Savagery
After a long break, a lot of bands will pour time into creating a comeback album that will blow the socks off of fans and new listeners alike. Some bands succeed in this, creating an album that only adds to their success and fan base. On the other end of the spectrum, are bands that release comeback albums with the opposite effect. Albums released after a long hiatus that are panned, mediocre, or just bad are rare when it comes to established bands, but Skinless have managed to fall into that category.
Legendary brutal death metal act Skinless took a break after their critically acclaimed 2006 album Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead, only to come back and release their most hated album, Only The Ruthless Remain in 2015. Three years later, the Skinless crew returns to bring us their sixth album, Savagery. While not their worst album, with it being their second album after a failed comeback fans were awaiting the return of the Skinless they remembered from the late 90s and early 2000s. What we got, however, was a mediocre work full of decent vocals, okay songwriting, and a fairly thin guitar track - a far cry from what fans were hoping for. As mentioned, the songwriting in Savagery is fairly well done, with some songs such as the title track and Line Of Dissent having creative flows and catchy choruses that still beat your skull in. However, a majority of the album is full of generic brutal death metal riffing that, while fun to listen to, is not something one would expect from Skinless. It's good, but a return to the sound they had in 2006 is still something to be desired.
To focus on the guitars themselves, the thinness in the sound is very noticeable, with an almost hollow sound to them that wasn't present in any albums before, except for maybe Only The Ruthless Remain. It's not on all songs, but it's still an issue that plagues the album as a whole. Even if it is a minor issue, a more glaring problem lies within the guitar work itself. While a majority of the riffing is alright, even fairly inspired, the solos in Savagery are lackluster, bringing less intensity to the album and leaving the listener disappointed. Even then, the guitars are mixed lower in the final track than usual, leaving the drums pounding over the guitar and detracting from the overall sound. It's not the worst, but it's really disappointing from such a juggernaut in the genre.
As for the best part of the album, the vocals, there is still a lot left to be desired, but they're actually well done. Even if Keyser sounds like a 40 year old still trying to do death metal vocals, the mixing and production on them is well done and only adds to the brutality and immensity of his voice, much like their earlier releases. His vocals peaked in 2006, between the strategic layering of his vicious highs and powerful lows and the sheer intensity of both of them on their own. On Savagery, these tactics are definitely not used as much, with most of the album being filled with just his lows and little to no layering. While it's refreshing to hear such raw vocals, it does not have the same effect as the earlier vocal work produced by Skinless. However, they still bring the quality of the album up for me.
Final Score: 64/100
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