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SKELETAL SPECTRE
Voodoo Dawn

Pulverised (2013)
Rating: 8/10

Is it just me, or are there a lot of Swedish bands – or at least Swedish-sounding bands – around at the moment? The ghoulishly named Skeletal Spectre is a part-Swedish / part-American band who have that typical Swedish guitar sound.

However, this isn’t your rather bog standard display of mediocre death metal obsessed by Entombed. For a start, these noise-mongers are fronted by a female, Vanessa Nocera, whose foul growls are more frightening than a majority of male singers I’ve heard over the years.

For the most part, Nocera is accompanied by the evil bellows of Behold The Pentagram’s (now that’s a name I’d like to see on a birth certificate!) . This fiendishly named hooded psycho also provides guitar and bass, while drums come courtesy of 2008 (yep, that’s a name!).

Voodoo Dawn, with its primitive cover art, is the trio’s third opus, and the follow-up to 2011’s Occult Spawned Premonitions. The sound which Skeletal Spectre creates is a rather engrossing one, combining the occult snarls and harsh structures of black metal with the punchy and earthy dynamics of old school black metal. Combined, and laced with doom metal, this means that Skeletal Spectre make for quite a foreboding experience, especially with the rather haunting yet guttural growls and grunts of American born Nocera, which shift between deathly growls and black metal spits.

Voodoo Dawn is a beast of a nine-tracker that enters the ill-lit room on a typical Swedish chainsaw riff. Nocera’s rasps on the opening quake of the title track bring to mind the esoteric weirdness of Opera IX, although this cacophony is a far more formidable proposition.

However, Skeletal Spectre are not stuck in a derivative routine. ‘Altar Of Damballah’ features an absolutely killer black ’n’ roll riff, and the frightful throaty vocals sound as if they are echoing forever more around the dank walls of a long neglected well. The drums really make their mark too; pithy and dense, they act as a booming church bell to the already forlorn yet accessible riffage.

‘Serpent Moon’ and ‘Bone Dust’ are all-out thrashers, again bringing to mind the buzzing glory of old Entombed. But there’s a lot of gothic melody too within those pulverising extremities – ‘Shallow Grave’ and ‘Black Augury Hollow’, with its jabbing drum kick, symbolise the band’s ability to fester at a slower pace.

But for those of you seeking something even ghoulishly groovier, then I suggest you wade through the swampy buzz of ‘She-Wolf Of Devil’s River’, which not only features a double vocal attack of varying growls but also a riff that is a total face-ripper. It is without a doubt the album’s beefiest yet most engaging number.

However, if you prefer your metal faster then why not take a swig of album closer ‘The Flip-Side Of Satan’. This track will leave you agog with its speed metal spite and Nocera’s epic, yet on this instance, clear vocal, which alongside those skull-cracking guitars adds to the sinister atmosphere of it all.

This is very much horror metal at its finest, and although very much on a revival trip, Skeletal Spectre are certainly one band who get their deathly message across without sounding contrived. Three albums in and I’m wondering why the rest of the world hasn’t taken note of Skeletal Spectre? Ignore at your peril.

Neil Arnold

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