, but the product is a savory blend of progressive and doomy elements. Our Twilight serves as an introduction to the Barren Earth sound, as well as a teaser for their full-length debut next year.

People on this side of the pond seem to have a low gag threshold for cheese in their metal. I, in particular, can't seem to keep down overly potent prog or raw folksiness. Fortunately, Barren Earth infuses these elements into its music in modest measure. Their formula is roasted to perfection and doesn't offend my delicate American palate. The result is just exotic enough to send me looking for more.

The guitar work on Our Twilight is memorable and fairly dynamic. There are chugging chunks of rhythm guitar accompanied by melodic leads. Some passages evoke latter day Opethian stylings, with a bit of My Dying Bride thrown in for fun. For the most part, this is melodic death metal meat and potatoes, which suits me fine. There are some absolutely insane solos in the mix. It's serious shreddage with a satisfying arc of movement.

The guitars are accompanied by Kasper Mårtenson's stellar keys. The sound shifts between guttural organ and straight piano. Some subtle symphonics can also be heard, although they are generally downplayed. Mr. Mårtenson seems to intuitively know the Limburger limits of keyboards. He flashes impressive skills and augments the music without overpowering or overstepping.

I was already a fan of Mikko Kotamäki's vocal work in Swallow the Sun. His death rasps are excellent here and ground the music in a kind of blue collar workmanship. Mikko's clean vocals are fairly subdued - he doesn't push too far out of his comfort range. At the very least, the clean singing gives the proceedings a melancholic feel.

All told, there is a fairly ridiculous amount of entertainment to be found in these 4 songs. Our Twilight doesn't meander - I get a sense of immediacy throughout. This is definitely worth checking out, and I'm quite looking forward to the full album.

Oh, and don't think I didn't notice that the first 4 notes of the title track sound exactly like the intro to the Death song "Bite the Pain." Alas, it is a passing guitar phrase, and a completely inoffensive coincidence.

82/100

Our Twilight is out on November 17th in the U.S.

You can check out samples of the songs here.
Barren Earth Myspace

Full disclosure: Peaceville provided me with a promo copy.

Latitudes - Agonist (Shelsmusic, 2009)

Agonist is a surprisingly awesome debut album. Latitudes has a heart of sludge, but a soul of darkness. Operating primarily under the NeurIsis doctrine, Latitudes sets itself apart with progressive movements and a diversity of influences. While primarily an instrumental album, a couple of songs have excellent clean vocals.

Latitudes harvests some of the melodic synergy that works so well for bands like Pelican and Burst. There are Mastodonic movements with riffs that scrape deep distorted trenches then reach up to be infused with melody. The clean guitar passages are excellent throughout and frequently peer over the precipice into darker Opethian depths.

I think the distinguishing mark of this album is the clean vocals. "Antechamber" and "Hunting Dance" make me think first of Paul Masvidal's work on Traced In Air. The singing exhibits Steve Wilson's melodic sense with some of the bravery of Robert Reinholdz from Burst. It's infectious and entirely memorable.

The production on Agonist is rich and deep, with a wide open feel. The entire album is driven by an absolutely wicked rhythm section. If anything, Agonist is too short. When I reach the last track, I'm thirsty for more. Nothing drags or bores me here; it just flies by.

I definitely recommend checking this out. Latitudes is a band only inches from forging a completely unique identity. I think they should add the clean vocals to more of their music - the singing here is the sauce that will push them above the crowd.

82/100

Latitudes Myspace

Immortal - All Shall Fall (Nuclear Blast, 2009)

I was expecting a lot from a new Immortal album. I was probably expecting too much. What I didn't expect was an album so close in spirit to Abbath's side project.

As with many things in life, All Shall Fall sounds best when you check your expectations at the door. On initial listens, my brain was racing, trying to map out the new Immortal landscape. It's a waste of time; All Shall Fall is a great album.

During Immortal's hiatus, Abbath released Between Two Worlds under the moniker of I, along with Ice Dale, T.C. King and Armagedda. It was an excellent album of blackened power metal by way of Quorthon tribute that I still listen to regularly. I expected that Abbath would shun this direction entirely upon reforming Immortal, but I was wrong. The first song and title track on All Shall Fall would fit right into that album.

What does this mean? Immortal was always about battle and triumph. I think the triumphs here are no longer quite so grim. Perhaps they are a little bit happy. Abbath has synthesized the pure and simple joy he found on Between Two Worlds into a new Immortal. It brings a smile to my face, at least. All Shall Fall is a celebration of something joyous that eschews the misanthropic essence of black metal.

One of my first impressions of the album is that the production is askew. It seems to lack a low-end punch. The patented swarming guitar sound seems to be mostly missing. But having seen Immortal live, I know that's not how they sound in person. Perhaps their older albums were unnaturally compressed? Either way you cut it, the result on All Shall Fall is closer to their live sound. That's fine with me, but it did require an adjustment period.

The riffage here is pretty good. Perhaps it's not up to the absurd level of my expectations, but good nonetheless. The clean passages are excellent and inspiring. There are moments of sheer guitar brilliance sprinkled throughout the songs, but they are not constant. Make no mistake, an Abbath slightly off his game is still better than most of the players on the field.

One of the biggest things you'll notice on All Shall Fall is a general downshift in velocity. Many of the tempos here are mid-paced. This creates a stark contrast when Horgh turns on the speed. The result as a whole is a greater sense of dynamics throughout. I think contrast is the main theme of the album. All Shall Fall is all about movement - light and dark do differ here.

So what's the verdict? You'll get up out of your seat and squeeze the oranges, I'm sure. Be sure not to over-analyze. Just sit back and let yourself be frozen by the Icewinds from your stereo.

84/100

Gojira, Burst - September 21st - The Music Hall of Williamsburgh, Brooklyn

It was my first outing to this Brooklyn venue. I met up with my brother Rich and and the intrepid Jeanne Fury before the show. I wasn't surprised to find a building close in spirit to The Bowery Ballroom, one of my favorite NYC venues.

They corralled us in the basement bar for a while, as per Bowery standards. A line of eager beavers champed at the bit, waiting to get into the main room. Gojira inspires a deep sense of bromance among their fans, and these dudes exuded anxious excitement in their hopes of being front and center for the Duplantier special. I'm always super psyched for some Gojira, but it was Burst who stole my heart on this evening.

When they let us out of the bar, I moseyed over to the Burst merch table. I was psyched when my Katatonia shirt was complimented, but it took me a few moments to realize that I was talking to Burst singer Linus Jägerskog. The dude was ridiculously cool, normal and nice. We chatted a bit about the disastrous start to their first (and last?) U.S. tour. Having already missed two shows due to their DOA tour bus, Linus admitted that the tour was already guaranteed to be a financial disaster for the band. With an almost conspiratorial smile, he said he hoped that now they'd just be doing the tour for the fun of it and for the fans. Right on.

Zoroaster came out first, and played a decent set of their doomified sludgery. Troubled by a few technical difficulties, the band didn't seem particularly pleased. Their sound is not my cup of tea, so neither was I.

Burst came out to some epic movie soundtrack that I know but couldn't name. The band didn't have a lot of space to move. Linus came out on stage looking ridiculously excited and used every inch of space to pace. Jonas and Jesper assumed standard metal poses while Robert Reinholdz spent the entire show seated at stage left. The man looked like he was already seceding from the band.

They launched straight into "(We Watched) The Silver Rain." Burst fucking ruled. From the first notes, I headbanged so hard that I launched my own glasses (they were successfully recovered.) Righteous. The sound was loud but excellent, and they absolutely killed the 40 minute set. The crowd wasn't totally filled in when they went on, and clearly a good many folks had no idea who Burst were.

"Where the Wave Broke" slaughtered, and Linus' enthusiasm was completely infectious. He tore up the stage like a madman. By the time it was over, there was a smile on pretty much everyone's face. After a track from Prey on Life, "I Hold Vertigo" closed out the set with brutal delicacy. It's a shame Burst are going on "indefinite hiatus." Based on the converts they made this evening, I really think they could have done well in the states. I got a chance to see Linus again at the merch table and expressed my gratitude for some righteous metal.

By the time Gojira turned down the lights, the place was packed. As the first notes of "Oroborus" kicked in, the crowd went berserk. My brother Rich once again disappeared into a writhing Gojira pit.

A couple of things struck me about the set. The band was just as animated as the show back in May, but Joe Duplantier's stage banter revealed a not-so-subtle road weariness. I think Gojira have reached that point where they know folks are going to show up and thrash when they play. Now they can go so far as to make demands of the crowd - ask them to be louder, be more animated and tear shit up harder. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it gives the show a different vibe than before.

Having said that, it was an intense and awesome performance. I was incredibly psyched that the setlist contained so many From Mars To Sirius tracks. "Ocean Planet" put a smile on my face and "Where Dragons Dwell" was pure insanity. "Vacuity" is still an excellent closer. In the end, the crowd was perhaps a little bit more intense than the last show, if that can be believed. All told, an excellent night.

Oroborus
The Heaviest Matter of the Universe
Backbone
Lizard Skin
Ocean Planet
The Art of Dying
Drum Solo
Remembrance
Flying Whales
Where Dragons Dwell
------------------------
Toxic Garbage Island
Vacuity


Here's a video I filmed of "Ocean Planet:"

From 20090921

Baroness - Blue Record (Relapse, 2009)

If you already like Baroness then I'm preaching to the choir, I know. But this is one of those albums you put on, and on the very first listen you know it's a classic. I mean, straight up classic, a no doubter.

Baroness straddle a cauldron of sludge metal, southern and progressive rock. Throw in some scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, Witches' mummy and a bit of the ravin'd salt-sea shark. Make the gruel thick and slab, and you've got Blue Record.

Red Album ruled, but Blue Record is sublime. New guitarist/vocalist Pete Adams must have some freakish synergy with main-man John Baizley. The album is wall to wall riffage, with acoustic passages and fuzzy leads that channel Blue Öyster Cult. The scariest thing is that some guitar lines here make me think of Hendrix. No shitting.

I guess the most righteous aspect of Blue Record is that all the melodies ring true. The vocals are original and infectious. If you don't walk around singing these songs you are an android. All the parts of this stew are scrumptious. The drumming and bass are fantastic. The production is perfectly innocuous.

You won't have to take my word for it - I can assure you this will be the album of the year for many people. I'd recommend this to all but the most brutal of my metal friends.

94/100

Baroness Myspace

Down, Melvins - September 11th - Nokia Theater, NYC

Phil Anselmo and I have a rocky relationship. It all started at my very first concert, on Pantera's Far Beyond Driven tour in 1994. To an impressionable metal lad, the man was a living legend. Up on stage next to Diamond Darrell, the two put on a performance that I'll never forget. Legendary.

Fast forward to 1997. After a lackluster showing at Ozzfest that summer, I saw Pantera play at Roseland supporting Official Live: 101 Proof. Phil was deep in the throes of substance abuse, and could neither stand on his feet nor remember the lyrics to the songs. My most vivid memory of the show was complete embarrassment when Phil repeatedly sang the wrong verse of "Cemetery Gates." It was an ignominious ending to my Pantera years.

When Jeanne Fury offered me a chance to see Down on 9/11, I wasn't expecting much. I've followed Down since NOLA and enjoyed each of the albums, but it didn't give me much hope that the performance would be worthwhile. A not-so-flattering write-up of the tour by umlaut was discouraging. Jeanne asked me to be her photographer for the show, so the chance to witness the madness from the photo pit added a bit of incentive.

Jeanne and I soaked in a couple of pints and a lot of rain, then headed to The Nokia Theater - my favorite venue in New York that's bigger than a bread box. We got there in time to see Weedeater stomp the shit out of the stage. It was an unexpectedly excellent performance. Got to scrape that shit right off your shoes.

I finally got to meet the famous Justina Villanueva, which was very cool. At least I'd have some protection from the pro photographers in the pit if they decided to turn on my amateur ass.

I've never been a huge Melvins fan, but I dug Houdini back in the day and the last two albums are pretty awesome. Again, it was a surprisingly stellar performance. I won't go too much into detail about it - Jeanne already wrote it up in the deciblog here and Justina wrote it up for Noise Creep over here.

Having lived through those Pantera concerts, I was fairly concerned that I might be killed in the photo-pit once things got started. When Down came out and started to throw down, I wasn't disappointed as bodies started to fly everywhere. The security tried to chase us away after a couple of songs, but Pepper Keenan told them to let us stay for a while. The man is extremely cool, and also a total ham.

Down were completely awesome. The sound was beautiful, the guitars were screaming and Phil Anselmo was manly perfection. Totally on target, in key and in control of the crowd. My head really wanted to snap off my body. The set-list was fantastic and represented all 3 albums well. As has been mentioned elsewhere, the legendary performance of "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" blew everyone's minds and the roof off the building.

Sometimes the best shows are the ones that you don't over-anticipate. That's what happened for me on this evening. After all these years, the Phil Anselmo bromance is back on.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a pro at this photography thing, but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. The rest of the photos from the show can be seen here.





Setlist:

Eyes of the South
N.O.D.
Lifer
The Path
Lysergik Funeral Procession
Ghosts Along the Mississippi
Losing all
New Orleans is a Dying Whore
Pillars of Eternity
Nothing in Return (Walk Away)
--------
Ain't Talkin''bout Love
Hail the Leaf
Stone the Crow
Bury Me in Smoke

Fen - The Malediction Fields (Code666/Aural Music, 2009)

I reviewed this album back in April, and never felt great about what I wrote. After listening to The Malediction Fields for a good long time, a few things have struck me. First, it's an incredible album that I think a lot of people would adore. Second, it's got astoundingly little press. I just can't quite understand it. I rarely feel the desire to revise my initial thoughts on an album, but The Malediction Fields deserves to be reconsidered.

Fen are the impressive sum of disparate parts. Imagine the acoustic progginess of Opeth's Damnation, mixed with atmospheric, melodic black metal. Clean vocals sit alongside awesome black metal screams. Blast beats and acoustic guitars. Bouncing rhythms that make me think Orchid. These guys don't give a fuck, and it rules.

The guitar work, performed by The Watcher, is great stuff. The black metal riffage is infused with oceans of melodic originality. The numerous clean passages are the most impressive piece of the pie. I'm really impressed. This compliments the melancholic singing well and paints a stark contrast to the black metal undercurrents. Completely epic.

The clean vocals bring to mind a young Jonas Renske, circa Discouraged Ones. There are some excellent and compelling melodies here. The black metal vocals are perfection in my book. Not too raspy, and just raw enough. There are tasteful keys throughout, either in an atmospheric capacity, or as excellent pure piano accompaniment.

The production on the album is wide open and airy, doing great justice to Fen's sound. As I mentioned earlier, Fen are not content with the standard clean/heavy dichotomy. All of the elements are mixed up in a pleasing fashion. The songwriting skill is quite evident. The Malediction Fields evokes an array of emotions, from funereal disconsolation to complete triumph. The album holds my attention from start to finish, and never turns itself into background music.

If you think you can stomach their concoction, then I highly recommend checking out Fen. If you're a fan of epic, dark, melodic metal that's bursting with originality, then you should give this a shot. Opeth fans take heed. This album embodies progress, to me, as I've never really heard anything like it. The Malediction Fields is riding high on my list of the year's best albums.

Fen hail from the UK, and Code666 records are located in Italy, so as you can imagine, it's difficult to get your hands on this album, especially in America. I was able to order The Malediction Fields here from The End records.

91/100

Fen Myspace

Skeletonwitch - Breathing The Fire (Prosthetic Records, 2009)

I've been Breathing The Fire for a couple of weeks now, and the new Skeletonwitch is definitely a burning, spicy, molten feast of metal. I can't get enough. Boatloads of ink have been spilled trying to describe the Skeletonwitch sound. I think the most commonly used adjective is "old school". It's still the most appropriate. Their Myspace page says that Skeletonwitch "sound like Bay Area Thrash and NWOBHM with elements of Black and Viking Metal." That sounds about right to me.

When I threw on the album for the first time, Breathing The Fire instantly made me think of Megadeth's Peace Sells. The riffage on "Submit to the Suffering" and "Longing for Domination" brought to mind the completely unhinged spirit of "The Conjuring," "Good Mourning/Black Friday" and "My Last Words." That's a pretty impressive compliment. Breathing The Fire doesn't reach the iconic nature of Peace Sells, but it really is a massively entertaining treasure trove of riffs.

Beyond the Permafrost was an awesome album only occasionally marred by leads that couldn't keep up with the rest of the barreling war machine. That problem is completely rectified on Breathing The Fire. Nate Garnett and Scott Hedrick seem to have perfected the delicate balance between speed, chaos and shredding. In addition, the band's songwriting skills have improved quite a bit. I can tell all of these tracks apart. The choruses and riffs are floating around in my head constantly. There is perhaps less melodic death and more thrash on Breathing The Fire. But why even try to parse our the pieces? Skeletonwitch have forged their own sound from all the best parts of old school metal. This shit just rules, hard.

Chance Garnett seems to have upped the ante with his vocals. The sometimes black, sometimes death screaming has an undeniable and unique character. Every song has a memorable chorus or some line that you'll undoubtedly yell along to.

The production is guitar-centric, and appropriate to the music. I do get occasional twinges of regret about the guitar tone. I sometimes wish it had a bit more crunch, but it doesn't really harm the overall experience. I can balance that out in my head with the relief that this isn't an over-compressed shit-fest. The drums and bass gets ample space, and propel this thing along at ludicrous speed. Breathing the Fire never stops moving. That would be a bad thing if it weren't driven by a myriad of fantastic rhythms.

The melodic guitar sections on Breathing The Fire are probably more subtle than on the previous album. There's still plenty of melody, but I think it's used to greater effect on these tracks. "Stand Fight and Die" is positively anthemic.

Skeletonwitch play directly to the "less is more" aesthetic that's currently appealing to me in metal. Short songs, riff driven, simple production, pure metal. Two guitars, bass, drums, vocals and that's it. This pure approach is our last defense against the wretched proliferation of mash-up metal that's currently occurring.

From what I hear, Skeletonwitch are absolutely amazing live. I've not yet had the pleasure of seeing them in person, but I plan on remedying that in October when they play with The Black Dahlia Murder at The Chance.

So yes, this album fucking slaughters start to finish. I'm quite sure it will be on my year-end list. I can't stop listening to it.

90/100

Breathing The Fire comes out on October 13th.

Skeletonwitch Myspace