Skullflower is a loose group of musicians affiliated with guitarist Matthew Bower that perform wildly improvised psychedelic music. They debuted with the four-song EP Birthdeath (Broken Flag, 1988) and the six-song mini-album Form Destroyer (1989). Ruins (Shock, 1990) compiles those two records and adds two unreleased tracks. Their albums include: Xaman (Shock, 1990), IIIrd Gatekeeper (Headdirt, 1992), Last Shot at Heaven (Noiseville, 1993), Obsidian Shaking Codex (RRR, 1993), the best of this phase, Carved Into Roses (VHF, 1994). Their sound was beginning to change towards heavy droning space-rock, as displayed on Argon (Freek, 1995), a symphony in four movements featuring Stuart Dennison on percussion, John Godbert on reeds and Russel Smith on guitar, the live Adieu All You Judges (Broken Flag, 1995), Infinityland (Headdirt, 1995), one of their heaviest works, Transformer (Sympathy, 1996), one of the calmest, This is Skullflower (VHF, 1996), possibly a self-parody.