‘Top 50 Albums Of 2013’ Countdown – #6: Skeletonwitch – Serpents Unleashed

By Andrew Bansal

Ohio’s finest musical exports Skeletonwitch came out with their fifth full-length studio album ‘Serpents Unleashed’ via Prosthetic Records earlier this year. In the past, the blackened thrashers stayed consistent to their specific style of music but kept allowing more and more newer elements to creep into every subsequent album they wrote. ‘Serpents Unleashed’ follows the same pattern, and while it’s quintessential Skeletonwitch in many ways, it brings forth a stronger incarnation of the creative monster created by the collective efforts of the five members, not only in the combined force of Chance Garnette’s bestial vocals and Scott Hedrick and Nate Garnette’s guitar melodies which have always been the band’s USP, but also in the rhythm section, specially in Dustin Boltjes’ drumming which explores some punk-ish, D-beat territory, lending an entirely new dimension to what one would otherwise expect from a band like Skeletonwitch. While there is no such thing as a ‘slow song’ on this 33-minute juggernaut of an album, tempo changes can be heard in almost every tune, which shows the enhanced level of songwriting maturity that’s become part of the band’s rapidly developing musical repertoire. Kurt Ballou does a killer job on the production and highlights every single element of the music without overdoing it, and John Baizley’s cover artwork is phenomenal. Skeletonwitch’s ‘Serpents Unleashed’ rips through ears and crushes skulls with full fury, and is a worthy addition to any extreme metal fan’s collection.

Track Listing:
1. Serpents Unleashed
2. Beneath Dead Leaves
3. I Am Of Death (Hell Has Arrived)
4. From a Cloudless Sky
5. Burned From Bone
6. Unending, Everliving
7. Blade On The Flesh, Blood On My Hands
8. This Evil Embrace
9. Unwept
10.Born of the Light That Does Not Shine
11.More Cruel Than Weak

Duration: 32.6 minutes

Visit Skeletonwitch on the web:
Skeletonwitch.com
facebook.com/SkeletonwitchMetal
twitter.com/Skeletonwitch
youtube.com/user/Skeletonwitch
instagram.com/Skeletonwitch

The countdown so far …
#50. Nails – Abandon All Life
#49. American Sharks – Self-Titled
#48. Hatebreed – The Divinity Of Purpose
#47. Helen Money – Arriving Angels
#46. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – Mind Control
#45. Ihsahn – Das Seelenbrechen
#44. Church Of Misery – Thy Kingdom Scum
#43. Wolvserpent – Perigaea Antahkarana
#42. Djinn And Miskatonic – Forever In The Realm
#41. Czar – No One Is Alone If No One Is Alive 
#40. Against The Grain – Surrounded By Snakes
#39. Nekrofilth – Devil’s Breath
#38. Kylesa – Ultraviolet
#37. The Devil’s Blood – III: Tabula Rasa or Death and the Seven Pillars
#36. Kadavar – Abra Kadavar
#35. Purson – The Circle And The Blue Door
#34. Carousel – Jeweler’s Daughter
#33. Kvelertak – Meir
#32. SpiralArms – Freedom
#31. Satan – Life Sentence
#30. Exhumed – Necrocracy
#29. Havok – Unnatural Selection
#28. Mothership – Self-Titled
#27. UDO – Steelhammer
#26. Ramming Speed – Doomed To Destroy, Destined To Die
#25. Revocation – Self-Titled 
#24. Gorguts – Colored Sands
#23. Kobra And The Lotus – Self-Titled 
#22. Toxic Holocaust – Chemistry Of Consciousness
#21. Saxon – Sacrifice 
#20. Noctum – Final Sacrifice
#19. Intronaut – Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones)
#18. Scale The Summit – The Migration
#17. Warbringer – IV: Empires Collapse
#16. Scorpion Child – Self-Titled
#15. Motörhead – Aftershock
#14. Holy Grail – Ride The Void
#13. Red Fang – Whales And Leeches
#12. Soilwork – The Living Infinite
#11. ASG – Blood Drive
#10. The Ocean – Pelagial
#9:  Anciients – Heart Of Oak
#8.  Cauldron – Tomorrow’s Lost
#7.  Enforcer – Death By Fire
#6.  Skeletonwitch – Serpents Unleashed 

Check out #5 here.

Comments

comments