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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...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Confines of Human Flesh (04:10)
Only intuition of reality can express the horror of my existence.
Devoured, born again day after day delusional montage of cascading lies.
Boundaries-
In Confines of Human Flesh
Elation-
Sanctify the act of death
Exalted
Corpses falling endlessly
Seasons
Cycle and return to waste
With diminished respect cut the ties from mortal life
Transgress these bounds of slavery
Crush the weakened human mind
Your savior and his prophets' identities revealed in vain
A whole new realm of knowledge through the downward scheme of the universe
Crush, human mind limitations of the past are swept aside.
Stepping through my mortal body, skin myself to release the soul of flesh.
Becoming my own divinity, no longer wallow through this emptiness
Crush the weakened human mind limitations of the past are swept aside.
Boundaries-
In Confines of Human Flesh
Elation-
Sanctify the act of death
Exalted
Corpses falling endlessly
Seasons
Cycle and return to waste
02 Extermination of My Filthy Species (04:02)
Vision of apocalyptic extermination Pathetic squealing human beings Forcing the caustic destruction of everything perceived Burning Cleansing Ending Human Existence Standing in the midst of what existed, blowing away the ashes of humanity. Chorus of billions of voices cry out in agony Last one standing in the blackened dawn of a new era Masterminding the omnipotent extermination of my own filthy species Purifying and purging the rotten loveless ore Resurrected in indefinitive form Vision of apocalyptic extermination Burning Cleansing Ending Human Existence Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, standing in the mist watching it all burn
05 Cuntaminated (03:09)
Mammoth bitch holds Gyney down forces him to perform cunnilingus on her
snizz
Quivering clitoris open gash, like a roast beef sandwich, tongue probing
force finger fucking her ecstacy makes him queasy, she used no masengil or
summers eve
Her pussy spews cottage cheese no vagisil for the yeast, gonorrhea or herpes
If he makes in out alive gynelotramin he'll proscribe.
He wants to stop but she grinds his face into her diseased box he barfs all
over her crab filled crotch the warm puke turns her on
Puss cums, piss squirts, lumpy jizz, rotten fish
Climactic quake from the raunchy beaver the flapping beef creates a breeze
Catch a wiff of the toxic emission it hits him she sputters and splatters
the juice in his face
Her slice is rotten, his mouth is frothing contagious STD's contracted
orally
The cooter sandwich malignancy, the gaping chasm is made of beef
Senses evaporated, taste buds annihilated he is cuntaminated.
Cuntaminated
07 Bobbing for Heads (03:44)
Rip, staple bite babies!!!
I tear heads off babies and lick their soft skull caps
Spineless fetus round and supple
Suffocated within my duffel
Infant decay and rot
Suck the fumes through a straw
Dismembered in the hall
Spackle baby parts to the wall
Cutlet collage created facial features faded
Innard remains thrown aside into a meat-flesh pyre
Pulverized orphans galore
Rotting though the floor
Buckets to catch the spunk in piss their head will dunk
Bobbing for heads
Lick the soft skull caps
Bobbing for heads as their dunked in piss
09 Crispy Kids (03:13)
Burn him
Torch her
Boil them
So much fun
Bake them
Boil them
Roast them I'm having fun
Munching on crispy kids
Burn him
Torch her
Boil them
So much fun
Bake them
Boil them
Toast them I'm having fun
Munching on crispy kids
Stick the little boy's face to the grill, sizzling flesh, char broiled Jimmy
Torch the little girl's twat, make little Cindy hot and wet
Pour the boiling water on his balls
Bubbling scrotum rupture testicles
Take a lighter to her tits with bleeding nipples she screams
Set them ablaze seeing children on fire makes me extremely happy
Burn him
Torch her
Boil them
So much fun
Bake them
Boil them
Roast them I'm having fun
Munching on crispy kids
Burn him
Torch her
Boil them
So much fun
Bake them
Boil them
Toast them I'm having fun
Munching on crispy kids
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