Skeletal Remains is a typical case of a band that is gaining more and more recognition due to the proper work it does in the most important field, that of music. Especially in death metal circles they are considered one of the most important new bands and there are many good reasons for that.
The Americans started in 2011 as Anthropophagy which did not last long, since the same year they changed it to the current one. The original idea was to be a side-project but the immediate success they gained in the underground made them change their minds, in favor of the death metal community.
Their influences can be found on both the European and American scene. The early Death and Pestilence for example are two bands that come to mind but certainly they will remind you many legends of the genre which need several lines to mention. The tracks alternate between medium and fast speeds, in which the drumming stands out easily. Either with violence where it is needed or with great technique and fillings in the appropriate parts.
But great work has been done on the guitars also. The riffs are of high quality and the Morbid Angel element they have put in their music is even more visible here. Sound, structures and frenetic solos remind us of what the legendary band from Florida did in its early years. They should probably listen to them and release a proper album some time.
The result, which has the signature of the one and only Dan Swanö in mixing/mastering, is a killer death metal album that has all the elements that this style of music needs. It worships the old-school but it does not fall into the trap of having a bad sound in order to be “true”. In the limited edition we will also find a cover of Disincarnate, a short-lived band that released a classic album in 1993.
You will listen to Skeletal Remains blasting without mercy (“Synthetic Impulse”) or playing in mid-tempo moods (“Tombs Of Chaos”) or making doomy beasts (“Eternal Hatred”) and you will find that they can handle anything relatively easily. In relation to “Devouring Mortality” of 2018, “The Entombment Of Chaos” sounds more aggressive, more technical, more violent and with better compositions. Evolution in any aspect.
So, when a new band wonders how they can make music that contains all their influences without copying them and how they can sound old-school but at the same time modern and fresh, the answer is one. Do it like Skeletal Remains.
