Place Of Skulls

The Knoxville, Tennessee-based trio Place of Skulls came together at the start of 2000 under the leadership of guitarist and vocalist Victor Griffin, a veteran of the cult doom metal outfits Pentagram and Death Row. Bassist Lee Abney, likewise an alumnus of Death Row, and drummer Tim Tomaselli complete the group. Their music upholds the approach of Griffin’s earlier bands while aligning with the doom rock and metal lineage of Trouble, the Obsessed, Saint Vitus, and especially Black Sabbath. Lyrics, however, diverge because of Griffin’s conversion to Christianity in the mid-1990s, a development mirrored in the band’s name, itself drawn from scripture. After issuing an untitled EP and the concert recording Live! on their own, the musicians tracked their first proper album in 2001 for planned release on the Man’s Ruin label. When that imprint folded in the middle of 2001, distribution shifted to the Los Angeles-based Southern Lord label for all subsequent output.