At this point, Skeletonwitch is near unstoppable. They keep elevating their game to a new level without sacrificing (to the slaughtergod) an iota of what makes them the ‘witch – the galloping rhythms, shredtastic solos and riffing, ear-catching melodies and scathing vocals are all still very much intact, just wrapped up in even tighter packaging.

One of the first things I noticed about Forever Abomination is they’ve developed somewhat of a penchant for starting many songs on a slower, misleading note before exploding into their signature break neck speeds and rhythms (album opener “This Horrifying Force (The Desire to Kill)”, “Choke Upon Betrayal”, “Cleaver of Souls”, “Shredding Sacred Flesh”). Of course, not every track flows in this manner; “Reduced to the Failure of Prayer”, “Of Ash and Torment”, “Erased and Forgotten”, “Rejoice in Misery”, “My Skin of Deceit” just kill it from the word go in traditional ‘witch fashion, while others (namely “The Infernal Resurrection”) mostly maintain a much more restrained and slower pace throughout, or even settle into a nice mid-paced thrashing groove (“Sink Beneath Insanity”) with bits of speed infused violence occasionally injected into the mix.

Forever Abomination comes off like a cross of their last two albums. They’ve brought back a good chunk of the rawer aggression of Beyond the Permafrost and coupled it with the improved, tighter songwriting of Breathing the Fire, and armed it once again with a strong production (Matt Hyde) that is clear yet still very much human sounding with a touch of grit – for an album that is making a strong claim for their best output yet.

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