ALBUM REVIEW: Devouring Morality – Skeletal Remains

There are few bands that embody the revival of old-school death metal that has swept the underground metal scenes quite as well as SKELETAL REMAINS. The Californian three-piece have been channelling their inner 1989 since their brilliant, well received debut, Beyond The Flesh, in 2012, and show no signs of disembarking that particular meat train – everything about their highly anticipated third offering, Devouring Morality, just oozes old-school death metal: from the gore drenched lyrics to the Dan Seagrave cover art, the grinding, groovy riff work to the raw, guttural (yet mostly legible) vocals.

Beyond The Flesh was an impressive debut, and their follow-up, Condemned To Misery, saw the Californians step up their game. Devouring Morality offers another seismic shift in quality, with the band delivering an album that is both true to its predecessors stylistically, but also more mature, more refined, and, somehow, more brutal.

SKELETAL REMAINS waste no time in diving straight into the crushing, groove filled riffs, dropping Ripperology on the listener like a hammer to the skull, before delivering the punishing lead single Seismic Abyss. Crammed with hooks, down-tuned riffs and an up-tempo ferocity, Seismic Abyss proves to be a perfect introduction to just what SKELETAL REMAINS can offer for those uninitiated to the band.

A distinctly old-school atmosphere and sound, saturated with plenty of groove, eviscerating ferocity and a tight focus on the craft of songwriting are all attributes thoroughly displayed across the entirety of Devouring Morality. As the record begins to approach the mid-way point, Torture Labyrinth makes its case for one of the album’s strongest and most entertaining tracks with it’s sinister intro and savage execution. Parasitic Horrors delivers a similar level of quality, showcasing SKELETAL REMAINS’ comfort both in a mid-paced, stomping groove and an up-tempo blast of brutality – a talent that continues into Mortal Decimation, which displays some of the slowest, heaviest riff work on Devouring Morality and juxtaposes it with a selection of fast, blast-beat driven sections.

It is exceptionally hard to fault Devouring Morality. A bit of variation in the vocals would have been a nice touch, as frontman Chris Monroy stays very much in the mid-range, not really pushing to any deep lows or piercing highs. However, at no point do his vocals becoming boring or monotonous, despite the consistent style. Otherwise, the minute long Lifeless Manifestation seemed a bit redundant – not really building to anything, it only marred the momentum SKELETAL REMAINS continued to raise over the course of Devouring Morality. That said, however, on the whole there is an abundance of excellence on display across this album, and not really anything to be passionately opposed to.

Devouring Morality does not offer a dazzling new insight into what death metal can be, sparking new directions and reinventing the blueprint of heavy metal as we know it. But when the music on offer is this good, who cares if it lacks a little originality? Sometimes, it is important to take things at face value, and the face value of SKELETAL REMAINS’ third offering is this: this is an album that perfectly embodies the atmosphere, attitude and musical violence of the burgeoning death metal scene of thirty years ago. Ignore the release date, this is death metal as it was envisaged as it clawed its way from the mind of Chuck Schuldiner – filthy, raw, fast and, above all, utterly, aurally brutalising.

Rating: 9/10

Devouring Mortality is out now via Century Media Records.

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