In its tight 32 minutes, Forever Abomination, last year's third album from the Ohio band Skeletonwitch, affirms its maker's metal purism, even as it offers a versatile synthesis of subgenres. Acoustic interludes give way to bitter black-metal shards, NWOBHM hooks and thrash frenzies. These elements have existed on all of Skeletonwitch's albums, but now they aren't just sonic mile markers arranged in sequence; the band has at last managed to gather its influences into a potent mix of might and melody. Colorado thrash revivalists Havok and San Francisco's grimy punk-metal outfit Early Graves should do plenty to warm up the crowd. —Bryan C. Reed
Showing 1-1 of 1