Skeletonwitch - Forever Abomination

If you like a little blood in your beer, then Skeltonwitch's blend of death and thrash ("dash"?) metal is prolly up your alley.Athenian (OH not GA) metallers Skeletonwitch are best known - to me at least - for having one of the coolest album covers of late (2007's Beyond The Permafrost) back when John Baizley's Mucha-meets-Lovecraft style was all the rage. While I was hugely drawn to the artwork (I'm a huge Alphonse Mucha fan), I knew nothing about the band until now. Some call them a thrash band, others death metal, but I think they're somewhere in between.

Either way, their sound on Forever Abomination [Prosthetic Records] is classic thrash, in terms of short, breakneck paced tunes while the lyrical themes and Chance Garnette's singing style (seemingly the lovechild of Cookie Monster and Cobra Commander) are straight out of the death metal playbook. If you ask me, the bands with the most potential in metal these days find a niche to dominate, old or new. With the old, there's a pre-established pantheon of bands with loyal followings to consider, while a new niche sound takes a while to cultivate. Skeletonwitch does a fine job with the latter, cuz they know what sort of sound they do well with and they make it happen; managing to pack a whole [old] Metallica song's worth of grit and energy into less than 3 minutes, and I say good on ya, SK.

The Bottom Line: If you like a little blood in your beer, you're probably the demographic for a band like Skeletonwitch. I get the feeling this band puts on a helluva live show, and I hope to get to see 'em one day soon.

Standout Tracks: To be honest, they all kinda sound the same. So all...or none of them?

- Genghis cranks this sort of music at work - especially when he's coding on a deadline...