Swedish metal band Skellington returns after a couple of years of silence with a brand new EP “Caveman Rising”. The album is digitally available now.
Skellington has been around for a while, their debut album was released 10 years ago in 2007 and has been received very well. After all these years, it is not much of a surprise that they also know what they are doing. The album offers some interesting riffs, catchy melodies and the songs are easy to listen to and have a nice flow. Skellington define themselves as influenced by all things metal. Some of these influences are very clear. While vocalist Jac Rytterholm’s voice reminds me of a young James Hetfield, some of the riffs remind me of Machine Head and then at times I feel like I’m being sent back in time listening to the support act of Motörhead.
The EP contains 5 songs. All songs are kind of similar and thus work together very well. The opener and title track “Caveman Rising” is a good way to open the EP. It has a very energetic (and perhaps even aggressive) attitude and shows already very well the potential this band has to offer. Personal highlight of the EP for me is “I Won’t Bow My Head”, which starts off with an interesting bass line and has this typical thrash metal brutality hidden in there, which reminds me a bit of Russian thrash metal band Shah.
In general at some times the songs still feel a bit clumsy, especially in comparison to their other material, which I quickly dived into to prepare for this review. This might be explained by the fact that the album has been released independently and budgetary issues and it doesn’t weigh up against all the positive characteristics the album has. Annunciation makes it easy to follow the songs without having the lyrics and the song writing feels like well thought of and creative. Interesting riffs, compelling solos and straight-to-the-point songs are what this album is made of. In general I feel that the band has to offer a lot more than they put in the album and I can say for a fact that I’m looking forward to when the album gets released in 2018.
Tracklist
1. Caveman Rising
2. I Won’t Bow My Head
3. She Will Spit On Your Grave
4. The Spirit Remains
5. Waiting for Enlightment
