Album
Type: Full Length
Date
Released: 22/4/2014
Label: Streetcleaner Records
Skinfather – ‘None
Will Mourn’ track listing:
1). Ordeal by Fire 03:34
2). Drown in Black 03:43
3). Born of Despair 02:36
4). Hellish Grave 04:19
5). Atraxia 02:14
6). Dead Still 04:07
7). Calloused 02:46
8). Planes of Ruination 02:55
9). Impaled 04:31
Bio:
Brandishing a
name inspired from one of the genre’s best bands in their prime, Dismember, the
fairly new outfit, SKINFATHER,is
unapologetically heavily inspired by the act and their fellow 1990’s Stockholm
counterparts, delivering an only slightly modernized version of what that
scene’s infinitely influential early supply of death metal provided. With a
slick, antagonistic approach, SKINFATHER
has decimated audiences around their locale over the past three years, having
released several singles and EPs. Now in 2014, the band is taking it to the
next level on both the live and release fronts, with new tour actions and the
news of their debut LP now upon us.
On April 22nd, SKINFATHER will
release its debut album, None Will
Mourn, on 12” LP via Todd Jones of Nails’ DIY label, Streetcleaner
Records, and on iTunes/Spotify. The album dispatches nine hard-edged hymns
delivered with a cool, calculated, cavernous production, but not without an
undercurrent of raging insanity buried under the onslaught of downtuned riff
devastation. None Will Mourn
was engineered by Taylor Young from Nails, and mastered by Brad Boatright at
Audiosiege, and features equally bold visual aesthetics courtesy of Raul
Gonzalez.
The
Band:
Gred Chacon |
Bass
Taylor Nichols
| Drums
Scott Fahey |
Guitars
Anthonie
Gonzalez | Guitars
Stephen McCall
| Vocals
Review:
Skinfather,
So-Cal's finest death metal export return with this brutal slice of aural
dismemberment.
Heavier
than a tonne of lead, ‘Ordeal by Fire’ conjures up the spirit of
Gothenburg, circa 1995, and brings the metal. I have to say, it is a little odd
knowing that the band is American... they sound so Swedish! I am not
complaining, mind- this is cracking stuff. ‘Drown in Black’ ups the
tempo nearer to Motorhead with a cool cyclical riff and then slows things to a
bang-your-head pace of the finest order, before that chainsaw guitar lifts the
pace again.
The
vocals are perhaps an acquired taste - it is not a death growl and not an
impassioned screech either and kind of falls mid way between the two. Certainly
brutal, but if you are not convinced at first, you will be by the end of the
album. ‘Born of Despair’ is just over two and a half minutes of chugging
death, complete with faster sections and bass drums rolling to good effect here
and there.
‘Hellish
Grave’ boasts
a foreboding intro and creeping pace- complimented by a tar thick production.
‘Atraxia’
has
an unusual and cool build up opening and then gives us two minutes of
instrumental doom/death before ‘Dead Still’ kicks in with hammering
snare and mid tempo stomping riffs.
‘Calloused’
rings
the changes with varying tempos and riffs- lots of ideas. The band bring
dynamics to the record in this way- kind of like a smorgasbord of Dismember's
career, perhaps, varying from the pacey to the mid tempo and back to the
pacey... and all in one song!
‘Planes
of Ruination’ is
a three minute punch in the face, as subtle as... well, a punch in the face. Brutal
and uncompromising, I cannot see how any death metal aficionado would not enjoy
this.
‘Impaled’
stretches
to four and a half minutes with a nice guitar lick to start and then doom for
the first section. The mid tempo bludgeoning continues thereafter and normal
service is resumed with tempos coming thick and even a bit faster. It's good to
hear a death metal band NOT obsessed with
“Faster”
and instead going for head banging rhythms and brute force.
The
album is strong throughout and most definitely quality death metal without the
annoying incessant blast-beats that some bands seem to fixate on. Great band,
great album. If you enjoy Entrails, Entombed, Dismember, Paganizer and so on
you are guaranteed to enjoy this.
Words by: Richard Maw
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