SHED THE SKIN is a Death Metal band from the US that practices a very nice sound. They have recently released their newest album "The Forbidden Arts" on June 26^th throughout Hell Headbangers Records and that is what we are going to talk about.

The opening track from the album is "Skeletal Firestorm" which starts with a guitar noise that will instantly put you in a tense mood. The guitar riff section kicks in and the vocals follows it as well. The vocals are pretty good and I liked how the guitar solo went a bit Rock N' Roll at some points, it made the song more dynamic.

"Archons of the Final Creation" starts heavy and with more Death Metal cuisine from the drums and bass, also the guitars are more aggressive. One thing that I like is that sometimes they sound something like a Death N' Roll, which I find pretty different in a good way. "Trow of Tragedy" has a tense vibe that is created by the ambiance coming from the riffs with the keyboards arrangements on the background. It is a nice song and I liked how it goes.

"Master of Thralls", "Necromantic Wellspring" and "Glorified in Bloodsmoke" seems to have all the elements from the previous songs and I really liked it. Going to "The Laundress" it have some guitar elements that reminded me of Melodic Death Metal bands and it shows some different influences of the musicians, which is good. The bass sounds awesome, the drums... well, that is my favorite song.

"Black Bile of Ceres" sounds heavier and there are a lot of Death Metal elements coming from it, it even reminded me of CARCASS at some points. "The Moors, The Madness" starts with a nice guitar sequence of riffs and a good drumming. This song turns into something aggressive as It goes to it's end and it will freak the fans of shredding. "Veins of Perdition" starts with a heavy guitar riff that grows progressively as the song do the same. This song is softer if compared to the previous ones, but it still aggressive as fuck. It just has more cadency.

"Speculum In Blood" is the song that closes the album and it starts with a very aggressive and a little bit Thrash Metal guitar riff, followed by the Death Metal vocals, great bass and drums work as well. It kept the good work from the previous songs.

SHED THE SKIN have written and released a good Death Metal album with Rock N' Roll influences on the guitar solos and at some points even Melodic Death Metal on it's riffs. The cuisine created by the bass and drums are pretty precise and creative, the vocals are good and they vary from low ones to high ones, but all harsh. That is good album.

9

9