Do you think technicality in death metal is bollocks? If you answered yes, then say "hello" to Irish album debutants Skewered. After forming in 2003, they released a couple of demos (only 4 of the demos' songs appear here) prior getting their full lengther co-released on two Russian labels, Inherited Suffering Records and Anopsys Records.

The first 30 seconds of 'Contaminated' really made me think of Brits Benediction. Chugging riffage and double kick drum beat are so close to those old legends' stuff. However, the song turns more gory, perhaps reminding Gorerotted and Desecration. Overally, the guitars are pretty simplistic with their chugga-chugga riffing and good enough, yet familiar from gore and horror inspired death metal, chord works. The bass sounds a tad more technical than the guitar work. The drums vary from slow battering to blasting tempos. So, playingwise this is about enjoyment, not about trickiness and virtuosity. While the songs are around 2-3 minutes long, they tend to be too samey. It feels that the band's pockets are empty during the first few songs. The sample "and now for something completely different" (taken from "Monty Python's Flying Circus") on 'Born into Pain' is partly true, as the song does sound more like Immolation or something.

The sound is quite thick with ripping guitar tone, but the bass gets a bit buried at times. The low frequencies aren't missing, for sure. The drums sound quite mechanic, so I expected a drum machine at work, but perhaps not... Hard to say. The vocals are all kinds of low growling and grunting, surely able if somewhat unvarying, just like the songs.

The songs offer catchy riffage every now and then, a lot of tempo changes, but are all too similar to each other to a great extent. And definitely nothing new and exciting. Albeit all the catchy elements, the songs just do not stick in brain! That is the main thing the band should work on to get their second album more striking.

Rating: 5 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
04/17/2012 20:54