New York-based death metallers Skinless are back with their fourth full length offering, and third on Relapse Records; Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead. Much has changed in the Skinless camp since the release of their last offering, 2003’s From Sacrifice To Survival as vocalist Sherwood Webber and drummer John Longstretch both parted ways with the group, replaced by bassist Joe Keyser’s brother Jason (of Detriment) and a returning Bob Beaulac behind the kit.

Having seen Skinless live on several occasions and being blown away by their live performance I was always extremely disappointed to hear their full length offerings as they all failed to reproduce the atmosphere of a Skinless show. With the departure of Sherwood I assumed the band was all but done and I could just completely write them off. Much to my shock and surprise, Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead is neither a write-off, nor a complete waste of time.

For the first time in the band’s 14 year history they’ve succeeded in recording an album that displays the raw energy of Skinless live. The material is violent, crushing, grinding, simplistic and powerful. Other than the drumming of John Longstretch, Skinless have never had anything that would even come close to resembling technical, but what they lack in technicality they more than make up for with raw energy.

That’s not to say Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead is flawless, far from it, in fact. While the band have the atmosphere down perfectly, the song writing is suspect, as some material is so generic and bland it’s nearly unlistenable. That said, for every dull moment, there’s a crushing pit riff around the corner.

The drumming of Bob Beaulac is a huge improvement over that of John Longstretch, it’s not that Bob is a better drummer, far from it as anyone who follows death metal knows Longstretch has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the top drummers in the scene, but Beaulac’s "keep it simple stupid" style suits the Skinless sound much better than the jittery mindless blasting of Longstretch. Jason Keyser does an excellent job of keeping the intensity of Sherwood alive with his vocal performance throughout the albums 8 tracks.

Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead is far from being a great death metal album, but it is a fun album to listen to and finally displays the great promise I’ve seen in the band through their stage performances. It’s not perfect, but it is a lot better than I expected and, honestly, really is worth a listen. Good job!

Written By: Teufel