vote
7.5
- Band:
SKELETAL - Duration: 00:40:20
- Available from: 12/07/2024
- Label:
-
Hells Headbangers
Streaming not yet available
In 2020, Skelethal released “Unveiling the Threshold”, a summa of a death metal apparatus that drew from a distant (and for some, removed) season, but which is still capable of providing suggestions with a high emotional rate, if well reworked.
In this sense, the new “Within Corrosive Continuums” marks a further step forward in the career of the French band. Expanding the musical discourse started with the previous work, the guys offer a more articulated album, where the changes in tempo and register become even more frequent, making listening a more dynamic experience.
An example of this is the title track, a suite of almost thirteen minutes that represents the beating heart of the work. The composition develops through a series of riffs and instrumental parentheses that transport the listener through different atmospheres. Each section of the track seems like a different room, each with its own distinctive characteristic, but all connected by a common thread that is the now typical verve of Skelethal. This suite structure demonstrates the band's desire to experiment and to go a little beyond the boundaries of its classic death metal, while maintaining a strong bond with its roots.
Speaking of roots, it is impossible not to notice once again the influence of the old Swedish death metal in the band's sound. The references to Dismember are in fact still present, even if in “Within Corrosive Continuums” these tributes are integrated into a slightly more thought out and personal context, with songs that stand on rather consistent durations, looking here and there for a surprise change of pace. If on “Unveiling…” a similar approach was already present, supported however by a still pronounced roughness, on this new chapter the sound appears a bit smoother, starting from a mood vaguely à la Morbid Angel and then approaching at times the orientation of the first Horrendous, although the French avoid the classic metal drifts that already characterized some of the solo initiatives of the American band. In this way, Skelethal manage to maintain a more raw identity, remaining faithful to the essence of early nineties death metal, but without giving up on exploring, in their own small way, new sonic territories (see the various thoughtful breaks in songs like “Eyes Sewn Mouth Full” or “Upon the Immemorial Ziggurat”, with each phase of contraction balanced by a phase of aggression).
Visually, the album is presented with very beautiful and well-crafted artwork, which reflects the attention to detail put by the band in the making of the album and in general its growth in terms of songwriting, with a greater sense of proportion that gives further depth to the songs.
Clearly, “Within Corrosive Continuums” does not overturn the rules of death metal, but in the repertoire of the Lille quartet it is configured as a well-conceived and solid album, which clearly shows the evolution of the band, which punctually demonstrates that it cares about progress and about offering something different and more adventurous at each new appointment, without obviously betraying its origins. A proof that confirms it among the names to keep an eye on in the European death metal underground.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM