The one thing that makes Metal such a great music genre is its outright power. The speed, the heavy instrumentals, and the vicious vocals all blended together to make the most extreme form of music. DEVILSKIN has taken that power a step further by releasing four albums within a decade of their inception. This raucous, insane drive has helped them develop a monster following within their home of New Zealand and is quickly spreading worldwide. Their latest release "Red" have taken their power to a new level. With their high-octane performances and relentless touring, DEVILSKIN is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the Metal community.

"Red" kicks off with a powerful blend of insane vocal range, diverse elements, and instrumentals that will melt your face off with the track "Do You See Birds." This song also fuses the lighter side of Hard Rock with the aggressive tone of Heavy Metal giving a unique and well thought out mixture of heavy tones with clean ones. "All Fall Down" shows us the technical ability of DEVILSKIN. Jennie Skulander mystifies with her impressive range and Nail gives us one hell of a ride with his ridiculous guitar solos. The vocals are mainly clean throughout this track but gives the album another layer of diversity that is refreshing to hear. "Corrode" gives us more of the Southern Hard Rock feel that has become very popular in American Metal. The dirty descending tones really grabs a hold of you and gets you revved up for more. Instrumentally the song is heavy and the distortion matches that Southern feel.

"Same Life" turns the pace back up into the Metal atmosphere. The gutturals used in this track are well executed and give that sense of power that we all have within us. The vocals continue to follow a wave of cleans that build up into eviscerating screams before breaking back into higher pitched cleans. The transition between these styles is extremely difficult to do but DEVILSKIN executed them very well. The track finishes with a savage barrage of blast beats and gutturals that is awesome. "Endo" slows things back down into an emotional ballad before an explosion of crushing instrumentals. The song is in a constant state of ebb and flow between the band's softer side and their heavy elements. The guitar work is masterfully done to help the transitions along, and make them reach full potential. This one is definitely my favorite off the album because the amount of layers, arranging, and elements feels endless. "Everybody's High but Me" ends the album by taking us on a hell of a ride. The track is driving and fast and sets the pace for another track that is full of different layers. The controlled chaos that breaks away into refined choruses is a perfect way to end this album. Instrumentally, the track is full of changing tones and riffs to make the song unpredictable but also keeps the driving intensity throughout.

I was absolutely blown away by DEVILSKIN's latest album "Red." The amount of layers and technical complexity is something to admire. The technical skill from vocals to drum work is phenomenal. This album also has a multitude of elements that, I think, fans from all walks of Metal can enjoy. DEVILSKIN has presented us with an exceptional album and this band will continue to grow in strength and intensity as they continue onward in their career. There are more tracks on this album but I don't wanna take all the fun away from you. If you haven't heard of them yet, you will! Don't sleep on this band.