SKULLCHURN - OF DEATH AND REBIRTH (2026 DEMO, OSDM/DEATH METAL, REVIEW)
1. Of Death And Rebirth
The opening has a legacy/indie horror sounding sample that
had Bog eager to hear what was coming. It’s a nice use of audio to gradually
bring in the bell ish chime maybe with a slightly synthy ish sound effect
before the intro riff arrives to announce the arrival of SKULLCHURN. The best
way Bog can describe it, would be like thundering around the swamps and making the ground shake, but what Bog was actually doing was
trying to stamp down hard, so that the infected liquid in their swollen toes would
burst from the skin spraying waterfalls into the air. The traditional method of
popping hadn’t worked, so stompy feet time is sometimes necessary.
Of Death And Rebirth sprays f*cking filth into the
listener’s mouth. Eat it!!!! It’s an onslaught, Bog was jumping up and down,
and roaring. The riffs are furious, chaotic, but organized to present speed,
total speed. Drumming is frantic to reinforce that intense shot to the face. Vocally,
a mix of classic death metal and is quite blackened too, not so much the guttural
style, but it’s serves to go with the pace and directness. It's no swanky
wrapped up gifts from shitty ass buy plastic wack.com. It’s akin to the mud in
our swamp, a collective of bubonic dirt fired from a Bog bike’s exhaust whilst
it rips through the marshes.
2. Cenotaph Of Gore follows with primal and visceral
vocals complementing the direct and cutting riff structure. It makes the
listeners feel that they are listening to a venomous and angry sprinkling of confetti
piss. The track features good guitar solos and is full of Hardcore ish feels.
Bog could see Cenotaph Of Gore appreciated by the Hardcore fans too, because
it’s very circle pit worthy.
Imagine a ghoul running around a cemetery, he's mad af,
because Auntie Kathy has stolen his favorite candy bar again. SKULLCHURN are playing live in the graveyard whilst the crusty ass ghoul is jumping about like someone had just had their balls touched with an icicle. Cenotaph
Of Gore features an unpolluted level of pace, which would be the soundtrack
to such a situation.
It’s mixed and mastered nicely in all areas from instruments
to the vocals, which gives the demo some weight. Sometimes, demos can suffer in
that area, and not do the bands any favors, and turn listeners off.
3. Endless Epidemic has a very savage Thrash like intro, strengthened by
further Thrash riffs throughout the track, which blend with Death Metal from
the swampy depths of classic OSDM. When you look at the physical copy, it will
say ‘You f*cking open me, I am going to make you shake, you will enjoy my
graveyard raw sound!’
Imagine Bog’s ass bleeding after wiping a bit too much on the wrong kind of sanding paper, this is how harsh the sound is. Bog roared around the swamp kicking stones, and throwing trash everywhere whilst lifting their arm pits up to say ‘Hey I stink and am proud of it.’
Bog worthy, very bog
worthy. Only bad, some folks may notice audio quality of the drums on this
track is a little lower and pan sounding compared to the previous tracks, but overall,
Endless Epidemic still kicks butt, beckoning us swamp creatures to throw ourselves
around in the water.
Solid solos, speed, pace changes, aggression, and ultimately,
a very likeable pit worthy track.
4. The Faceless One is much more direct Death Metal,
but it slaps CEO Cornball with a Rhode Island fish that bites the skin! There
is a breakdown riff passage, briefly moves to a throw your head around section, then
its tsunami bog water time again, then back to another, but briefer windmill
part. A good close to the demo, and another track to run around and soak
everything. The drums are better on this track, the aggression with the
overall sound remains intact, hard hitting direct vocals and riffs, can hear
the hardcore element, so a definite rager for the pits.
Rating: Bog thinks this a sick demo from SKULLCHURN, which is a sign of things to come from the band. Folks who look for something different may argue, it doesn’t do anything different with the vibe they are aiming for, but that’s the point in this scenario. They respect and play faithful to the no frills style they represent. If you enjoy being thrown in an ocean of bile ridden stench, then Of Death And Rebirth (Demo 2026) is for you. It’s played and wrote for the pit, not for a thought-provoking journey into the lands of Cloud Smoke Ken. It will be interesting to hear the full follow up album, especially if they clean the drum sound up in a few little areas, but it’s nothing major to stop the listener appreciating and enjoying what is a solid debut, and it hits hard.
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