There’s something valuable about reliability in that you have a good idea of that you’re going to get when you crack open a band’s new record. Yeah, bands that go by the motions can come by this quality in ways where their music has diminishing returns. But artists with fire in their veins, ones that fucking want it, use reliability in a way to continue hammering the bloody path they’re on with precision.

Since their infernal birth in 2011, Skeletal Remains have been pumping out tried-and-true death metal that pays homage to the roots but belongs in the here and now. Their savage fifth album “Fragments of the Ageless” is upon us, and it’s a nine-track, 43-minute destroyer that drinks deeply from their well of violently played death metal that doesn’t have a lot of surprises but really doesn’t need them. The band—vocalist/guitarist Chris Monroy, guitarist Mike De La O, bassist Brian Rush, drummer Pierce Williams—smashes on all cylinders, dragging you through the thorns and over cragged rocks that slice up your flesh and leave a trail of your blood behind.

“Relentless Appetite” opens blistering with the growls crushing, the playing punishing as it turns the screws. The soloing goes off as everything glimmers alongside it, volcanic ash choking your lungs, with everything coming to a devastating end. “Cybernetic Harvest” crunches and decimates, the leads tangle, and the ash piles up to the sun. The battering force moves forward, the howls damaging nerve endings, the meaty pace opening wounds and pouring blood. “To Conquer the Devout” blazes with blistering growls, savagery and speed combining to make the pressure impossible to handle. The fires rage as the bass thickens and powers the engine, the drums gut, and dual guitars unite to spread deathly glory, scorching to the end. “Forever in Sufferance” has a tricky open that gets your brain wiring smoking, growls smash, and a tornadic tear goes right for the throat. The bass trudges as the mean and gruff howls leave bruising, the playing accelerates suddenly, and the ferocity tears its way through your ribcage.

“Verminous Embodiment” stomps through the mud as the growls menace, monstrous shrieks rushing in later to make everything uglier. Leads squeal as the muddiness increases, nasty and relentless playing robbing your lungs of breath. “Ceremony of Impiety” is an instrumental piece built with mystical synth and keys raining down, giving off a fantasy realm feel before we move into “Void of Despair” that immediately takes off your head. Leads tangle as the pace batters hard, the growls tormenting with animalistic fury. Strange noises ruminate as the guitars open up and crush with iron jaws, increasing the vicious assault that ends in shrapnel. “Unmerciful” is the longest track here at 7:10, and the guitars churn as raspy howls punish your muscles. Parts of the journey are mucky and scathing, the guitars exploring space, the darkness growing thicker. The menace then reignites as the tempo drills into the ground, the soloing boils over, and a thrashy attack follows, sweeping everything underneath its massive shadow. Closer “…Evocation (The Rebirth)” brings eeriness that meets up with guitars breathing fire, the bass buzzing, and things going onto colder terrain. A sci-fi edge continues the strangeness as deadly mashing stretches muscle, guitars lather, and the final blade sinks into the earth.

Skeletal Remains continue to build on their solid death metal foundation with “Fragments of the Ageless,” a record that should continue to add to their audience that wants dependability and brutality in the same package. This band keeps sharpening their tools and cranking out ferocity that can be put up against any of their peers. As long as they stay on this path, Skeletal Remains are bound to continue as one of the most trustworthy and devastating death metal bands in the entire category.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/SkeletalRemainsDeathMetal

To buy the album, go here: https://centurymedia.store/collections/skeletal-remains

For more on the label, go here: https://www.centurymedia.com/