I can’t help but laugh that just a week ago I was lamenting about the lack of worthwhile death metal in 2022. Fast forward to today and I’m typing up my third death metal album review of the week! Yet whereas the last two reviews tackled new schoolers Obscene and Church of Disgust, this one takes on a relatively newer band of old school faces. Those who have been following this site since its inception will remember the name Shed the Skin. The part Ringworm/part Incantation/part Surgikill supergroup last graced this site back in the summer of 2020, when they released their third full length, The Forbidden Arts.
I recall being impressed by their co-opting of euro death metal elements without coming off as a mere worship band. I largely attribute this to the fact that the members of Shed the Skin grew up during those glory days of the early 90s. Rookies, these are not. Shed the Skin are proud death metal veterans who wear this music on their tattered sleeves, becoming only deadlier and maniacal with age. Their latest album, Thaumogenesis, follows largely in the footsteps of past releases. The only difference is that it might be their most evil outing yet.
Right off the bat, the frantic riffing of early At the Gates and buzzsaw driven chaos of Entombed permeates the opening title track. There are slight melodic tendencies in the lead passages akin to Carcass, but by no means are they prevalent enough to label this a “melodic death metal” album, even in the rawest sense of the term. No, this is pure old school euro derivative death metal, that goes directly for the throat on cuts like “Quenched From Kapala”, Blades of the Lightning Altar”, and the closing “Voces Mysticae-Egress”.
Towards the end of the album, these euro-esque slabs of death tend to get a bit derivative in terms of songwriting and arrangement, but in all seriousness, what can be done in this field that wasn’t already achieved with Left Hand Path? You know what you’re gonna get and Shed the Skin does a commendable job of giving it. Furthermore, there’s enough variety interspersed to keep the album fresh. “Invincible in Iron” and “Hounds of Orrea” boast the painfully slow, cranium crushing riffs of Cianide. “Snow Forest Sacrifice” is brooding and mesmeric, while the hard to pin down “Blood Runs Red” tows the line between grind and groove.
Thaumogenesis is no better or worse than any past Shed the Skin releases. It’s honest death metal that manages to escape the pitfalls of generic clichés, yet without reinventing the wheel. Whether you like your death metal slow, midtempo, or faster than Pete Sandoval blast beating on a 3 day coke binge circa 1989, Shed the Skin touches upon all this and more. They may not be as young and hip as your latest favorite trend band of hardcore kids gone death metal, but who cares? They’re older, wiser, and a hell of a lot heavier than you!
7 out of 10
Label: Hells Headbangers Records
Genre: Death Metal
For fans of: At the Gates, Entombed, Carcass