Skeletonwitch Title: Breathing The Fire Label: Prosthetic Records Year: 2009 Rating: 4 / 5

The witch is back and your ass better be in gear or get crushed beyond dust! Athens, OH thrash metal masters, Skeletonwitch, are back with a phenomenal record that further defines and cements their place in the ranks of metal. Purging out more of the brutally technical thrash/black metal that the band is unanimously known for, Breathing The Fire, is technical brilliance with pounds of flesh; an unforgiving record built to slay the fakes and the poseurs. Starting on high speed and basically staying the course throughout the record, Skeletonwitch sound like they’ve now perfected the style and sound they were meant to play all of their lives. It’s easy to say that everything you like about thrash and black metal are on this record plus more. It seems that the band have also grown a bit from their previous while keeping the lethal elements they’ve mastered in place which is the reason why I fell in love with this band in the first place. You can pretty much pit to every song or mosh to any of them but “Submit To The Suffering,” “Longing For Domination,” “Where The Light Has Failed,” “Crushed Beyond Dust,” “Gorge Upon My Soul,” And Into The Flame,” are pretty much the tracks that will get your blood pumping out of your veins. There’s no straight on melodies, no singing, no lyrics of loss of love nor are there any dual harmonies on this record. The record is a straight up shredfest from start to finish, no holds-barred. Check out the metal induced slap of “Stand Fight And Die” and “Repulsive Salvation” and you tell me if that doesn’t get your fist pumping and your horns raised proudly high up in the air. It’s the kind of record that every metalhead should have in their metal arsenal, the kind of record that brings metal up on a platform and glorifies what metal is all about. Having shared the stage with known metal acts such as Municipal Waste, Dimmu Borgir, Job For A Cowboy and being handpicked by Glenn Danzig for his Blackest Of The Black Tour, it’s no surprise that Skeletonwitch has the metal goods to decimate any stage and get your jaded metal ass in gear. Breathing The Fire is impressive on all levels and possesses all the makings of a great metal record. Easily one of 2009’s best metal records, the sons of Midwestern Darkness have a lot to be proud about. This record is one fat slab of thrash/black metal mastery that you need to get your hands on. Pick up a copy, whip yourself into shape and get in the pit!

By: Gian Erguiza