Band's List Brutal Death Skinless Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead

This is the fourth, and hopefully not last, Skinless album. The band split up last year but they already got back together once, they can do it again. This album follows the lines of Skinless's very fast and brutal gore/death grind sound. This is the first, and so far last, album with vocalist Jason Keyser who does a great job in this. The biggest change is the lyrics focusing more on war then on gore and dark humor which is the main focus on their other releases. A sign of maturity in the band in my opinion, not saying that I don't enjoy their old lyrics.

The guitars on the album are brutal and technical and fast. Noah does a great job of adding a technical edge to an already brutal album. Joe isn't far behind with his bass work keeping up with the guitars perfectly. Joe and Noah does what any band should do. Have the guitar add technicality and lead the string section and the bass adds depth and an extra low tone. They compliment each other well. They work as a team instead of being separate parts or having the bass being completely overshadowed by the guitar.

The vocals are brutal as any other album. Deep guttural lows and screeching highs. Jason does it with a dark inhumanity that compliments the haunting tone of the music. Goes perfectly with the mechanical samples either in the beginning of the songs or in the background of the television of movie samples at the beginning. Also compliments the deeply distorted guitars and the fast thumping drum beats. He fits in perfectly with the Skinless sound and tone that fans know and love.

The drums are furious. Fast blast beat and technical drum rhythms filling the background. It's not the best drums but it fills the void that needs to be filled. It really keeps and even in some songs creates a rhythm. It really adds a speed to the album. Very very good. Possibly the best instrumental piece on the album.

The one complaint I have is that a lot of the songs sound the same at points. All follow a similar structure and rhythm and just kind blend together.

In all, whether you're a fan of brutal death, technical death, deathcore, death grind or grindcore I wouldn't miss this album. I rate a 17/20. My personal favorite song is Execution of Reason. I advise any fan of extreme metal to at least give this a listen.

This is the 4th album from this American death grind quartet. They are from Glens Falls, New York, which is located 178 miles north of New York City(in upstate New York). Vocalist Sherwood Webber left the band and was replaced with vocalist Jason Keyser, who is the brother of bassist Joe Keyser. His vocals sound similar to the vocals of J. Pump, of Panzerchrist.

They were once kicked out of the Palladium night club and banned from performing in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts(USA). Because of an incident which occurred during a live show in that town. Former vocalist, Sherwood Webber, jumped out into the crowd. But he actually jumped onto some paramedics and police officers, who were tending to an injured fan. They weren't too happy about this, but they let it slide. Then Webber began mocking the police on stage. So the club management pulled out the electrical plugs and the police kicked them out of town. Worcester was one of the bands strongholds of enthusiastic fans. They had to get permission from the police to perform there again and weren't allowed to do so, as long as Webber was going to be present. They were finally allowed to perform there, after the departure of Webber.

They wanted this album to sound heavier and more versatile than their previous album. They wanted to combine more sophisticated guitar playing with the heaviness of there earliest albums.

Overlord is very heavy with thunderous bass riffs at a very fast tempo. check out the live video of this song, that I've included in this review. A Unilateral Disgust features majestic bass and guitar rhythms, with lots of technical guitar hooks. This is a great death metal song. Deviation Will Not Be Tolerated starts off with technical guitar playing and a grim bass rhythm. Then the tempo increases, sounding like something similar to Decapitated(Poland). Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead rocks fiercely and melodically, with very heavy bass sounds. Spoils Of The Sycophant sounds similar to the Adramelech song, Bleeding For Supremacy. Endvisioned is a very heavy song that reminds me of Panzerchrist, but then comes back with some rhythmic grinding like Adramelech. Execution Of Reason is an awesome song that thrashes with a very technical melody. It sounds similar to Decapitated(Poland), with the wildness of Superjoint Ritual. The Wicked World is a Black Sabbath cover. I love this death metal version of this song, which originally came from Black Sabbath's debut album(1970). This is my 2nd favorite Black Sabbath cover song. Second only to the Sepultura rendition of Symptom Of The Universe.

Although this is an American band, it's relatively obscure to the west coast. It has a much greater following in New England. This music sounds similar to Panzerchrist, Decapitated(Poland), or Terrorizer. I highly recommend this album to any fan of death metal.