Skeletonwitch - Forever Abomination review
| Band: | Skeletonwitch |
| Album: | Forever Abomination |
| Style: | Blackened thrash metal |
| Release date: | October 07, 2011 |
| A review by: | Doc G. |
01. This Horrifying Force (The Desire To Kill)
02. Reduced To The Failure Of Prayer
03. Of Ash And Torment
04. Choke Upon Betrayal
05. Erased And Forgotten
06. The Infernal Resurrection
07. Rejoice In Misery
08. Cleaver Of Souls
09. Shredding Sacred Flesh
10. Sink Beneath Insanity
11. My Skin Of Deceit
There's improvements, and then there's astronomical improvements. Think of it this way; Breathing The Fire was a damn solid album, that is, it was, until Forever Abomination decided to strut right up, undo it's belt, drop it's pants and pinch off a triple-coiler all over everything Skeletonwitch has done to date.
Now, the thing is with Breathing The Fire, the album was just too solid. Not necessarily in quality - but in sound. It was a one-track-mind type of album. The overall experience was blistering fun, but individual songs tended to lack identity. Forever Abomination is incredibly varied without being unnecessarily eclectic - there's a handful of different styles here, but the songs don't sound like they belong on separate albums. "Of Ash And Torment" is the sound of 80's speed metal being played Skeletonwitch style, while "Reduced To The Failure Of Prayer" and "Erased And Forgotten" are pretty much undiluted displays of death & black metal. Then of course, there's the staple sound of a handful of tracks that sound like they'd be right at home in Breathing The Fire. The album as whole is tied together by the feel of the riffs; this one just sounds flat-out evil.
One thing that was always commendable about Skeletonwitch was song length, it may seem unimportant, but listening to this album it seems incredibly pronounced. This band is obviously capable of writing some freaking awesome riffs, but instead they stick to the cream of the crop, pummel them out in under 3 minutes a piece, then move on. There's not a whole lot of room for boredom left.
As a whole, the album feels a little short, but an album with all the fat cut off is much better than an album with a bunch of filler for the sake of making it last longer. I'd rather be begging for more than begging it to stop.
Comments
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| Malevolent-Jim Posts: 124  |
Nice review. Pretty good album too, not sure if I prefer it to the new Absu record though but both are still good 
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| BudDa Elite Posts: 887  |
I loved Breathing The Fire to no end. If this is better then i'll definitely check it out.
---- Freeze! Step away from the hubris.
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| Zap Posts: 3579  |
Nice review, I still have to buy it but I'm even more excited after reading this
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| malaikat Posts: 405  |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Written by malaikat on 13.10.2011 at 21:32 The first people to rate albums are always the fans. High scores to begin with like this aren't uncommon - you'll see it drop to a low 8 once everyone else realizes it was released and others are praising it, they'll listen to it and think "meh, 7" and that's where you get the traditional 8 score. I don't care about ratings or anything, I'm just saying that's usually why albums score so high and then drop (aside from vote abuse).
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 13.10.2011 at 22:02 8.9 is the score Doc Godin gave it 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 13.10.2011 at 22:05 Oh my bad, I thought it was a coincidence that the album rating was also 8.9. 
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 13.10.2011 at 22:07 I hadn't seen that rating at all
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Absak Posts: 189  |
One of my favorite releases this year. And I have never checked this band out before this album. Gave it a 9.
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| wormdrink414 Elite Posts: 1295  |
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| Aetherius Posts: 219  |
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| MétalNoir Fils du Lys Posts: 847  |
I had dropped this band when Beyond the Permafrost failed to impress me, but this shit is pretty awesome, I must admit.
---- Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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| Mattybu Posts: 2589  |
Nice review, from what I've listened to this sums it up well, the new album is definitely a pretty good one.
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941  |
"One thing that was always commendable about Skeletonwitch was song length, it may seem unimportant, but listening to this album it seems incredibly pronounced. This band is obviously capable of writing some freaking awesome riffs, but instead they stick to the cream of the crop, pummel them out in under 3 minutes a piece, then move on. There's not a whole lot of room for boredom left." Note: My comment is a general observation. I haven't heard the album. Generally speaking, I think very differently. Imo, short song lenght is a flaw, not a quality, because it leaves little room for development, progression, creating an atmosphere, etc. Most of the time, a succession of short songs is boring and repetitive and often shows a lack of songwriting ability. But I must admit I'm very used to long songs and, most of the time, my favorite songs on an album are the longest ones. And I believe I belong to a minority here. I've noticed that long songs tend to 'move me on a trip' more than short songs. I can easily understand that some people think differently.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by RavenKing on 14.10.2011 at 03:14 What's your stance on EPs?
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
http://www.guitarworld.com/exclusive-skeletonwitch-streaming-new-album-forever-abomination Streaming since the 10th.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| DeicidalHeathen Posts: 8 |
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| silenius Posts: 531  |
Fuck, the riffs are evil-sounding on this album xD, awesome review for an awesome album. pewpew
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774  |
Your review is getting me really stoked!
---- loves 小巫
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6101  |
Written by RavenKing on 14.10.2011 at 03:14 Dude, you're just taken a piss on The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin. Possibly three most important, influential and revered rock bands of all time. All of them had shitloads of short songs... If you like progressive music, so be it, but please don't add far-fetched ideology to your taste 
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| BudDa Elite Posts: 887 |
I am half way this album and it just fuckin' kills!! Awesome thrash record coz I think this has just topped "Breathing The Fire"
---- Freeze! Step away from the hubris.
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| Fat & Sassy! Elite Posts: 3857  |
IF THIS IS BETTER THAN BYFROST'S RELEASE, I. WILL. DIE. .............. prolly. >:[
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Fat & Sassy! on 14.10.2011 at 18:51 Ya then you'll probably die. This has a lot more to offer than Byfrost's latest.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Aetherius Posts: 219 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 14.10.2011 at 19:11 haha thats funny. Byfrosts new release is awesome and so is this but I think this is better. But dont die, just enjoy! lol
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 14.10.2011 at 04:19 Most of the time, they're pretty useless.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941 |
Written by Daniell on 14.10.2011 at 12:15 The Beatles, I like a few songs. The Rolling Stones, I utterly dislike and find quite mediocre. Led Zeppelin, I never really cared. By the way, I don't give a damn at how important, influential or revered a band is. Things like that mean nothing to me. Imo, only people with a mainstream/commercial mentality care for this kind of things.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by RavenKing on 15.10.2011 at 05:04 To be honest I'm more or less in agreement, although I don't understand how inadvertently shitting on influential rock bands is relevant to the discussion at hand.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 15.10.2011 at 05:06 I'm not the one who brought the argument about rock bands and I find it irrelevant to the discussion, indeed. You should ask Daniell about it, not me. I only talked about short songs vs long songs and of my personal opinion on the matter. And I clearly said that it was only my opinion and that I understand it if some people think differently. My guess is he took my comment way too personal.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6101 |
Nah, I didn't take it personal. All I wanted to say was that song length isn't and can't be a means of assessing the quality of music. If this is what you do, it's up to you, but you might be missing out on some good music if you use the length criteria. I don't get the mainstream/commercial mentality reference though. Care to explain? Perhaps, if I used the names like Slayer or Megadeth instead of The Beatles, you wouldn't try to wrongly categorise my mentality? Or perhaps you're not open to things non-metal and call them "commercial"?
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