Skeletal Remains - Fragments of the Ageless (2024)

If the title doesn't sort of tip you off, the first track on Fragments of the Ageless will begin to show a new influence emanating heavily and centrally from the Skeletal Remains crew, and that is Morbid Angel, or rather a more sleek, modern, hyper-technical evolution of that band's sound circa the 90s. There are still plenty of Cannibal Corpse and Vader chops, and through a few of the picking patterns, thrashing and grooving sections I feel a little Pestilence still poke through, but this fifth record is most assuredly one that cements the band as a more brutally honed entity than their earlier records with their Death-like old school vibes. That's not to say the foundation isn't there on a few tracks, but this definitely seems like they are pushing themselves even harder than on The Entombment of Chaos, and frankly, writing better songs.

From the production to the precision this thing is their most flawless execution, and carries a good variety with it to boot. The drumming is by far the most intense it's ever been, again with that Morbid Angel influence of 'more is better', from blasting to fills there's not really a moment to catch your breath. The grooves are significantly more complex than those they've performed in the past, with busier riffing patterns and the same incessant drums that roll out below them. The vocals definitely have lost a lot of that Chuck/Martin style and follow a more David Vincent mold, another element that makes me feel like their most important influence has fully shifted over from one Florida legend to another. That said, the riffs are certainly more excellent and memorable than anything Trey has written in decades, and the leads here have the usual Skeletal Remains penchant for being catchy and well constructed, technical and flashy but never going too overboard where it sounds like self-flagellation. And the rhythm guitars are 'holy fuck' awesome in both their potency and dexterity, creating a framework with the drums that the bass can hardly penetrate, but thankfully you can still here that too cruising along.

There are a few places where they do give you some space like the sweet interlude "Ceremony of Impiety" with its evil piano and percussion sounds, or the intro to "...Evocation (The Rebirth)" with its dark acoustic twangs that erupt into some more awesome, rolling riffs, or the proggy bits in there where you can hear the bass take control, but this is still pretty soundly the most aggressive they've sounded through their career. Rather than sounding completely soulless, there are just a billion riffs in there that make my ears perk up, and the album plays out like an unholy and delicious union of Domination and Bloodthirst, which I have no major complaints about; for my money, this album is second only to Devouring Mortality in their catalogue and in many technical departments it sends that one away in an ambulance.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

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Skeletal Remains - The Entombment of Chaos (2020)

I know several death metal fanatics that consider The Entombment of Chaos to be the best Skeletal Remains album, and it's an entirely understandable perspective, since this feels even more visceral and intense than Devouring Mortality before it. It's largely on the same level creative field, but I would say that they do incorporate some even more atmospheric elements like the synth intro "Cosmic Chasm" or the eerie acoustic interlude "Enshrined in Agony" which feel like a great way to round out and diversify their sound. Also, this is the first album where they do start to drop out the more obvious overtures to some of their influences...this one feels more like its converted those basic building blocks and energies into a more strictly brutal modern death metal offering...you get traces, here or there, but this is much angrier and in more direct contention with the bands of its age that rely more directly on technicality and brutality.

The riffs don't quite stick with me as much a Devouring Mortality, although a lot of this stuff does have me reminiscing of bands like Cannibal Corpse, Vader and Severe Torture, which I do appreciate, since they have long thrived on the level of speed and punishment that this record operates on. The vocals do seem a little more straightforward, not aping Schuldiner or van Drunen too much, maybe the latter more than the former, but I'd also say that they're just not as distinct as either, or even as their own attempts at either that were worn on their sleeves. Still, though, very brutal and destructive in how they mete out the blunt force against the more dexterous and detailed riffing barrages, and for good measure they also spit out some more snarled goregrind-like backups to offer a little more dimension (although these are not a standout for me). I'd say the real strengths to this record are the dizzying levels of musicianship that all hands have achieved, with lightning drums and guitar patterns that pack a lot into a reasonable song length that usually hangs around 4-5 minutes.

This still has its love letters to the 80s/90s death metal scene that birthed the band, for instance they go without another amazing Dan Seagrave cover art, and the album itself is second in a row produced by Dan Swano of Edge of Sanity, Infestdead, Bloodbath and a million other bands. It's also got a thrifty cover of Disincarnate's "Stench of Paradise Burning", fitting as that one-shot band was clearly another part of the Skeletal Remains DNA even on the earlier albums. But apart from the intro and interlude, it does stick out as noticeably less intense than the new originals due to its age. All told, Entombment is a disc I'm more likely to break out than the first two, but it rarely hooked me as much as the last one, though it's clearly a sign that the band isn't afraid to keep mutating and intensifying its sound, as if it was always intended to scope out all the decades before it until catching up to the now.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

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Skeletal Remains - Devouring Mortality (2018)

While I enjoyed the first two Skeletal Remains records as competent entries into the death metal throwback machine, it wasn't until their third outing, Devouring Mortality, that I was truly impressed. They haven't exactly dropped the obvious influences that informed them, but taken those and transmuted them into a more modern context that can run toe to toe with a lot of the more technical and brutal death metal acts of the 2000s and beyond. Yes, somewhere in the skeleton of this music you'll find the DNA belonging to Chuck Schuldiner and Death, or Patrick Mameli and Pestilence, or perhaps a little Suffocation, Malevolent Creation, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, the list goes on, but here it's all canvased over with a fresh, punishing coat of paint, and plants itself into the more brickwork-like production of a lot of the 21st century peers.

It doesn't hurt that they kick off with some of the better songs, riffing storms like "Ripperology" which integrates some excellent leads that never seem as forced or excessive as some on the previous album, but probably occupy the same-sized chunk of the tune. Or a "Seismic Abyss" which seems like a brutal mixture of Death and Pestilence carrying the 2010s torch towards another decade. You hear a few other elements from classic bands, like the title track opening volley that sounds like a more intense Bolt Thrower until it curves over to an Asphyx/Pestilence verse. The rhythm guitar here sends that of the prior two albums home on a stretcher; sure you can write it off as being too 'polished' but it definitely gives me a potent meatgrinder vibe that perfectly matches up with the clinical vibes of the riffing. I also think the songs are just generally stronger, something like "Torture Labyrinth" or "Ripperology" I'm often heading straight for without necessarily visiting the entire album, yet none of it is weak at all, and even into the bowels of the closer "Internal Detestation" I'm still hanging on to my seat because it's fucking awesome.

I realize I said the band had come unto its own and then name dropped so many of the usual suspects, and I guess I do think that more than anything, it sounds like a potential successor to both Mallevs Malifecarvm and Consuming Impulse SIMULTANEOUSLY, if it had been put out instead of Testimony of the Ancients, but then thrust forward 30 years in terms of studio wizardry. The writing, structure, lyrics are all improved, the Dan Seagrave artwork definitely gives the impression that the band were mentally moving into the more brutal territory of the 90s and 00s bands, but despite that they keep a lot of the core values of death metal intact. To make it a bit frightening, menacing, rather than just an exercise in pummeling and moshing and vapid technicality. They clearly mapped out these 11 tracks very well, and there's always something special...some lead, some melody, nestled into the formula that appeals. I think this album also hits a creative peak for the Californian trio, but that's not to say they can't capture this lightning in a bottle again.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

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Skeletal Remains - Condemned to Misery (2015)

Condemned to Misery continues to act as an amalgamation of the same familiar influences that defined the Skeletal Remains debut, but that's hardly a negative when those components are drawn from the rare breed of Death, Pestilence and their ilk throughout their 80s and 90s tenures as spearheads for the death metal genre. That's not to say this band is ever performing a 1:1 ripoff of anyone, but it's clear that some of the riffing patterns and style are drawn from the first three Death records, the vocals channel Chuck with a little Martin van Drunen or John Tardy over the top, and frankly if these first couple records by the Californians arrived in a parallel reality, they might well have been successors to Spiritual Healing had the O.G.s gone for something sideways and slightly more brutal rather than the nerdy and progressive.

I do hear a smattering of new elements here, like the brutal rhythmic choices in "Euphoric Bloodfeast" or the opening to "Atrocious Calamity" which sound as if they might have come from Cannibal Corpse's Bloodthirst, and that's important to note since I feel that, as good as they already were, the more choppy and aggressive the band would grow on subsequent albums would only improve them. In addition, a lot of the palm muted tremolo picked rhythms often have a little bit more harmony woven into them, it's just a fraction different than what their influences would write, but makes a difference. The leads are also a bit more involved here, generally well written and implementing a number of techniques, but I feel that they do often suffer from a little extra lengthiness where they pass some emotional climax and then feel more like an exercise until the band escapes the bridge. The drums are unending thunder, with lots of nice fills, and the bass is efficiently bodied but only gets a few moments to roll off on its own. The rhythm guitar has a good punch to it, a modernized Morrisound vibe but without too much of the muffling that marred a few of those old albums at the dawn of the 90s.

There are a decent variety of riffs, most memorable enough to justify their existence, although I don't feel that the band excels here on any particular tune more than its neighbors, and there's never quite a section that I would have wanted to spin repeatedly. The lyrics definitely read like some of Chuck Schuldiner's darker philosophical musings but occasionally get more visceral and violent like, say, earlier Suffocation. Condemned to Misery is, for my money, just as good as the debut and perhaps a little more advanced, but the derivation does hold it back some, never a facsimile of its forebears, but close enough in certain rhythm guitar riffs or vocal patterns that you feel they haven't quite broken out of tribute mode to their own idols. That said, those happen to also be some of MY idols, so I have a fun time whenever I spin through this sophomore outing, so it's worthwhile, just know what you're getting.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

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