Usurper II: Skeletal Season

"Skeletal Season" is an amazing war-stomping-hell-factory of a record. Usurper have managed to bring together a mix of militant drumming and clearer than normal black metal vocals to make one hell of a listening experiance. The drums clank along like a machine in hell, the vocals screech, sing and growl like a madman with acid being poured on his face (thanks to B.O.C. for the reference) and the songwriting is thick and chordal. The blast beat sections are incredibly constructed without falling into cliched traps, and the chugging war-march sections just amaze. Production is strange and gives a unique edge to the whole affair that few could imagine imitating. Usurper are strange and appealing...and manage to take from their influences without completely robbing them.

The songwriting is topic notch, the lyrics and music weave together to form a spell of necromancy and death that convince in their eerie spell. This record is truly "occult" in a way that most black metal records simply aren't. It has vibe, "atmosphere" and violence! Much attention is paid to the melodies so that they are violent and skilled, but also contain mood and poise. (Those are two things most modern black metal bands have lost in their mindless brutality today...) The lyrics pay close attention to actual folklore as well, providing written explanation for a few of the tunes even. Very classy compared to most of the pathetic attempts at Satan-Occultic reference that most of the idiots in the scene keep pressing out.

"Skeletal Season" ranks among the perfect "Halloween" albums as something to play whent he great Samhain is upon us. Moody, brilliant, and intense...these guys really put it all together here. While the new stuff is good, this will always remain my favorite of the many Usurper albums. Thankfully, the band never decayed into being poor, they just never recaptured this vibe either.

ALL black metal fans need to own this...BUY OR DIE!!!