Skineater – Dermal Harvest
They sound Swedish because they are Swedish. Simple as that? Containing members that have served time in the bands Wombbath, In Thy Dreams, Dark Funeral, Carnal Forge, and Defleshed, I guess I was expecting more innovation and less of the same old reanimated melodic riffs and harmonies. Skineater take me back to the late 90’s when there was a glut of bands arising from Sweden that all shared that melody bloated, d-beat driven, emotional death metal flow that burped out of the nether regions of Thomas Lindberg and crew. Though Dermal Harvest does dig in with an aggressive blast of grinding intensity, the formulamatic alternation between the harsh and the soaring melodies gets tired really quick. When the track “Made of Godsick” arrives, the main riff to this song is almost note for note “Where the Slime Live”. Whether this was meant as a tribute to Morbid Angel, or one of those happy (eh?) accidents, it is annoying and distracting to be honest. The Morbid Angel-isms don’t stop there, for the following track “Through the Empire” mirrors a similar bizarre chord progression that one could experience on “Covenant”, but Skineater just come off as a lesser band for the Trey emulation. Add an intense and burnt to the core, mid-guttural screaming style that never strays away from the delivery or the guitar riffs, and this plays out as another element that could have benefited from a hint of variation. For fans of this style of modernized (the production is top notch and slick) melodideath, Dermal Harvest will impress due to the obvious musical talent on display, but if you were present during this era of Sweden’s quick overpopulation of talent, the style will grate on your nerves. I can take this type of death metal, IF the songs stand out as something special… unfortunately Skineater is all flash and very little creative spark. -Marty
Pulverised Records
Worm Gear 