Skeletonwitch - Serpents Unleashed

I first heard of Skeletonwitch from the bonus features on the "Get Thrashed" documentary dvd. Scott and Chance would give their opinions of a wide range of great 80's thrash bands from across the world. These guys knew their stuff.
A while later I heard their second album Beyond the Permafrost and was intrigued by how they incorporated old school thrash with black and death metal vocals. They were one of the newer bands that didn't get lumped in with the whole "Thrash Revival" movement at the time as they weren't as blatant in their Overkill and Exodus worship.
Fast forward to 2013 and we have their new album Serpents Unleashed released on Prosthetic Records. There are some hardcore ties as they recorded at God City Studios with Kurt Ballou from Converge producing the album.
The band were in town last week opening for The Black Dahlia Murder. I don't like them much. But Skeletonwitch were amazing. They were selling loads of vinyl including this one I picked up. The merch guy said this was a tour exclusive color and once it sold out it wouldn't be repressed. Whatever. I just wanted the new album as it was only released a couple weeks ago.

I have no idea how many were pressed and I haven't heard or read anything about it online. Red with black splatter vinyl isn't the greatest combo to go with the artwork, but at least it is heavyweight wax.

They had John Dyer Baizley from Baroness do the unmistakable artwork for the album. This came with a poster of the cover art as well. Nice bonus for sure. Too bad that it will never see the light of day in my house. I'm pretty sure the wife and kids wouldn't dig it.

I think the new album is streaming online somewhere. You should check it out. These guys are the real deal.