The best show I saw in 2011 — hell, one of the best shows I’ve seen in the last 10 years — featured Tombs, Kvelertak, and Skeletonwitch playing on a party cruise that lapped around the East River one cold October night. Those are three KICK-THE-FUCK-ASS bands right there. On a boat? With beer? Man. Night to remember. I’ve written a bunch about Norway’s Kvelertak, and mentioned in at least one interview with the Norwegian press that part of the band’s success, I think, is due to the fact that they’ve teamed on two albums now with cover artist John Baizley (of Baroness) and producer Kurt Ballou (of Converge), which gives them really recognizable, immediate aesthetics, both aural and visual. I’m not sure if Skeletonwitch were trying to replicate their shipmates’ formula, but the Ohio blackened thrashers’ forthcoming fifth LP, Serpents Unleashed, does indeed employ Ballou behind the boards and features a Baizley-painted cover. And based on Serpents’ first single, “Burned From Bone,” that formula continues to be a winning one. Skeletonwitch have always been a ferocious live act, but here, Ballou has managed to capture the urgency, momentum, and fullness of sound brought to the stage by the band, and if not actually made them sound even better, at least effectively highlighted their best features in a way that feels organic. It’s a hell of a song — a rush, an anthem, a blast in every sense of the word. Yeah, we’re gonna need a bigger boat. Check it; tour dates below.

Skeletonwitch tour dates:

10/04 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre #
10/07 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall #
10/14 – Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre #
10/24 – Cleveland, OH @ Peabody’s Concert Club ^
10/25 – Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club ^
10/26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory ^
10/27 – Providence, RI @ The Met ^
10/28 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground ^
10/29 – Quebec City. QC @ Le Cercle ^
10/30 – Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe ^
10/31 – Ottawa, ON @ Ritual ^
11/01 – London, ON @ Rum Runners ^
11/02 – Toronto, ON @ Mod Club ^
11/04 – Thunder Bay, ON @ Crocks ^
11/06 – Winnipeg, MB @ West End Cultural Centre ^
11/07 – Saskatoon, SK @ Louis’ Pub ^
11/08 – Edmonton, AB @ Avenue Theatre ^
11/09 – Calgary, AB @ The Den ^
11/11 – Vancouver, BC @ The Biltmore Cabaret ^
11/12 – Spokane, WA @ The Center ^
11/13 – Eugene, OR -WOW Hall ^
11/15 – Fresno, CA @ Strummer’s ^
11/16 – Pomona, CA @ Glasshouse ^
11/17 – Tucson, AZ @ The Rock ^
11/19 – Odessa, TX @ Club Patron ^
11/20 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Conservatory &
11/21 – Springfield, MO @ Outland Ballroom &
11/22 – St. Louis, MO @ Firebird &
11/23 – Iowa City, IA @ Blue Moose &
11/24 – Bloomington, IL @ The Castle Theatre &
11/25 – Joliet, IL @ Mojoes of Joliet &
11/26 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection &
11/27 – Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop &

# with Ghost B.C.
^ with The Black Dahlia Murder, Fallujah, Noisem
& with The Black Dahlia Murder, Fallujah, Wolvhammer

Serpents Unleashed is out 10/29 via Prosthetic.