Talk about bad timing: when this New York State-based gang finally recorded their debut in 1998, their meat’n’potatoes brand of death metal had gone out of fashion. Then, when they signed to Relapse, it was only to be facing a scene obsessed with having everything going as fast and as technical as possible.
And when they got the recognition they deserved with Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead in 2006, the band bit the dust just few years afterwards. But all the stars have aligned this year.
They’re back with their classic lineup, and time has been surprisingly good to them. Sherwood Webber’s vocals may have become far scruffier since we last heard him, but Skinless have still got the groove, the mosh and the brutality, yet they never forget about their thrash roots.
Only The Ruthless Remain is the sound of 40-something metalheads more proud than ever to be able to call themselves Skinless and play solid death freaking metal./o:p
