Beyond the Permafrost

Beyond the Permafrost

The first decade of the 21st century birthed a new collective unconscious of various heavy metal revivalists. Skeletonwitch initially flew under the radar of bands like proto-metal faves the Sword, New Wave Of British Heavy Metal disciples Saviours, and ‘80s thrash devotees Annihilation Time. By their second album they were inadvertently carving out an anti-niche by refusing to adhere to just one microcosm. Beyond the Permafrost found the Athens, Ohio quintet blending a brutal brew of all things evil, heavy, discordant and shredding. “Upon Wings of Black” rips the head off their sophomore offering with lightning leads, hyper seizures of rhythm and a demonic-sounding singer in Chance Garnette who spews possessed inflections reminiscent of those corpse-painted, church-burning, black-metal frontmen from Norway. The title track starts off sludgy before Garnette hits a deeper and more sinister tone — sounding as if he drank the devil’s blood and barfed up hot lava while the tape was rolling. “Fire from The Sky’s” driving riffs recall early Metallica before Garnette conjures the kind of blood- curdling screams that nightmares are made of.

You Might Also Like

Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada