Band:	Skeleton
Album:	Skeleton
Style:	Blackened thrash metal
Release date:	July 10, 2020
A review by:	nikarg

01. Skeleton
02. Mark Of Death
03. The Sword
04. T.O.A.D.
05. Ring Of Fire
06. At War
07. Taste Of Blood
08. Victory
09. A Far Away Land
10. Turned To Stone
11. Catacombs

I decided to review this album after having listened to just about the first fifteen seconds of the opening track.

There are so many bands out there at the moment trying to recreate the Venom / Hellhammer sound. Only this year we've had releases from Midnight, Slaughter Messiah, and Bütcher, to give some examples, but this debut by Skeleton comfortably smokes them all. One of the reasons is that, apart from the usual tropes, Skeleton incorporates successfully d-beat, traditional heavy metal, and second-wave black metal into its blackened thrash frenzy, which makes things a lot more interesting and versatile. The music is a fusion of the blackened NWOBHM adventures of recent Darkthrone and Power Trip's very headbangable crossover and groovy sound. Given the fact that I am a Darkthrone fanboy and I consider Power Trip to be one of the two most noteworthy thrash bands of this millennium (the other one is Vektor), it is natural that Skeleton ticks all my personal boxes. That said, the band's ability to mix and match different styles of extreme metal and offer a very catchy blackened thrash package is sure to please a big number of metal fans.

The main characteristic that will get you on the Skeleton bandwagon is the amount of memorable riffs this self-titled debut has. Groovy riffs, black metal riffs, crossover riffs, crust punk riffs, old school heavy metal riffs; seriously there are more riffs here than you can count. And every song has them. And they are all pretty damn good. There is no bullshit here and no fat whatsoever. These Texans have managed to fit in a little over 27 minutes a riffs package that most bands need several hours of music and multiple albums to produce.

Skeleton's short duration, as well as its easy listening and super fun character makes it irresistible and with very high replay value. When I first came across it, I listened to it three times back to back. This album is made for a live experience so that you can get a taste of fellow metalheads' blood when you throw yourself into the mosh pit upon the first notes of "Taste Of Blood" but, until that happens, you can play it LOUD right now and create your personal mosh pit anywhere you see fit and get a taste of your own blood.

And did I mention how motherfucking riffy it is?

"I'm not afraid to die
At war"