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Skeletal Remains – Fragments of the Ageless

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Skeletal Remains - Fragments of the Ageless

Skeletal Remains - Fragments of the Ageless
4.2

Rating

 4.2/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very masterful instruments
  • Good vocals
  • Fluent listen

On 8th March 2024, the death metal band Skeletal Remains are releasing a new album. After the US-American band has established during the last decade, also in the European metal scene, they now share Fragments of the Ageless with the headbanging community. I had a listen and share my thoughts with you.

 

Skeletal Remains – About The Artists

Skeletal Remains have been founded in Whittier, California, in 2011. The death metal band originally acted as Anthropophagy. They even released their first demo album Desolate Isolation under that name, before they used the current band name for their 2012 published debut album Beyond The Flesh. The band consists of singer and guitarist Chris Monroy, guitarist Adrian Obregon, bassist Adrius Marquez and drummer Joe Martin. So far, Skeletal Remains released four albums. The last two ones, Devouring Mortality (2018) and The Entombment of Chaos (2020) made it to the Top 100 of the German charts.

 

Skeletal Remains – Fragments of the Ageless – Track by Track

I received nine song album lasting 43 minutes. I expect the album to include a tenth song as well (see below).

1. Relentless Appetite

The first (almost) five minutes of Fragments of the Ageless belong to Relentless Appetite. The opener comes with two striking elements: the massive drumming by Joe Martin and the dark grunting by Chris Monroy. In later parts of the song, the guitars also play a stronger role and have quite a lot of presence. This leads to a very lovely listen, just when the songs risks being a bit of monotonous. And so, it becomes a really nice piece of metal entertainment. Especially the second half is a great listen.

2. Cybernetic Harvest

The second song (again, in the range of five minutes) is Cybernetic Harvest. Again, the song kicks off with massive drumming, before the band is adding more and more elements to it. Again, the masterful and virtuous guitar play becomes a key element of the second part of the song.

3. To Conquer The Devout

The third song has already been released as an appetizer to the album. Fast drumming and some nice guitar lines introduce you to the song, right before Chris Monroy is back in the business. He is a great and steady performer on this album. To Conquer the Devout is does have some loops, but it overall works nicely.

4. Forever In Sufferance

Forever in Sufferance is the fourth track of Fragments of the Ageless. Skeletal Remains stay in line with the sound of the music so far: a forceful blast of death metal with virtuous sprinkles of instrumental elements, especially on the guitar side. Why should they change it? It works well – and it is fun. This song features a nice short bass solo transition as well.

5. Verminous Embodiment

Skeletal Remains leave their “concept” for the next two songs a bit. While all songs so far were rather close, the 4:25 minute song Verminous Embodiment almost feels short compared to that. The marching drumming in this song is a great element. The California band feels unstoppable.

6. Ceremony Of Impiety

A chance to relax? Ceremony Of Implety is just 91 seconds long and majorly comes with a threatening atmosphere, slightly supported by drums and electronic sounds. The keyboard part at the end feels hymnic, but also a bit of harmonic. A nice and moody interlude track.

7. Void Of Despair

This short song, neither sufficiently long for a pee break or grabbing a beer at the bar of a concert venue, leads into the single release Void of Despair. Again, I especially love the drive produced by the gallpping drums. Later, the song even features some sort of Gregorian choir in the background. This overall leads to a rather lyrical and theatric listen.

8. Unmerciful

Being Unmerciful somehow suits perfectly to the genre, doesn’t it? Maybe, Skeletal Remains felt the same when they wrote the song – and gave it a duration of over seven minutes. The time is well invested, as the band is presenting different themes and sections of the song, which leaves a very entertaining touch.

9. …Evocation (The Rebirth)

Chris Monroy can concentrate on his guitar job during this song. …. Evocation (The Rebirth) is a purely instrumental recording. I like it – also because it nicely gives a focus on the great work the guys without a microphone are doing in this band.

10. Messiah Of Rage

I haven’t received this song as part of my promotion package.

 

Skeletal Remains – Fragments of the Ageless – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

 

Skeletal Remains – Fragments of the Ageless – My View

Fragments of the Ageless is a very fluent metal album. The harmony between vocals and instrumental power is great, there is a lot of force and energy in it. This leads to a really pleasing listen. I definitely enjoyed it.

Favorite Song: Unmerciful

 

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