From Chicago, Illinois, comes Post Black Metal quartet CHROME WAVES, with their fourth full-length studio album titled "Earth Will Shed Its Skin." The first song is titled "Forward." The opening tones are full of dread, and there are some orchestral elements in the music. The harsh vocals drip with shuddersome qualities at times, and tones of anger at others, but the cleans wash everything away with their smoothness. Oh, how delightful dread can sound. "Under the Weight of a Billion Souls" moved with a little more haste. It has another strong connection between tones of hopelessness and outright rage. When they sing the title of the album in this song, it hints of a renewal of sorts.

"The Log Rope" is another exercise in frustration. These are the feelings that I get when I listen to this song...frustration that festers, until it boils over in a single act of rage. The sense of dread drags out for what seems like weeks, even months, with no end to the greyness that has taken hold of your soul. "What Desperate Looks Like" begins with clean guitars and vocals, as a dark shadow settles over the skies. The clean vocals are just as effective as the harsh ones in imparting the feeling of being demoralized by life. "The Nail" is a smoother sound but still with a sticky feeling of discouragement that will not leave. This song has some catchy vocal harmonies as well. Does the nail represent the final proverbial nail in your coffin?

"Broken" sums up the album very well. That's how most of us feel...broken. Did we need a song to remind us of this? Probably not, but it is beautiful in its simplicity. Harsh vocals combine with some really glorious background ambiance that leaves you on a precipice...unsure of which way to turn. Overall, this album has a way of crushing your hopes, your dreams, and your very being. In a way however, the title of the album hints at renewal and rebirth. This is the only thing that keeps you from just plunging the existential knife in. If there can be hope in this dull, grey world, and you can grab a piece of it, all will work out in the end. Or, maybe not.