| SKELETON OF GOD "Primordial Dominion" CD (2008) |
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In 1990 Jeff Kahn met Erik Stenflo in Boulder Colorado and formed their first musical collaboration, Hideous Corpse. The pair quickly established a close partnership as song writers, delving into their shared taste for the brutality and the freedom of Grindcore and Death Metal. They shared a rare musical chemistry, and soon ignited a new vision of metal with a peculiarly psychedelic strain in the mix. In an inimitably ironic way they were trying to create music both based upon and avoiding their common influences.
The developing palette of the young band soon outgrew the limited subtlety of the name Hideous Corpse and something more complex and original was to be in order. They found that the moniker Skeleton of God (conveniently appropriated from Jeff's one man noise project) fit the bill nicely. Force and fire power were soon multiplied with the additions of bassist Joel DiPietro (Exit-13) from Pennsylvania and Tim Fouch from Boulder as a second guitarist. After just a couple months of intense rehearsals Erik and Jeff were impressed by the musical progress gained as the additional members each brought their full abilities to bear on their unified concept. "We realized that this was the birth of something new and inventive", something that now had a range far beyond the initial perspectives of Hideous Corpse. There came to be an outer worldly, "spiritual" quality to the music but with an unmistakable psychotic edge to it. The refreshing admixture of their strange personalities heightened the creative effect. With each bringing their different sensibilities to the project: Joel putting Eco-Grind on the table, Jeff the bizarre artist / surrealist, Erik the post-modern shaman / spiritualist, and Tim the introverted architect / scientist. Skeleton of God was afire from within, fueled on the joined passion of like minded individuals. Throughout early 1993 to mid 1994 Skeleton of God performed for diverse audiences. Whether playing with Carcass one week or punk and rock bands the next, crowds responded enthusiastically to their new brand of metal. Their uncontrived and unique sound, combined with their odd aesthetic and weird personalities, all added up to music even those not into harsh metal wanted to experience.
During this time only one 4-song CD entitled "Urine Garden" was released. Many more songs were conceived of and developed both during and after the recording of "Urine Garden", which showed a wealth of promise and formed a body of ground breaking work, but these songs never made it to tape. In late spring 1994, just when momentum was building and labels were knocking, the band members suffered a falling out. Soon fans were disappointed to hear that Skeleton of God had split up with Jeff going to Arizona, Joel to Pennsylvania, and Tim to Portland while Erik stayed in Colorado to man the helm of Napalm Records America.
Meanwhile the positive response to "Urine Garden" grew to overwhelming, as listeners of Metal, Punk and Rock alike took to the record. Followers not only in the U.S. but abroad, in places like Colombia or far flung Ukraine found their boundaries pushed in exciting new directions by the unique music. Unfortunately with the relocation of most band members to different parts of the country, hope for reconciliation was diminished. Looking back on it, members realized with some chagrin that "We were young, we didn't realize what we had until it was lost."
Shoot forward to 2004 when a re-release of "Urine Garden" and "Bleached in the Sun" was put out by the underground partnership of the labels Deathgasm and Highbrid Records. After more than a decade this music once again inspired maximum response from listeners in the underground, selling thousands of copies, as though desire for Skeleton of God's uncommon sound had never waned. Expectations were raised for a recording of new material.
As it so happened, it was only a short time later that a mutual friend of Jeff and Erik's from the old days crawled out of the woodwork and invited them both to a psychedelic happening. The two reacquainted themselves, and after settling past differences felt they should resurrect their artistic alliance. "After growing up a bit, we both could admit that the musical chemistry we had together was something rare". And indeed all past tensions were forgotten as the two once again reveled in their artistic collaboration. The result of this important reunion is the new release "Primordial Dominion". With Jeff and Erik's alliance intact, they recruited Joel DiPietro once again, as a remote member crushing on blower bass. The long awaited recording is Skeleton of God's first new release in 15 years.
The much anticipated "Primordial Dominion" picks up where "Urine Garden" left off, but with a decidedly more atmospheric approach. Once again Skeleton of God has expanded greatly upon standard Death Metal fare and has invented a thoughtful, soulful, and melodic variety of harsh psychedelia. Both underground followers and new fans alike may find a deep resonance with these unique, compelling sounds once again shaking up the scene, pounding from Skeleton of God's visionary conceptualization of what metal and music can be.
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