Creeping Fear - Realm of the Impaled (2025)

I wasn't super familiar with Creeping Fear going into this third album. I recognized the demonic mascot, perhaps I'd sampled an earlier song or two in the past, but Realm of the Impaled is probably my first complete exposure, and they struck me for having a sound that, on the surface might be meat & potatoes death metal, but reminds me a lot of USDM stuff emerging in the 90s, particularly Immolation. Maybe not like those New Yorkers at their most rhythmically weird or extreme, but more like where they started to transition to that after Dawn of Possession. You've got the fundamentals here like the guttural vocals, chugging and chunky death metal foundation, and then lots of slightly adventurous little twists  and turns through the guitar-work, while the drumming is just pretty sick all around and helps meaty the whole production up.

I suppose there are also a lot of monolithic grooves here reminiscent of Morbid Angel as well, like in "Demonic Ascent" when that more atmospheric intro just erupts into a chugging wall of force, or "Torture Wheel" which might have felt at home on Domination; but it's really the details of how the guitars are being played that piqued my interest, lots of pinches and squeals that create a canvas of extremity to accompany the concussion of the tireless drummer. The vocals have a pretty standard nihilistic sustain to the growling, not highly interesting but certainly function, especially where he belts out a growl over the more complex structure of the riffing, or where a lead guitar starts to spit out, and these are also handled tastefully. Weird and jazzy and alien just like the rhythm-work. The riffs are multitude, I can't promise that many of them catchy as opposed to functional, but there is no shortage of them throughout this abusive, 35 minute discourse, it's jam-packed for that playtime and at the very least I can say you'll never be bored.

Does this stand out with the greats? Perhaps not yet, but Creeping Fear have all the ingredients that would be required, they just need more exposure and to continue their course, layering in even more musicality and some more memorable individual riffs would go a long way. But they've got the drumming, the primal vocal savagery, the endless array of guitars, rhythmic versatility in spades, killer leads (especially in "Et ils se couvrirent de gloire"), and most importantly, a good atmosphere, all settled into a great production that lets you capture the whole experience. I don't focus in on French death metal as much as I do the black, but these guys are easily one of the stronger I've heard, and we're not talking Gojira but highly Florida/NY-influenced stuff, maybe a little earlier Gorguts with that Immolation, lots of effort and a reliable spin.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://creepingfear.bandcamp.com/

Khôra - Ananke (2025)

Khôra's hauntingly psychedelic-looking debut Timaeus was a pretty interesting entrant into the more dissonant and modern black metal field established by bands like Blut Aus Nord, there was a warmer and progressive vibe about that record that rewarded with repeat listens. The successor, Ananke, has a much starker appearance, but with that golden spear-tongue. In fact, the album starts off giving the brief impression it's going for a more traditional, blistering black metal aesthetic with the opening moments of "Empyreal Spindle", but very soon you're hearing those zipping bass-lines and flourishes of synthesizer, vocals that don't remain only in the rasp-territory but also explore some deeper gutturals, cleaner chants and then the tune gets proggy deep after the bridge.

And that's par for the course here, the sort of 'sheep-in-wolf's clothing' approach where the conventional BM aesthetics are merely a disguise for their more adventurous ideas, though I don't mean this as any sort of criticism; in fact, the opposite, for this is what keeps Ananke so compelling. They can blast and sneer along with the vilest of them, but taken in as a whole, there's just that exploratory subtext which you feel can turn in any direction at any moment, and usually manifests quickly and keeps you bewildered before it moves on to the next period of storm-surge drumming and utterly hostile black metal vocals. It's a lot to take in, whether the little death metal breaks in "Wrestling with the Gods", or the operatic orchestral maneuvers of the "Arcane Creation" interlude, the amazing intro to "Supernal Light" with those fresh, jangling, eerie guitars and the bass-lines that remind me of Voivod. The Germans can venture out into almost any territory...

And they're good at all of them, whether the cleaner Arcturus-like vocals or the detailed instrumentation, this is certainly one of the more technical bands in that German black metal scene, but it never comes across as excessive or self-indulgent, all of the little twists and turns the record takes serve the music, and thus it's just as strong as its predecessor, but with superior production where the little nuances become more obvious. They approach this off-kilter black metal style differently than their French counterparts, and I'm hearing almost infinite potential just from the first two works. Put them on your radars, because if they continue at this consistently, you'll be hearing of them anyway.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://khoraband.bandcamp.com/album/m-lenkij-robot-demo-2016

Darkenhöld - Le fléau du rocher (2025)

While they're still not very well known outside of their home region,  Darkenhöld is one of the top and most consistent bands performing French black metal of a Medieval/fantastical nature, and their sixth album Le fléau du rocher continues to elevate their presence with a flowing, slightly adventurous sense to the songwriting. That's not to imply that it's a major evolution beyond what they'd created for the last few, but I don't ever get the sense that they're repeating themselves; the basics are the same, but they're presenting new melodies and rhythmic structures and the result is the sort of escapism I think a lot of fans of fantasy based black metal might enjoy. They're not quite as seethingly historical as Aorlhac or bleedingly melodic as Vehemence, two of their most obvious parallels, but they occupy a balanced middle ground.

Lots of lush acoustics and synthesizers are implemented to complement the tremolo-picked charging of the guitars, while the drums are also a dominant force here with lots of intense fills and thundering, almost martial sounding patterns that boost the sense of anachronism and escapism. The riffing patterns are not always cold and bleak or dissonant, but rather glorious and warm as they highlight myths and battles and sorcery. Guitars don't always bore into your ears with the most memorable progressions, as you've heard a lot of them before, but I think they do a grand job at mixing together folk-like Medieval vibes with the darker Scandinavian black metal mysteries, and fine leads or melodies will break out gallivanting through tunes like "Le cortège royal" or the title track. They can pick up on the intensity a bit with "L'ascension du mage noir" or do something more mug-swilling in "Troubadour" which might have been the product of some more directly folk metal band, with the deep male chants.

Granted, the more in that direction the music ever aims with this album, it does feel slightly more generic, I actually prefer when they get darker or use the synths to create an almost dungeon synth/black metal hybrid, but all of it is handled in a balance so the record never grows dull. The vocals are a fairly standard rasp, but you do get some of those aforementioned choirs for some variation. Although this record is more musically developed than previous, I don't know that it stands out for me as much as a Castellum or their 2010 debut A Passage to the Towers..., but Darkenhöld has never released a dud, and if you've enjoyed their other records, or the aforementioned countrymen, or others like Griffin and Seth from that same scene, then you'll probably appreciate the effort these guys have been meting out for the last 15+ years.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://darkenhold.bandcamp.com/

Chapel of Disease - Echoes of Light (2024)

I'd hate to repeat a comparison I've already made over my last couple Chapel of Disease reviews, but Echoes of Light once again walks a parallel course to Swedes Tribulation in pursuing a more accessible, moody and atmospheric sound quite farm removed from their death metal roots, while retaining the harsh vocals for their contrast value against the more ear-pleasing riffs. They had already mastered this with the last time out, and this album doesn't show quite as much a transition as that between its two predecessors, so there is a little bit of a vibe that the band were really feeling out where to go here. It's a bit shorter, still at six songs, and seems to focus on fleshing out some of same ideas while giving them some more breathing room.

None of this is 'experimental', but the way the songs are composed aren't reduced to the most basic verse chorus structures, they will fuel any melodic inkling at any time and pursue that to a glorious end, and those are honestly the better parts of this record in tunes like the titular opener or "A Death Through No Loss". The album is heavily leaning on bluesy leads, hard rock or classic heavy metal riffing patterns as well as some soothing acoustic sequences, and through all of this, the bass guitar is able to stick out more than ever, with some simpler and steadier grooves than the last record, but they really anchor all the adventurous noodling. But if you heard those calmer sections of "A Death Through No Loss" and then went back to listen through 2012's Summoning Black Gods, you wouldn't recognize the Germans as the same band. Even further, they are starting to implement some clean singing here ("Shallow Nights", "Gold/Dust") to go along with some of the bluesy, emotional moments. They don't seem too confident in that respect, however, and they wind up a little bit shoegaze, but they're not bad.

The production is glinting and clear, a little more bold than ...and As We Have Seen the Storm... and there are still lots of great guitar licks throughout, while the holdover of the harsh vocals definitely continues to make this feel like Tribulation if they had gone for a more classic hard rock basis rather than the Gothic (although a few sections here also give off that impression). All told, this one doesn't feel like a step back in vision so much, but quality for sure. The cleaner vocals don't really sell me yet, the cover art choice seems a little dull after a similar, swirly look on the last record, and I don't know that I enjoy the continued progress into lighter rock fare, perhaps because it's just not always catchy enough to justify that. On the other hand, it still has plenty of wondrous moments through the riffing, good bass, and it's not at all a chore to listen through. Growing pains, maybe, but still enjoyable.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/ChapelOfDisease

Chapel of Disease - ...and As We Have Seen the Storm, We Have Embraced the Eye (2018)

The third Chapel of Disease full-length (don't expect me to type out the whole title) is probably a smaller stylistic transition than what we got between the first and second, but instead a further refinement of their dedication to crafting atmospheric and melodic material. They really dig in here with the songwriting, making the tracks slightly more varied and developing more emotional impact, while adding a few more hard rock or heavy metal touches (the bluesy lead in "Null"). The production on pieces like "Song of the Gods" or"Oblivious/Obnoxious/Defiant" is chef's kiss awesome, with more polish and layers to soothe the stereo-seeker, but at the same time, the vocals are quite consistent with The Mysterious Ways... and thus it stays mired in that underground death metal aesthetic they cultivated on the prior releases...I am once again reminded of Tribulation had they taken an alternate path from the weirdly proggy The Formulas of Death and not gone quite as goth.

I do love that band and all their directions, mind you, so I also love this one, and this is the record that I would first recommend anyone check out; it's the wealthiest in terms of riffs and pacing, with lots of escapism created through the guitar-work that matches up with the swirling skies of the cover art. The melody here might be too engraved into the band's skeleton for passionate advocates of the debut, but it's so tasteful and transformative that you can't imagine tunes like "Null" or "The Sound of Shallow Grey" without it. The bass playing also steps up a little, it's a little less frontal than the other guitars or vocals, but there are loads of little grooves that enrich the rest of the band, where I felt on the previous album it took a slight backseat. There are some who will probably find the vocal performance to hinder the rest, surely at this point most bands would incorporate a lot of clean singing to match the direction of the writing, but I actually respect that they held back and gave us the same raucous grunts as before.

Previously, I would have cited the sophomore as my favorite in the Chapel of Disease catalogue, only ...and As We Have Seen the Storm (still not typing it all) has been the one to grow upon me over the years and it's another of those sublime, thoughtful mutations on death metal that I'll spin with a similar anticipation and wonder as Opeth, Stargazer, Horrendous, Tribulation, or other bands that have spun out their roots into something captivating, where they might not have contributed as well to the genre if they had stuck more with the fundamentals. This one is well worth tracking down if you just enjoy great guitar work and adventurous, unpredictable songwriting, even if it's not ultimately creating the most unique riffs at every step of the journey. Underrated for sure.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/ChapelOfDisease

Chapel of Disease - The Mysterious Ways of Repetitive Art (2015)

The Mysterious Ways of Repetitive Art seems like a pretty huge step forward for a sophomore outing, trading in the brash (if appreciable) old school death metal overtures of its predecessor for a more expansive, atmospheric, interesting experience without abandoning those same roots. There are structural similarities, this is not breaking the mold and transforming the medium into something necessarily new, but there's a constant vibe of the musicians losing themselves into the world they are creating with their instruments that is rare outside of a handful of other bands like Stargazer, Morbus Chron, maybe some modern Tribulation without the Goth, etc. It's a lot of death, a little doom metal, tremolo picked melodies, decent leads, and a little bit of reverb and airiness that foreshadow some of the even more progressive alterations they'd make in their sound to the future.

It's also a record which is catchy enough, but not so catchy that individual riffs or passages outshine its sum presentation. This is a roadmap with a lot of small details, like brief flurries of acoustic guitars that match up well to the doomy chords ("Masquerade in Red", "Symbolic Realms"), blackened barrages alternated with even more psychedelic, spooky clean guitar segues ("Life is But a Burning Being"), or even some blitzing death/thrash passages like those that populate the 10+ minute half of the 'titular' tracks that bookmark the disc. The vocals still possess the harshness of the debut record, but they also remind me of a more aggressive version of Johannes from Tribulation, that same atmospheric and blunt nihilism to the delivery which works well against either the more sinister or melodic instrumentation. The drums are another feature, rolling and thundering all over the panoply of riffs which are slathered in a stone that feels appropriately distorted but organic, punchy and impactful but also nestling right into the rhythm without blaring over anything else.

Chapel of Disease had discovered a means to take their sound into something more distinct than Summoning Black Gods, not that there was anything wrong with that debut sound, in fact some of the vocals on that record were a lot wilder and more memorable than these. But the production here, while certainly more laid back, just does a superior job at transporting the listener, peaking in the bridge lead melodies of "Lord of All Death" which completely hypnotized me. The Mysterious Ways is a far more balanced and immersive affair, regardless of whatever death metal cred it drops, and it shouldn't, because this record is still metal as hell, never overly polished and occasionally quite ominous, elevating them into one of the better German death metal acts with ease.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/ChapelOfDisease

Skeletal Remains - Desolate Isolation (2021)

Desolate Isolation is a compact little fan package released through Century Media for completists to own the 2011 Skeletal Remains demo of the same name, remastered, with some bonus content. I have to admit that, having the Beyond the Flesh full-length already gives me all the original music from the demo, but I was attracted to the cover of "Chronic Infection" by Pestilence, that also happens to be one of my favorite tunes from the Dutchmen, and one of my favorite death metal tunes in general. Further disclosure: if you've grabbed the 2021 reissue of Beyond the Flesh, then all of this demo stuff is already included, INCLUDING the cover. So what does that really leave here? Some live tunes, a couple bonus tracks, and an additional cover of Asphyx's "Evocation" taken from a compilation.

The three demo remaster tracks do sound fun and chunky, a little denser than what I've listened to of the original release, and the Pestilence cover doesn't quite match the original for me, but it plays it fairly close, and you get that same amazing sense of groove and almost 'rappy' vocals in the verses, which sound so over the top, unforgettable from van Drunen and that is what Chris Monroy is also aping here. But the bridge, the drumming and some of the little details throw me off. That said, it's proof that this band has excellent taste, although if you've heard their full-length albums and noted the influences then this will offer you no surprise. The Asphyx cover fares pretty well too, and here he gets a little closer to van Drunen, though the mix offered on this one doesn't really compare to any of their original albums. Considering that the live tracks are taken from pretty early off in their career, I do think they sound excellent, drawn from a Tokyo performance and sounding almost studio quality; I'd have been mighty impressed if I were there to make the comparison directly.

Otherwise, the two 'rare tracks' are pretty solid, with "Crippled Sanity" which has another of those meatier tributes to early Death that were so prevalent on the first two records. "Planetary Genocide" was released as a single around the time of Devouring Mortality and fits more with the content of that album, and that is to say that's pretty much peak Skeletal Remains in my opinion. Old school and evil with some Death, Obituary, Pestilence and Asphyx vibes, but also just clinical and modern enough to parallel the Californians' transition into what they've come today. So, in summary, Desolate Isolation is going to have more value if you don't already have the reissued debut CD without half the content, and its core is limited to stuff that already exists on another full-length to begin with, but it's by no means a bad product and the extras are at least enjoyable or well recorded in the case of the live offerings.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/SkeletalRemainsDeathMetal

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]

https://www.facebook.com/SkeletalRemainsDeathMetal

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]

https://www.facebook.com/SkeletalRemainsDeathMetal

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]

https://www.facebook.com/SkeletalRemainsDeathMetal

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]

https://www.facebook.com/SkeletalRemainsDeathMetal