SKELETAL REMAINS — Devouring Mortality (review)

SKELETAL REMAINS — Devouring Mortality album cover Album · 2018 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Nightfly
I was pretty impressed by Condemned To Misery, the second album from Californian death metal band Skeletal Remains and three years later album number three, Devouring Mortality seems set to surpass it in my esteem.

Plain old school death metal which when done well is pretty hard to beat amongst the genres various subs or in metal in general for that matter. Skeletal Remains fortunately do it very well. On Devouring Mortality they may not surprise you with any great leaps forward or genre developments but what you get is an album of songs with classic old school styling with just enough of a modern edge to not sound totally retro. During the next forty five minutes they run through eleven tracks with plenty of variety – i.e. constantly shifting tempos from groove laden slower double kick drum led riffing to fast blast beats and inject moments of brutality into the mix. The riffs are totally compelling and kick ass but let’s face it, metal without great riffs is crap metal right. They’re made all the more powerful by the organic production and are well thought out and executed with precision, the guitar solos likewise which made me sit up on more than one occasion. Chris Monroy’s vocals may not be to everyone’s taste – they aren’t your typical low growl being higher pitched in the vein of Martin van Drunen of early Pestilence/Asphyx fame but work well within the songs being a good counterpoint to the low tuned guitars.

Picking favourites is a pretty futile exercise as the overall quality is very high with barely a weak moment. The only track that doesn’t earn its place is the short instrumental Lifeless Manifestation which sounds like the opening of a song and then fades out without going anywhere. A minor quibble though.

Such was my enjoyment of this album that when receiving it I played it three times solid and many times since. Devouring Mortality is definitely one of my favourite death metal albums of 2018 so far.
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