It would be difficult for a band that combines the speed of thrash metal and the brutality of black metal to come up with a better name than "Skeletonwitch." Take a few horror movie/Dungeons and Dragons references and mash them up into a title sensible enough to provide an image and nonsensical enough to avoid purposeful meaning. One has to wonder, if the Ohio band didn't choose Skeletonwitch as its moniker, what would've been the second choice? Vampiretroll? Frankencthulhu? Guitarist Scott Hedrick revealed at least one of the names in the running.
"A friend of ours was throwing out all these ridiculous names," he explained. "One of them he threw out was 'Hard Shocker,' and he said we should speak with fake German accents and that should be our shtick. For a long time he thought it was so funny that even after we settled on 'Skeletonwitch' he would ask how 'Hard Shocker' was doing."
It seems the metal world dodged a bullet.
Looking at the gory album art and Skeletonwitch's signature Iron Maiden-esque typeface on albums with titles such as "Breathing The Fire" and "Forever Abomination," it's arguable that the band adheres to an oft-stereotyped metal schtick. Considering the tight riffs of guitarists Hedrick and Nate Garnette however, coupled with rhythms and vocals that pummel the listener, the group can get away with indulging in some schlock (even perhaps an album named "Hard Shocker" if it chose).
Both guitarists have been with the band since its inception in 2003, when Garnette brought on his brother Chance to provide vocals, and the trio have formed the core of Skeletonwitch for the band's duration. Bassist Evan Linger and drummer Dustin Boltjes round out the current lineup.
The tight, efficient model for songwriting has served the group well. Thrash is a sub-genre that's known for prolific solos and epic track lengths in the tradition of Metallica, but Skeletonwitch doesn't overstay its welcome when recording. The band's first four albums feature only four songs more than four minutes, topping out at 4:12. Fans should expect music in a similar vein when the band releases its upcoming LP "Serpents Unleashed" (the supposed release date for now is October 29), Hedrick said.
"I don't think we're ever going to abandon the Skeletonwitch world," he said. "That being said, there's a lot of room to touch on stuff. We're not afraid to do death metal, or black metal, or thrash metal. We get in and get out real fast and in the course of 2.5 minutes we've touched on three different genres."
Skeletonwitch doesn't aim for strict classification, but the group's qualities invite comparisons to other sub-genres. Those comparisons often result in disappointment for listeners that come in expecting a mutually-exclusive sound. One frequent reference in black metal, thanks to Chance's vocal style that ranges between shrieks, rasps and growls. Hedrick says hardcore fans of Norweigan black metal, who "like drums that sound like beating trash cans," dismiss the Skeletonwitch as not brutal enough. On the other hand, the thrash label brings listeners "with high tops and pizza boxes," who are shocked by the group's heaviness.
Hedrick attributes much of the band's success luring fans to its live shows, and not to albums. Many of the band's fans jumped onboard after seeing the group live, he said, and he cited producer Kurt Ballou (also a guitarist for Converge) for best capturing the Skeletonwitch's live sound for "Serpents Unleashed." If touring is that important to the band's success, it's no wonder that the Skeletonwitch embarks on intense road trips, including a stint where the group played 63 dates in 65 days during 2012.
The "U.S. Abomination Tour" opened in the band's hometown of Athens, OH on September 14, before heading east to Maine, south to Florida, west through Texas to California, and then up to Seattle, hitting everything in between. The group played its last show in Cleveland on November 17, a little more than two months after setting out. Hedrick said the band knew what it was signing up for.
"Sure there were some small arguments. But it's like with a girlfriend. It's normally about something stupid and it blows over in like 15 minutes," said a man responsible for songs such as "Shredding Sacred Flesh" and "Repulsive Salvation," having no issue with comparing his bearded bandmates to girlfriends. "We love what we do. We wanted to do that. We wanted to play that many shows."
The band played another 20 shows in less than a month during May and June of 2013, and will play a short stretch of concerts with Swedish heavy metal band Ghost in July. Fans can probably expect another slew of shows following the release of "Serpents."
Based on the Skeletonwitch's history, it would be a Hard Shock if they didn't.
