Dead Skeletons
Dead Magick

Since winter has just begun, the cold is about to invade our lives and the heat will remain a distant memory for at least a couple of months, it's worth embarking on a nice journey to the cold and dark Icelandic shores...

It's here that the Dead Skeletons take us, a trio already active on YouTube since 2009, where they gradually released their tracks, and have recently decided to finally publish their material on physical media; media that already promises well from the evocative cover, which reminds me of King Crimson's Island (or is it simply a residue of my metalhead origins, where the value of the record was still sanctioned by the badass nature of its covers, leading me to appreciate anything with a skull on the cover?). Naturally, when talking about Iceland, Sigur Ros immediately comes to mind, but although both bands are clearly influenced by their habitat in the atmospheres evoked by the tracks, they represent two very different realities, or better yet, the two opposite sides of the same coin. While Sigur Ros speaks to us of dreamy and ethereal atmospheres, perhaps slightly melancholic, evoking in our thoughts endless abandoned prairies, the Dead Skeletons show us the dark and untamed side of the Island, made of geysers, volcanoes and glaciers, atmospheres that bring us back to primordial chaos, but also capable of mesmerizing and tripping.

Among the main musical influences are the tribal-obsessive kraut of Can, as well as the zen-raga mysticism of Asia, all with dark shades to which, naturally, Icelandic sensitivity must be added. Overall, we are faced with a truly convincing debut, the mind catapults us directly into the midst of Trolls performing their tribal dances and shamanic rites around the fire, immersed among the ghosts of frozen and desolate lands, fully doing its dirty work (and giving us hope for a possible future for the group). The only flaw to note is the considerable duration of the album which, with its 73 minutes, depending on the listener's mood and receptivity to certain sounds, might occasionally seem a tad long-winded, but after all, psychedelia, since the dawn of time, has always willingly lent itself to dilation and repetition.

In any case, worth keeping an eye on, especially if you're interested in the genre.