Skinned – Shadow Syndicate
For some reason this US death metal band has escaped my attention which is baffling considering this is their fifth album and that they have been around for over 20 years though only vocalist John Meyer and guitarist Travis Weickum are original members. With today’s death metal now blanketing a myriad of subgenres it is fair to say that Skinned occupy the technical sphere due to the ever-changing tempos and fluxing guitar arrangements but where the band finds their own niche is maintaining the songs within a sense of normality. By that I mean keeping them interesting and not sending them into stratospheric complex rhythms for the sake of it, but they do like to insert off kilter sections such as the keyboard adornments on the opener 'Wings Of Virulence' though symphonic death metal this is definitely not.
The strange but effective bass work of 'As Their Bodies Fall' is excellent and very addictive as the song evolves into a double bass infestation with a guttural vocal invasion that has an extremely catchy tempo which is abruptly destroyed by the blasting section that is insanely fast and continues into 'Mental Deconstruction'. The band likes to lure the listener in with traditional death metal traits before then contorting you through a sonic kaleidoscope of lead breaks and assorted arrangements all interlaced by the assaulting drum work which is complex but absorbed into the fabric of every song.
I especially liked the instrumental 'Black Rain', creating a nice segue piece that sections the album into two and begins with a beguiling guitar melody that is haunting, mournful even, before the guitar riff comes in. It will stick in your head, it has mine, for days, as it saunters along before it gradually shifts to a more opaque riff that is equally fixating, almost narcotic in the way it makes you listen and leads wondrously into the title track which sees the mood massively change for a more dramatic aura that is heavier and far more formidable with a deluging double bass flood. It’s this mood that Skinned have paid a lot of attention to as they create sonic hues constantly such as the more upbeat 'Hollowed Earth' which utilises double kick patterns that are extremely catchy even though the song is ravenously intense.
'Led To The Trains' is brutalising straight death metal, it has a very cool riff and thunders along without diverting into any tech acrobatics preferring to trounce the listener with purist deathly assaults that continues with 'Angels’ Haarp' leaving only 'In The Mist Of The Dawn' which crashes in and if I’m honest I did prefer the more unusual songs on this album but make no mistake Skinned are a formidable band and this album is utterly devastating as I now have to rectify my mistake of not having any of their records in my collection.
The strange but effective bass work of 'As Their Bodies Fall' is excellent and very addictive as the song evolves into a double bass infestation with a guttural vocal invasion that has an extremely catchy tempo which is abruptly destroyed by the blasting section that is insanely fast and continues into 'Mental Deconstruction'. The band likes to lure the listener in with traditional death metal traits before then contorting you through a sonic kaleidoscope of lead breaks and assorted arrangements all interlaced by the assaulting drum work which is complex but absorbed into the fabric of every song.
I especially liked the instrumental 'Black Rain', creating a nice segue piece that sections the album into two and begins with a beguiling guitar melody that is haunting, mournful even, before the guitar riff comes in. It will stick in your head, it has mine, for days, as it saunters along before it gradually shifts to a more opaque riff that is equally fixating, almost narcotic in the way it makes you listen and leads wondrously into the title track which sees the mood massively change for a more dramatic aura that is heavier and far more formidable with a deluging double bass flood. It’s this mood that Skinned have paid a lot of attention to as they create sonic hues constantly such as the more upbeat 'Hollowed Earth' which utilises double kick patterns that are extremely catchy even though the song is ravenously intense.
'Led To The Trains' is brutalising straight death metal, it has a very cool riff and thunders along without diverting into any tech acrobatics preferring to trounce the listener with purist deathly assaults that continues with 'Angels’ Haarp' leaving only 'In The Mist Of The Dawn' which crashes in and if I’m honest I did prefer the more unusual songs on this album but make no mistake Skinned are a formidable band and this album is utterly devastating as I now have to rectify my mistake of not having any of their records in my collection.
- Wings Of Virulence
- As Their Bodies Fall
- Mental Deconstruction
- We Are The End
- Black Rain
- Shadow Syndicate
- Hollowed Earth
- Led To The Trains
- Angel's Haarp
- In The Mist Of Dawn
Label: http://www.xenokorp.com
Reviewer: twansibon
May 30, 2018
May 30, 2018
Next review:
Organectomy - Domain Of The Wretched
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