I just love this band to bits. If there was a proper genre called melodic brutal death metal, To Kill For Skin would be the epitome of it. When I heard they're releasing a new album in 2008, I was anxious to hear if they can top themselves and make something stunning again - or make something utterly disappointing. Well, it turned out to be neither.
Hate Is Born is an incredibly mixed bag. The first impression was terrible. The album starts out with the obligatory noisy intro - which isn't that bad, since you can skip it and proceed to the next song...but that's where the suckage starts. Lifetime Mayhem starts out okay, but after a minute or so you start being force-fed borderline retard-deathcore breakdowns and inhaled frognoise. I want some Fleshless dammit, don't give me this bullshit! Luckily, the whole song isn't that horrible, the solo makes up for the boring riffage but it'll take some time to comprehend the horrendous br00tal breakdown I just heard. The first is actually the weakest song, so you're over the worst part by now. To Watch Them Slain (say what?) is better than the previous one but it's nothing really special, so I'll just skip over to the next. D-Flesh is a real ear-catcher, it begins with a memorable riff and gets back your attention (which you probably lost while listening to the previous songs). Muscle Memory is also a decent one, it has some annoying frognise but the nice leads make up for it. Hate Is Born is okay at parts, but altogether forgettable. The instrumental song is nice, it adds some variety to the atmosphere, which it really needs by now. It also indicates that the better part of the album is about to begin. The Flayed Ones is much better than the previous snoozefest songs, and the...synthethizers, or whatever they are...they're something you totally wouldn't expect to hear, but strangely work out sounding good. Through Killing Spree is kickassery, it has a groovy chorus and great riffs. Carnal Playground is also an pretty enjoyable song done in Fleshless fashion, no bad points here. Ora Et Labora is kinda mediocre at times, nothing special here. I'd expect something more creative than this by the end of the album, but whatever.
Concerning the whole album, I'd say half of is great, and I'll probably listen to those songs a lot more times, but the other half is dull and sub-par. Fans of the band should get the album and check it out themselves, but if you're new to Fleshless, get their previous albums instead.
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This is some pretty kickass grind. Partly political, partly humorous, and they're constantly throwing around some crazy grooves which really catch the listener's attention. I can't point out any particular band influences, they have a little of all sorts of grindcore and slightly death metal aswell...did I mention the guitarist used to play in Internal Bleeding? Hey Chris, thanks for sending me this! Anyway, get this if you want some grind with a groove, it's good.
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