Review: Skeletonwitch - Forever Abomination

 For Ohio extreme metallers Skeletonwitch, things are starting to look up. The black/thrash metal quintet are now beginning to rise from the underground dwelling in which they've been playing and releasing albums to for various years, as they've started to receive more notoriety and recognition with a more focused and overall brutal sound on fourth album Forever Abomination.

 From the very beginning of opener This Horrifying Force listeners are presented with a chilling intro featuring a chilling section of acoustic guitars and strings, and a feeling of anticipation arises, knowing that this is simply the calm before the storm. And rightly so, because you are then treated to a monstrous pounding of thrash riffs that are simply evil. Evil, as one may imagine is very much a keyword for this album. Tracks like Reduced to the Failure of Prayer and Choke Upon Betrayal present us with a relentless assault of pure and raw deathly trash metal, the latter sounding like a cross between Megadeth and Morbid Angel.

 Of course this is far from mindless brutality. A riff says a thousand words and Forever Abomination proves this effortlessly. It helps that Nate Garnette and Scott Hendrick are guitar wielding psychos who let their instruments do all the talking. On tracks like Erased and Forgotten and The Infernal Resurrection manage to emit such emotions as loss, anger and hopelessness and a desire for retribution through riffage alone. This with the beastly growls of Chance Garnette really make this album sound so evil.

 As a whole, Forever Abomination is a true sign of just how evil music can be and how engaging it can be for that reason. There's so much to dwell on when listening to this as a whole. The monstrous heaviness of the grim and deathly thrash, the intense atmosphere of evil this emits that makes listeners want to start a war in their own back garden and the emotional responses this album triggers, revealing a gentler more vulnerable side to the music as a whole. I also recommend you check these guys out, because this very much has the potential to become the band that will lead the way for future metal.

 Skeletonwitch's Forever Abomination is out now via Prosthetic Records. The band will tour the UK in January with The Black Dahlia Murder and Fleshgod Apocalypse.