SKINLESS – Savagery
June 12, 2018, 5 years ago
(Relapse Records)
New York death metal crew Skinless are slowly but surely building up a huge catalogue of extremity, Savagery being the band’s sixth full-length. And it’s not like there are tons of surprises here, lineup the same since the last time out, the runtime basically the same (although with two more songs), things more or less evening out here, and fans will eat it up: the opening title track delivers with intensity, the intro actually having some impact like an old-school DM intro, the song proper grinding guttural, the band, as always, somewhere in between brutal death and old-school American death. The groove is there too, and songs like “Siege Engine” showcase it, while wasting no time getting to the blasting and the two-step DM polka bpm; it's all here, all delivered with the sure and steady hand that Skinless always have on offer. “Reversal Of Fortune” actually gives the listener some respite four songs in, a quieter (!) instrumental that actually provides way more moods and hues than one associates with Skinless; the song builds quite nicely, and it ends up being an unexpected album highlight. “Cruel Blade Of The Guillotine” also shows off Skinless' ability to provide more atmosphere than just brutal DM groove, while “Line Of Dissent” plays it straight with Floridian death-and-grind stomp and another cool, moody instrumental, “The Hordes”, closes things off. this album really working together as a cohesive whole and showcasing what is, really, a surprising and impressive amount of diversity. (Also: check out the version with the cover of Crowbar's “High Rate Extinction” if possible: it's awesome.)