Skinless
Progression Towards Evil

THE REVIEW

The Skinless, a band from New York active since 1992, debuted in 1998 with this self-produced CD, cruelly destined for oblivion. After leaving behind two negligible demos (one "Swollen Heaps" contains some unreleased songs), they decided to get serious and offer us a complete and mature work. The basic proposition is that of an extremely heavy but at the same time very varied Brutal Death: the typical New York sounds materialize in Skinless, who, however, manage to make them even more crushing and damnably claustrophobic. Although we are far from the pitch-black atmospheres of the subsequent "Foreshadowing Our Demise", the seeds for future developments are already noticeable.

These four guys stand out not so much for their instrumental technique (very high but not the best around), but for their originality and ability to break away from the usual, stale Brutal songs: the drummer's inventions and the guitarist's riffing dispel boredom and repetitiveness and make this CD (like the next one) absolutely alive, albeit suffocating.
As already specified, Bob Beaulac's drumming is highly distinctive, author of amazing passages, always very dynamic and captivating. The guitarist succeeds in producing absolutely devastating riffs for their power and unconventionality: he also manages to give each song a completed sense, endowing them with a characteristic "entanglement." Moreover, being without another guitarist, he excellently fills the sound with the notes of his sole instrument. The bassist demonstrates great skill in carving out his space in the quartet's explosive sounds, offering us brief passages that are not only moderately technical but also as destructive as few are heard—perfect preludes before the apocalypse unleashes. The singer, Sherwood Webber, in my opinion, is one of the best growlers around: cavernous, long-lasting, and never monotonous, he makes a difference in all the pieces. As mentioned, the compositions are very well studied and realized, with a certain logic that makes them distinguishable among themselves and from the songs of thousands of other groups that populate the Brutal Death scene.

The sound is infinitely dark, almost anticipating what is to come, but the themes addressed are absolutely absurd and refute such a serious and emotionally impactful mood. The irony of Skinless is in poor taste and certainly, most will stop at this superficial judgment: personally, I find it really hilarious. In a few words, they revisit the Splatter Gore themes by inserting them in absurd and ridiculous contexts, in short, grotesque and immensely trashy lyrics (like Gwar, just to give you an idea). It's no surprise, then, to read titles like "Cuntaminated" (a song where they laugh and joke about venereal diseases) or "Scum Cookie" (which deals with an improbable board game where the loser has to eat feces). However, more than one piece reveals an extremely pessimistic and hate-filled vision of the world and life, the same that will characterize the subsequent work. The production is perfectly adequate for the work, which is not confused but undoubtedly very dark: it's surprising to see such professional mixing in a self-produced debut with a not huge budget.
When I was searching for it, the record was practically impossible to find, but fortunately now the band has released a reissue that also includes a live bonus track.

"Progression Toward Evil" is an absolutely mature album that I consider unmissable for any Death Metaller: Skinless knows how to play and how to stand out from other bands in the genre, focusing everything on violence and heaviness. If I had to recommend a work to approach this band with, I would definitely mention this one: in "Foreshadowing Our Demise" the game gets tougher, an album that is difficult to approach musically and thematically, while in the latest "From Sacrifice To Survival" one could say that it is no longer their authentic sound. However, this album introduces you well to their world, very dark at the level of sound but lighter in mood: great songs, with a "young" sound, well composed, well played, and damnably suffocating. Better than this...