What is best in life? Death. Fucking. Metal.

The year of our lord two thousand and nineteen is in its dying days and it’s been one hell of a year for death metal (as every year has seemingly been since this decade began). Whether you are a fan of the consciousness-expanding sounds of Blood Incantation, the clubbing blows of Malignant Altar or the raw sewage personified that is Fetid, there was surely something that struck your fancy. It is only right, then, that we send this year straight to hell with one last death metal salvo: Skullcrush’s debut album, Archaic Towers of Annihilation.

A little over a year removed from their Visions of the Firestorm Eclipse EP, Skullcrush return to, well, crush your fucking skull and do they ever succeed. Archaic Towers of Annihilation is a behemoth of a record and the perfect way to end a fantastic year for extreme music. Take it from me, a man with significantly less skull than he had 35 minutes ago.

Archaic Towers of Annihilation is an evolutionary step rather than a revolutionary one, and that’s just perfect. Everything is tighter and punchier, from both a songwriting and production perspective, and once Skullcrush gets down to business it’s near nonstop brain bashing supremacy. From the almost somber death/doom ending of “Overthrown” to the absolute beatdown that is “Buried and Forgotten” it’s clear the band have upped their game considerably for their first proper LP.

Why read words when you could mosh about it, though? We have the full stream of Archaic Towers of Annihilation right gotdang here for ya! Fair warning folks: Be prepared to kiss your skull goodbye.

 

Archaic Towers of Annihilation drops December 13th via Redefining Darkness Records and Raw Skull Recordz.
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