Hailing from France this death metal duo have only been around for about two years and this is their debut EP of filthy, retro lo-fi nastiness.
Skelethal feature Jon Whiplash (drums / bass) and Gui Haunting (vocals / guitars) both from more straightforward & classy French thrashers Infintite Translation.
The atmospheric keyboard / church bell gets you thinking “oooh this is gonna be Sabbathy” before the almost uncontrolled chaos of ‘Macabre Oblivion’ blasts forth with its Entombed-esque guitar tone and vocals from hell belching out. Dirtier than a Commercial Street crack whore, this really hits the spot, coming on like Bastard Priest meets early Dismember. Quite an addictive cocktail and very satisfying in a way most modern techno wank death metal can only dream about being.
The production is rawer than your nob after an evening with the aforementioned E1 lady of loose moral virtue, all drums, guitar and barking. Speaking of guitar, the playing of Gui Haunting is excellent, alternating between the rapid, chugging riffs and some very tasty licks. Jon Whiplash’s pounding rhythms are a brutal mix of D-Beat drumming and high speed blasting.
There’s some morbid doomy parts too in songs like ‘Macabre Oblivion’ and the beginning of ‘Death Returns’ reeks of early Asphyx. This goes some way to keep the listener interested and ensures the retro old school death rattle doesn’t get monotonous as some bands in this genre are prone to do.
At 22 mins this is obviously not far reaching prog rock bollocks. It’s caustic, it’s filthy and sometimes that’s just what you want.
Thoroughly recommended.
(8/10 includes a bonus half mark for using the phrase ‘morbid miasmic thrust’ in the promo kit Mark Eve)
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