https://www.theprp.com/2018/04/26/news/ ... f-shadows/



01 – “Fen Of Shadows”
02 – “Where Paradise Fades”
03 – “Temple Of The Sun”
04 – “Devouring Radiant Light”
05 – “The Luminous Sky”
06 – “The Vault”
07 – “Carnarium Eternal”
08 – “Sacred Soil”



What can be said except for "FUCK YEAH NEW SKELETONWITCH ALBUM!"? I can't listen to the song just yet, but I already see it's eight minutes long! They explored some longer, more intricate structures on their first E.P. with the new vocalist, and I liked where that was going, especially because they were starting to sound more black metal. That E.P. was a fine product of musical evolution, and I expect this album will feed off that theme as well, but in a more amplified manner. Even though I definitely didn't want to see Chance go when he did (love the dude's vocals and presence), I think having some fresh blood really incited a change that they needed.

The new song sounds awesome. I was actually never a huge fan of this band, but really enjoyed Apothic Gloom and this new single is even better.

That was unthrashy for them but I liked it.

Awesome band, I remember these guys when they had just put out Beyond The Permafrost, seems like yesterday. Can't wait to see what they do in the future and how far they go with the black metal sound.

Wow, that was good, but it seriously sounds like a completely different band. From punchy 2 min death/thrash to 8 min black tinged melodicism

I didn't really like that at all, but I think that's just cranky old fan syndrome coming out. Skeletonwitch were one of the first metal bands I ever saw live and I'll always have a special place in my heart for them. I was so disappointed with Chance left, and while this new guy is fine on record he doesn't have 1/100th the stage presence Chance did. When I saw them live on the Decibel tour a couple years back it was like a completely different band. This new song is not what I want from Skeletonwitch at all and a huge disappoint for someone who loved their old galloping melodic blackened thrash sound. If they want to sound like a chunkier version of Wodensthrone or something that's fine, but I kind of wish they would've put it out under a different name. Then again I guess there could be more songs like their old stuff on the new record. And if not but people enjoy this new stuff anyway more power to them I guess.

I definitely share your sentiments about the earlier sound and Chance - it is after all the reason I got into them. All their songs were 2-4 minutes, but packed FULL of intense black/thrash done right. Now it feels like they're going towards a straight melodic black/death sound, which I'm also okay with. The reason I'm okay with it is, for one, we still have those great albums they made; and plus they've always been good about playing songs from their earlier albums live and I don't expect that to change. Two, they have been using that sound for so long that a change is welcome, both on their side and from the fans. It's not that we don't love the old sound, but they have clearly grown as musicians and people, and the evolution of their sound is simply a by-product of that. Since they are one of my favorite bands, I will probably support them no matter what, and I definitely want to go into this album with an open mind to see what they have to bring to the table.

That said, I love the new song. Incredible musicianship and atmosphere. I think it does a great job of picking up where the E.P. left off, which is great because I found myself wanting more after the E.P. was over. It'll be interesting to see whether or not they change it up throughout the album or maintain a consistent atmosphere.

Fucking loved that. I've never really been into Skeletonwitch (what I have heard is good, but I never really had much of a motivation to look into them further), but that's probably gonna change with this album, especially if they stay on this meloblack path that the song indicates they're going on.

I definitely miss the core elements of the Chance-era albums but this song is pretty decent. Even at their best, Skeletonwitch was never what I'd call a songwriter's band so this could be a good move for them. Serpents Unleashed felt stale to me and the EP was decent.

Necropanther's new album might end up being more like Skeletonwitch than the real thing.

Truth be told, I always felt Chance Garnette (never going to get over that ridiculously Final Fantasy-esque name) was the weakest link in Skeletonwitch. His lows were average and his highs just felt lacking to me. The new vocalist seems to mostly stick with screams, but I think he's much better than Chance in that respect.

That being said, this new song is kind of a swing and a miss. I don't mind a change in sound, per se, but aside from a couple of decent riffs, the song just wasn't grabbing my attention, and the fact that it's eight minutes long doesn't help matters. I'll give it another try to see if it sinks in better with repeated listens, but at first listen, it doesn't bode well.

I'll admit he wasn't the most talented vocalist out there, but he had a lot of character and was equally competent pulling off both lows and highs. But more importantly, his stage presence was fucking unparalleled. The guy had more attitude and energy than almost any other frontman I've ever seen.

On first listen, this is better than I expected. Not amazing but a very enjoyable black metal album.

I love Adam Clemans but I'm frustrated he doesn't use his full vocal range in Skeletonwitch. If you check out his work with Noose Rot it's clear he has lot more to work with.

Honestly, this is going to be a solid AotY candidate for me. My preorder came in on Wednesday and it's basically been playing non-stop since. The Luminous Sky is probably my favourite song so far.

Skeletonwitch has been my favorite band since Beyond the Permafrost was unleashed, and Devouring Radiant Light is a big let down for me. It feels dull and lifeless and lacks any of the punch of their previous albums. It's clear to me The Apothic Gloom is their transitional release, but I wish they'd stuck a little closer to that. Serpents Unleashed might not have been very memorable, but this is yet another step down in that department.

Here's to hoping it's a grower I guess. I've listened to it 6 times and I'm not feeling any movement on that spectrum yet unfortunately.

I made my trepidation known in the anticipated albums thread so I won't repeat that again here, but I'll say this: I really like "When Paradise Fades" and "Carnarium Eternal" more and more with each listen. Coincidentally, they're the two shortest songs, the closest to what they were doing prior to this, and are seemingly the band's favorites from what I've read.

If the album were 9 or 10 songs like those, I'd love it and consider it one of their best and a more natural follow-up to the EP. That's the direction I think they should focus on. The rest I can still do without. Some decent riffs here and there, though.

I'm curious if anybody knows who drummed on this album. The MA album page doesn't say and I bought it through Bandcamp so I don't exactly have liner notes. Did Dustin Boltjes do them before he left the band?

Haven't heard these guys in years but that was very impressive.

This sums up my feelings toward this album quite well. I liked the EP, but this album's leaving a lot to be desired. I enjoyed "Fen of Shadows" and the two songs you mentioned, but not much else really jumps out at me. Perhaps it's a grower and I need to give it a couple more listens, but for now, it's a resounding meh from me. Perhaps they're better at shorter, punchier and thrashier songs.

Chance certainly did have more character than Adam Clemans (Adam's not bad but he's indistinguishable from thousands of other extreme metal vocalists where as I think Chance was easily recognizable), though it's understandable why he was fired unfortunately.

Looks like it, at least my copy lists him on drums.

Gave it two full listens so far and I love it! Test of time will see how well it holds up, but I found Serpents a bit boring (though still very good) so the change in direction is nice in my opinion.

A local indie rock nerd with horrible taste, but is a local "tastemaker" (ugh) raved about it and my response to him was "This means I'm probably going to hate it, but I'll still give it a listen." Will find out after I wake up (or another day) if I like this album. Doesn't sound too promising, but I should at least have an informed opinion on it... I've seen this band more times than I'd care to, but they always put on a great show with Chance. Have yet to see them with the new guy, let alone hear anything with him. Everyone I know who has said he sucks, so I've been avoiding them. It's not like I've liked anything they've written past "Beyond the Permafrost" (which still holds up for me), though. But, like the Dude in a certain stoner comedy says, that's just like, my opinion, man...

Btw how many people in this thread are also from Ohio?

I was into this band for about five minutes back around the time of the second album, but quickly lost interest. Pretty forgettable riffing, and I came to really loathe that shiny modern dual vocal style quite a bit.

So basically replacing the singer and becoming a more serious band was the best possible move on the band's part if their goal was to earn more fans with taste like mine. I still don't really like the layered vocals when they pop up in this track, though they're not awful. Musically this is much better than older Skeletonwitch stuff. Sorrow suits them well. This sounds kind of like black metal Insomnium, and it's a good look for them. Not mind-altering or anything, but very solid.

Vocals aren't bad, fits the melodeath they're playing. But I'm bored with that genre. Meh.

If I was reviewing this, on purely musical terms it'd score somewhere in the high 70s because it's pretty solid, but my emotional gut reaction is like thirty or forty points lower because it's just so fucking lame to see Skeletonwitch become so... normal. They're Serious Artists now and it's a bummer because that more irreverent high octane thrash with influences from all across the metal spectrum was so much more entertaining than this shit. Melodic USBM is a dime a dozen nowadays, we didn't need to lose Skeletonwitch just to bolster that number. 2007 Skeletonwitch was in a league of their own, 2018 Skeletonwitch sounds like a hundred other bands. There are flashes of their old brilliance here, particularly on When Paradise Fades and The Luminous Sky, the latter of which might seriously be the best song they've ever written. Those songs sound more like Forever Abomination or The Apothic Gloom. Ya know, a controlled drift around new territory, instead of the drastic oversteer that stuff like the title track, Fen of Shadows, and The Vault is.

Completely unsurprising that this got a positive review in Pitchfork. Fuck "maturity".

^ A lot of that pretty much sums up what I feel in a much more direct fashion. It's like they made the conscious decision ahead of time that this album HAD to be different rather than that be a natural result of the songwriting. Yeah, they're winning over new fans with their "maturation," but how many of those are more enamored with the current style than the band's path and history? Most of them from what I can tell, and they won't last and/or will just add them to the pile of dozens of others already doing the same thing and arguably better. Then there's the added layer of this being their final album with Prosthetic, which gets the cynical part of me speculating...


I'm in the northern part of the state, and it frustrates me how they were barely ever promoted and adopted here. Most of what little exists in this area isn't very good outside of a handful of gems that get no traction because what they do doesn't aim to appeal to a wider audience and put the region "on the map." Goddamn, do I miss Vindicator.

Damn. You really hit the nail on the head here.

This album is just so...faceless. It doesn't really have much atmosphere to speak of, and it's not particularly fun to listen to. It's technically well played, but makes me feel absolutely nothing. It just kind of starts, does its thing and then fucks off.

You mean like Toledo? Because Cleveland has some seriously sick bands... one of them has a member from here in Cincinnati (Shed the Skin - Ash Thomas of Faithxtractor, the Vladimirs, Estuary (RIP), Thorns of the Carrion (RIP), etc with Kyle of Incantation, Matt Sorg, and another guy from Ringworm). Down here, we have some good metal bands and attendance has gotten A LOT better at shows... but anyhow, sorry to hear that "the Witch" aren't appreciated up there. They kind of used Cincy as a homebase in the early 00's, which was dope, and they still have a lot of fans here.

I finally got the chance to listen to the album in full last night. Definitely their most different release so far, although some of the progressive sounding parts remind me of things they used to do on their demo and on on Beyond the Permafrost. I really liked how on those two releases, they mixed the intensity with cool instrumental melodic parts. It did seem as though a lot of the intensity was gone sadly. I've only given it one full listen, so it will take some more to truly judge. Musically it is great, but as many have mentioned, it's just not what we've come to expect and love from the band.

Not from Ohio but I can tell you that the Indianapolis metal scene fucking loves Skeletonwitch. They've played here at least five or six times, three of which I've seen, and it's been packed every time. I am curious how it'll be next time they come around but I imagine it won't be too much different.

Cleveland born and raised - return several times a year. RIP Peabody's.

I actually like this album, but I'm with BH - they "matured" into a band that sounds like a dozen other. Will spin Permafrost to remember how fun they used to be.

Pittsburgh here...Well actually middle of nowhere PA about 2 hours northeast of Pitt...Fuckin' Miss Peabody's that place was a great go to for so many shows, and was only about a half-hour or longer of a trip for me.

I'm roughly in between the two so I just speak in general terms of that part of the state rather than make any definitive claims. Indeed, Cleveland has always had some outstanding bands, and to see and participate in Hell's Headbash getting bigger with each year is a source of pride. In a few years I can see it rivaling or becoming part of the "(geographical location) DeathFest" circuit if not sooner. It's just frustrating because there's still too many motherfuckers that still associate the area with Mushroomhead and not Midnight, you know? Ringworm, Embalmer, etc. are well-respected but only by those that have already known they've been around for decades. Elder statesmen by proxy. Even Chimaira always seemed like they were much bigger and more known practically everywhere else than where they came from.

Peabody's is sorely missed and while there's nothing that'll entirely replace it, the Agora's just been renovated and Now That's Class and The Foundry are continously fun and well-booked venues.

But to keep it on topic, I want to believe that this album is a one and done for Skeletonwitch just so they can say they did it and get back to something that closer resembles who they really are. Who's gonna want to see them live if they continue in this direction and ultimately phase out most if not all of their previous material by the next album cycle or two?

I've listened to the album quite a few times in the last week or so, and I must say, they did a damn good job. Yes, it is very different, but they still have their own spin on it. Even though I wouldn't call it a thrash record, it still has thrash elements but with more melody than before. I'm really getting a lot of Enslaved vibes from this album! They have that melodic/progressive black metal sound with some viking fist-pump parts, and it all just works really well.

When this sort of change happens, I usually embrace it. Being a musician, I understand wanting to try new things and branch out. I loved 'Fen of Shadows' when it came out (and it still may still be my favorite on the album), but when I heard the full album I wasn't sure how I felt because it didn't feel like the same band I fell in love with. They are doing some really cool stuff on this album though, and I went back and checked out The Apothic Gloom once again, and I forgot how amazing that E.P. was! These last two releases from them are really solid, and I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more from them in the future.