Skeletal Spectre - Tomb Coven

SKELETAL SPECTRE "Tomb Coven" CD is out now on Razorback Recordings, the same label that brought you all of the debut albums from Coffins, Acid Witch, and Hooded Menace! The album has the usual killer artwork expected from a Razorback release, this time the artwork painting has been done by by Adam Geyer. Skeletal Spectre are yet another old school Swedish retro death/doom metal band, it seems to be getting to be a little trendy these days but bands like this are so good so who cares anyway. They are calling this a full length album despite the fact its under 30 minutes, this is something that always bugs me a little. Call it a ep and sell it a bit cheaper folks but that is a minor complaint. One look at the album art, the song titles and the names of the band members tells you this band is very tongue in cheek. On bass and vocals you have Behold the Pentagram, Sacrifice the Virgin plays guitar and then there is Haunting the Beyond on drums. The sound is very old school with influences ranging from early Entombed, Celtic Frost, Cathedral, Black Sabbath to Motorhead but its all played very much in the vein of classic doom metal with death metal vocals. "The Decapitress" starts the horror off with chugging riffs and a wall of sound and while everything is pretty basic, the sonic heaviness and the vocals of Behold the Pentagram send it over the top.

Most people would have heard all the riffs before somewhere but that is not a issue when a band is as crushing as this, the cheese factor is at a all time high but this is real good fun to listen to. "Amulet of Impurity" is sludge meets rock and roll and "Eerie Bones" is a masterpiece of crawling catchy death with melodic doom overtones. "Wrath of Corrupta" has a type of Motorhead punk metal vibe to it and "Burial Ground" is a slow boiler of a track with a real catchy chorus. "Cursed Ancestry" heads off in a mid-tempo Cathedral stoner groove with Behold the Pentagram doing his best Tom Warrior impression. The title track "Tomb Coven" is the closet thing to Acid Witch on here with a sinister riff complete with morbid vocals. There is not much you can say about this album, you have heard it all before but the sound is massive and it is full of catchy hooks and rhythms. Something about Razorback Recordings always leave you floored and this is no exception, the production is massive. Once again this will create a debate for doom and death metal fans alike on whether the two genres should ever mix but i think this is proof that it can and that bands like this are here to stay. This is easily in the top 5 of Razorback releases so far, faultless in terms of sound and production. It may not bring anything new to the death/doom table but this is a kick ass CD that is pure fun. I would have like a couple more tracks but i will overlook that when the tracks here are just so damn good. 9/10

Skeletal Spectre @ MySpace