Skeleton - Ordainment of Divinity EP (2021)

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There are really only two things I am certain of in this world:
1) Nothing really matters.
2) Skeleton are keeping the underground lit.

A follow-up EP to their staunch debut LP has recently been released by Austin, Texas' Skeleton and it's a forward lunge into the sonic soundscape of the incredibly raw and already unfiltered sound of the band—which had no qualms trading proficiency for energy and cohesion for a crackling atmosphere. They doubled down on Ordainment of Divinity when it comes to the production, going even further into a blown out production, especially within the drum sound, denting the fidelity as much as possible to a point where the sound is as ghastly as it is garish.

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I think a lot of people will be disappointed with the decision to mess with the production to the extent in which they did but I think fans of the eponymous debut album will be even more slighted that most of the festering grooves on the debut have mostly been traded out for a barbaric ferocity with much more black metal than thrash/hardcore influence this time around. Me, I still like it. I think an EP is exactly the right time to start threshing around sounds and I think they really nailed a lot of it… The intro track sounds like a medieval funeral dirge and the way it bleeds into the first song is right up my alley! No apologies.


Skeleton - Ordainment of Divinity EP (bandcamp)

Ruin Lust - Choir of Babel (2020)

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Another 20 Buck Spin release to lay at your feet, and it's another begrimed mixture of tonal ferocity and sonic dissonance via the mode of fusing together equal parts death, doom and black metal with overlaying tinge of crust wrapped around the carapace of reverb. I hate to draw another comparison to punk or hardcore, but the overlapping sound and feel sounds like all those old metal bands that worshipped and embraced the raw and sloppier aspects of the early thrash/punk/hardcore production styles a la Slaughter, Bolt Thrower, Obituary, Carcass, Terrorizer, etc. Ruin Lust aren't really pushing any boundaries on Choir of Babel, but it is succeeding excessively in where it's meant to, it's ferocity and heft, and the right choice in production is what sets it apart from weaker links within this ilk.

Choir of Babel (bandcamp)

Skeleton - Skeleton (2020)

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The formula on this self-titled is an easy enough one to pin down, a grab bag influence of first wave black metal riffs and vocals with early thrash and hardcore passages a la Venom and Bulldozer and tempo shifts with a barebones structure of early Entombed death metal and a fraction of the meatiness that Bolt Thrower had with some of the rough around the edges punk of all those bands. I was healthily skeptical of this debut release from Austin, Texas, but the more spins I inevitably cycle through, almost out of compulsion, the more I accept its unavoidable filthy and unrefined charms. it's hard not to be a sucker for an amalgamation like this, and it's done well to boot. Dig in, creeps!

Skeleton (bandcamp)

Fetid - Steeping Corporeal Mess (2019)

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This record to me stood out most last year, not to say it was my favourite release in 2019, but without a shadow of a doubt one of them anyway, it stood out for how swept under the rug this release was. Why? Erstwhile Blood Incantation and Tomb Mold lap up the hungry attention from hordes of mouth frothing neanderthals. Both those bands released great records, so thats cool, but what Fetid released was better wasn't it? Churning death metal that managed to dip its greasy paws into every primordial soup the genre has to offer with uncanny poise and precision, sounding like weathered vets rather than a three-piece releasing a debut album.

I can go on at length as to why this is such a good album, but rather than reading some carefully chosen adjectives that have been thrown around (here especially) a thousand times before I'll just say this in lieu of all that, if you have a penchant for death metal, listen to this and see why this monolithic albums towers over almost everything else. I've got to give credit to how good this whole album sounds too, drums are perfect. Immaculate even. Sounds so much heftier than the sum of its parts. Okay, I'm rambling and fumbling and my second coffee is starting to dance around in my soul and I'm starting to pass off my opinions as fact…

Fetid - Steeping Corporeal Mess (bandcamp)