SKELETAL REMAINS

Fragments Of The Ageless

Century Media

8 / 10

Track listing:

01. Relentless Appetite
02. Cybernetic Harvest
03. To Conquer the Devout
04. Forever in Sufferance
05. Verminous Embodiment
06. Ceremony of Impiety
07. Void of Despair
08. Unmerciful
09. …Evocation (The Rebirth)

Since 2011, SKELETAL REMAINS has been kicking out its evil jams, and through grit and determination, they have slowly but surely forced their way to the forefront. With "Fragments of the Ageless", their fifth full-length, the merits of this ravenous quartet's work can not be ignored.

While SKELETAL REMAINS clearly isn't here to reinvent the wheel, their fracas doesn't have anything to do with the sterile old-school death metal trend. "Fragments of the Ageless" is a riveting slab of timeless American death metal that has much in common with the darkness, intricacy and intensity of MORBID ANGEL and HATE ETERNAL. The menacing rumble of "To Conquer the Devout" sounds like it could be on a Steve Tucker-era MORBID ANGEL album. The inspiration is evident, but it's fortunately a case of emulation rather than blatant imitation.

"Fragments of the Ageless" is a logical follow-up to their previous effort, "The Entombment of Chaos", but it's more fine-tuned and interesting. "Forever in Sufferance" is a maelstrom of death metal brutality from the start, before an even more bludgeoning dose kicks in with an up-tempo thrash beat. And that precedes a tasteful, tech death reprieve that would make Chuck Schuldiner proud.

Running in excess of seven minutes, "Unmerciful" is a marathon that never runs out of steam. The aggressive tendencies are balanced with passionate introspection and head-nodding groove. "Void of Despair", on the other hand, is the soundtrack to an unhinged street fight. Even here, the unit spices things up with a calm, sedative respite that includes a brief melodic vocal section.

With "Fragments Of The Ageless", SKELETAL REMAINS have proven themselves as one of death metal's elite bands. Are they likely to be as revered as MORBID ANGEL or CANNIBAL CORPSE? Probably not. But, in fairness, that's a ridiculously high standard. Time will tell what's ahead, but "Fragments Of The Ageless" is a gargantuan effort that is bound to spur gatekeeping purists to uncross their arms and start banging their heads like it's 1993.

Author: Jay H. Gorania

Prev More Reviews Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).