Skeletonwitch is the kind of band that makes you feel good, no matter what. Many people can say the band does not bring anything new to the table and to be completely honest… It’s kind of true. From day one they had the good sense of doing their music always focussing on getting good songs, one thing that most extreme bands have lost. That ladies and gentleman, sets this band apart.

Celebrating ten years, Skeletonwitch approaches the new record, Serpents Unleashed (Prosthetic Records), with numerous of good factors: the maturity they collect of thousands of miles on the road playing together, thinking that is important to write good songs and with a brilliant producer like Kurt Ballou, the guitarist and producer of Converge. Serpents Unleashed is probably the best work the band have released over this ten year road, and one can’t stop thinking about how the band’s modus operandi played such an important role to get to this point.

Recognized for being the kind of band that makes a huge impact live, the guys were smart enough of getting a producer like Kurt Ballou that helped the band getting the kind of energy that are common on live shows. Going back to the songwriting issue, we need to talk about some of the new stuff the band adds this time around. Let’s talk about the fantastic doomish environment on ‘Unending, Everlasting’ that explores a new way to approach the band’s world. Let’s talk about the way the band writes a song that’s extremely cold and cutting edge, like is the case on ‘This Evil Embrace’.

Serpents Unleashed is the irrefutable proof that Skeletonwitch is the kind of band that we can trust even with our eyes closed. The only thing is that the bands chose to prove that with their best record to date. Shit, this is good and… It’s really fun!

8/10

Tiago Moreira

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