Review Summary: All in all, this is a criminally-unknown piece of brutal innovation and sheer songwriting marvel that will appeal to all metalheads who want a hooky, brutal, yet cerebral listening experience rife with unusual originality.
Once in a while, you stumble upon one of those obscure, but intriguing hidden gems that nobody ever seems to talk about. That's what this release is anyway; a short, nasty little package of four songs (plus a 'novelty' outro) of some of the greatest death metal ever created. You know, if it weren't for the band's liquidation shortly following the release of this, I can guarantee that they would be a highly-lauded name in brutal death metal. Perhaps the band's location of Nederland, here in Colorado wasn't exactly a place known for much exposure back in the early days of death metal, but nonetheless, this band's originality and pure creativity on this outshines most death metal albums at large! There's more off-kilter hookiness and artistic propensity in these four songs than many bands could fit into an entire album, frankly. Everything about this EP; from the cover, the lyrics and most importantly: the music, it's all here drenched in spastic, bizarre intensity, and creating one hell of a piece of work.
SoG claim to have always been influenced by psychedelic music and the like, and such an interest certainly shows in how these songs are structured. There's no distinct use of effects of heavy psychedelic sound reverb, yet the riffing and songwriting is contorted and warped in alien fashions that can only structurally allude to the wavering patterns of psychedelic rhythm. I have noticed that some people compare this band to Demilich, and in all honesty, there are actually some comparisons to be found. While I'd personally describe this as 'Demilich as a brutal death metal band', both bands conjure up spacey, cosmic, convulsive riffing that exudes an atmosphere that falls well outside the normal confines of average death metal. And after familiarizing myself a bit more with music theory and such, I have come to notice that, much like Demilich, SoG were quite possibly the only other death metal band that wrote music bereft of chromatic/harmonic melody. The riffing is quite complicated, and when a band manages to create absolutely infectious brutality with the use of minimum melody, and nearly pure dissonance, it creates a refreshing, netherworldly feel that is difficult to create, much less master. And in my opinion, while Skeleton don't quite reach the bizarre, alien feel of Nespithe, their music is somehow more infectious and downright memorable. It's more straightforward, definitely, but there's just some kind of character this album possesses beyond most.
However, Skeleton's sound is certainly more dense and brutal. After all, this is a 'brutal' death metal release, and it achieves a visceral level of intense musicality that makes this album full of sheer replay value. And what comes as even more of a surprise, is the fact that this band may also be the original progenitors of the 'slam' style of riffing, which is by all means, another mark of their sheer uniqueness. However, they do not overuse it, and therefore don't create music which grows lumberingly stale. And that's exactly what makes this release so special: twisted, spacey rhythms infused with dense brutality and a sense of massive, pummeling groove to create one of the most downright intense and hooky pieces of metal ever. Check out "Ten Second Infinity" and "Spiritual Schizophilia" to hear 'slam' with purpose and appeal. In all the songs, the riffing squirms and undulates in acrobatic fashions as it leads into massive, crushing grooves and then spirals freely into punchy cacophonies of brutal alien psychosis. Another thing I also love about these songs are the use of those brief, spacey spoken word bits. They actually really add a somewhat psychotic and unstable mood within the music, and actually offer some original variety, as an interesting yet very welcome contrast to Jeff's remarkably brutal vocals. Even right from the beginning, the band churns out a totally original spacey intro, with a lurid spoken word segment over wacky polyrhythmic pinch harmonics and eerie doomy riffs, before jumping into their trademark suffocating brutality. Still one of the most original and special beginnings to any death metal release. There's really no 'proper' soloing to be found either, but rather spastic, frenetic leads that adds greatly to the feel. Perhaps reminiscent of Trey Azagthoth's frenzied fret squealing, though not quite as elaborate. The only thing that really isn't up to par here in the production. It's grainy, dense and compressed, though the instruments are clearly distinguishable. In all honesty, it's almost as if the production is denser than the actual guitar tone. It creates an interesting feel, which I do like, though I wish the guitars had more breathing room. However, the drums sound excellent; with a crisp, yet dense tone that effectively amplifies the guitar and (inaudible) bass with its full punch, and Erik's almost jazzy way of drumming that keeps the feel intact on all corners.
It's really a shame that these guys disbanded for fifteen years after the release of this. This EP shows a wealth of promise, but most importantly; totally original and creative material that deserves far more credit than what it receives. The brevity of this really makes you wish this was a full-length. These guys reunited back in 2008, and released their first proper full-length the same year, which is even more strange than this. It bears a far more layered and overtly psychedelic style, that makes something new of metal entirely, and bears little resemblance to this. However, Skeleton of God has always been a one-of-a-kind band with inventive ideas, and this is a creation of brutal greatness from four minds who knew just how turn death metal into a slick, psychotic monster of pure delight.
