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SKELETHAL
Interstellar Knowledge Of The Purple Entity EP

Iron Bonehead Productions (2014)
Rating: 8/10

It seems that French duo Skelethal have been rather busy of late, having released a split project with Swedish death metallers Inisans earlier this year, followed by an EP (Deathmanicvs Revelation), and now this rather bizarrely titled EP which sounds more akin to something from the psychedelic 60s! The previous effort was a decent affair, and it’s good to hear that in such a short space of time Skelethal has continued the trend of brutality with this five-track outing.

The promotional text for this opus states that after listening to it one could “be forgiven for thinking it was originally released in 1991”, but in this day and age I’m not sure if that’s a good thing considering how much of a hindrance being so ‘retro’ can be.

Having said that, I was willing to give this a whirl considering how much I enjoyed the last offering and yes, while Skelethal are very much keen on reviving that early 90s scene there is much to savour here, especially the impressive cover of Carnage’s ‘Torn Apart’.

Before that though, we get a brief intro (‘Subterranean Sigh’) and then ‘Sabbatical Demonic Invocation’, a rather grotesque slice of old school death metal delivered at pace but with heaps of festering melody. From here we know what to expect from Skelethal – dry, harsh, and dank death metal featuring prodding percussion, bruising riffs and that typical chesty vocal cough.

Intriguingly though, there is a real doom-laden arrogance about this opus, reminding one again of an almost guttural, earthy British death metal vibe with occasional forays into Floridian and German ghoulishness laced with a touch of Swedish frenzy. I guess such ingredients are always going to produce positive results but not in the case of so many revival bands, yet with Skelethal we once again hear a mature cat happy to pay homage but not merely imitate. A prime example of the band finding its feet is with the fantastic title track, a gargantuan magnum opus mixing speed, intensity and some great catchy slowness while the belligerent ‘Slaughtered From Beyond’ brings extra menace and hostility in a quaking guitar department and bludgeoning drum performance.

As far as so-called modern death metal goes, all the clicky drum sounds and polished foundations pale in comparison to material such as this. Death metal should always be about heaviness, morbidity and of course… death. With that, Skelethal continue old school themes, mix influences and come up trumps with a descent into musical decomposition. A full-length opus cannot come soon enough for me.

Neil Arnold

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