Skeletal Crew
Go Out and Slay single
Frankenstyle EP
Halloween (Misfits Cover)
Reviews by; DeeDee
First up this band are called Skeletal Crew and are a duo from Porto in Portugal, not to be confused with any band called Skeleton Crew, or likewise, as I found many on Facebook with similar titles. Promoting themselves as a shock, horror rock band, Allsin Ratrotted and Skinwalker Pete, met in 2018 and decided to form a band with ‘putrid voices and groovy riffs’, their words not mine! That same year they managed to write and record the ‘Frankenstyle’ EP off their own backs and a cover of The Misfits ‘Halloween’. As they released a new single ‘Go Out And Slay’ on July 25th, as well as this, the 6 track EP and the cover are well worth a retro review.
New Single - Go Out And Slay;
Is over 4 minutes of thumping and riotous hell beating pleasure. When low and destructive the vocals of Allsin remind me of the late Peter Steele and indeed the duo are in the Type O Negative blood group. Without being too over shocking and damaging, the song remains heavy as thunder, but has a flowing rhythm and the riffage is totally wipeout. You can mosh to this, you can sing along to it and you can bang your head as much was possible during the said 4 minutes, such is the overall result. It does get into a more pulse stopping chant midway, which only adds to the brilliance.
5/5
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Frankenstyle 6 Track EP;
Ain’t Bad To Be Dead is a sinister and creepy opener, it has a rocky horror kind of fun loving beat, so not that scary. In fact it’s a quite an experience, think the B52s crossing with Grunge and Slipknot.
Motherfu*ker In Me also despite the evil promised, is a likeable pounding of a number. Chugging riff and metal-vomit emitting vocals, that break down into an adorable chorus. It reminds me of a Steelheart song, of all bands! Adorable to the end, it certainly gets under your skin.
Private Hell is a drive down a vertical slope, no stopping, no brakes, very ‘Faith No More’ and ‘Motorhead’ inspired during the intro. Until half way that is, then it gets very dark and images of ghouls and the dead enter my mind. Sweeping chords and penetrating shredding give it body, a mass of noise and top marks from me.
Rotten Valentine is a slower track, but not without a crashing pulse that is full of body blows. It gets submerged in waves of guitar wielding that turn it into a very menacing encounter. Some great guitar again, that smoothes out any creases.
Frankenstyle comes in from all directions, with ugly charm and frightening presence. It is another that combines fast and uncontrollable parts with a midway break of soothing guitar and low haunting vocals that draw you in. The end result is excellent on this one as well, a monster of a song. There’s a break that slows it up which is so creative, how do they come up with such amazing metal-ness?
Ratman What a delicious little number. Low vocals in the ‘Pete Steele’ manner again and the simple riff is joined up with a nice jolly kind of nastiness. I know this is song is going to be stuck in my head for days now, but I want it to be, I Love Ratman!
4/5
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Halloween -The Misfits Cover;
Is a short song, only about 90 seconds of fast driven fury, the Glen Danzig/Misfits original is only a few seconds longer. Skeletal Crew belt it out in a more messy style, but do it justice. The guitar piece is perfect and the ‘whoas whoas’, of backing vocals are even chucked in to make it very similar to the hard core punk version. Hard to believe The Misfits were only around from 1977 to 1983, as this cover reminds me, they were well ahead of their time and perhaps as this cover proves, were indeed timeless.
4/5
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I am left in awe of Skeletal Crew, I can’t believe there are only 2 of them. Absolutely full of creative juices and are more than a shock, horror rock band. The finesse of the musicianship from Pete and the incredible larynx of Allsin, who could easily get work for voice overs, are a perfect match made in hell. Let’s have a full album soon guys.
https://skeletalcrew.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/skeletalcrewband
https://www.instagram.com/skeletalcrewband/
Skeletal Crew are;
Allsin Ratrotted –vocals, lyrics
Skinwalker Pete = guitar, bass, drums, backing vocals
Frankenstyle was recorded, engineered and produced by Rui Meireles and Skeletal Crew
Cover art and layout by Miri Misfitsa and Vitor Fonseca