ScalpelScalpel’s “Sorrow and Skin” is a 10 track slab of brutal, gory death metal. This is the Massachusetts  band’s first full length LP coming three years after their debut ‘Common Threads’ EP.

All the guys can obviously play their instruments really well (especially guitarists Manny Egbert & Taylor Brennan) and there’s clearly a shit-load of talent in this band but the kick drums sound really false, like a drum machine. I’m no musician but the really sterile triggered double bass sounds quite out of place, maybe if it’d been slowed down a touch it may have sounded better, I don’t know but it reminds me a bit of the drum sound on mid-period Mortician albums (and that was a drum machine) .

On first listen I found the general vibe of the songs to be quite interesting. It’s total carnage from start to finish & the band knock out a decent set of tunes. Alonso Chavariagga’s vocals are good, low growls mixed in with some higher level rasping suits the material really well.

I’m a fan of death metal and this record shows that the band do have a lot to offer BUT  I just don’t understand why some bands turn what could be good material  into a bit of a car crash by trying to be as technical as they can be. Sometimes the most brutal songs in death metal are the simplest. If there’s one bit of advice I would give to Scalpel, and this is from a fan, tone down the technicality lads. You can play, you know it & we know it but let the songs find a bit of a groove and breathing space otherwise it all sounds a bit soulless.

This album is bound to be picked up by the usual fans of ‘Sevared Records’ gory output (although the artwork is a bit crap compared to some of their roster) but to be honest after playing it a couple of times there was nothing special or memorable about it and nothing made me want to play it again.

If you like ‘brutal tech death’ with the emphasis on the tech, it might be your bag, but there are much better records out in that genre that may be a bit more rewarding.

…..bonus point for having a song called ‘Mincemaster’

(5/10 Mark Eve)

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