The Swedish project SKAM was started by Mats (WRETCHED FATE) in 2019. SKAM state that they play so-called "carthartic music" meaning a purified type of music. It is basically a mix of Grindcore, Death Metal, and D-beat Punk. "Sounds Of A Disease" is the full-length debut of SKAM and was released by Cleveland, Ohio label Redefining Darkness Records which is specialized in Death/Black Metal and Grindcore. The album has a length of more than 29 minutes.

"Sounds Of A Disease" is an album that consists of 13 tracks full of aggressive guitar riffs, brutal growls and screams, blistering pace, blast-beat attacks, and darkness. The opening songs "Have You Tried Not Thinking About It" and "When Liquid Is The New Solid" set the tone: the song structures are fairly straight forward, the guitar riffs are flesh-ripping, the bass is crushing, and drums are hammering into the listeners brain. The growling vocals are at the medium to higher end of the range and vary little throughout the album. "When Liquid Is The New Solid" has a couple of mid-tempo breaks halfway through the song, although they do not last long.

"Passenger Of Decline" sounds a bit different, it is darker, especially at the slower beginning before it transitions to the bludgeoning sound of the opening tracks. It is seamlessly followed by "Millstone Gallows" which has a bit more technicality compared to most other songs on the album and it maintains the darkness of "Passenger Of Decline". "Millstone Gallows" is for me one of the highlights on "Sounds Of A Disease". Regarding technicality, "Shit Out Of Luck" keeps up with "Millstone Gallows", especially at the opening sequences, but does not maintain the darkness of the preceding song.

The pummeling of the listener continues with "Prison Of Skin" which is the purification of brutality of sound, it is raw, guitars and vocals are of unique aggressiveness. "Prison Of Skin" is the official video release and the YouTube link is given below.  "Echoes And..." is a short and unexpected break in sound. It is an instrumental, kept entirely mid-tempo, and lacks a bit the brutality of all other songs on the album. However, this break does not last long, the title song and "Learning To Die" both kick right into the face with hammering blast-beats and guitar riffs straight from hell.

"Used, Defiled, Expended" is another highlight for me. It maintains the high pace but includes a few short and powerful breaks. The growling vocals are slightly lower and the sound is darker perfectly tying in with "Passenger Of Decline". The carnage eventually concludes with "Sentencing" which is with almost four minutes the longest song on the album starting with another unexpected harmonic intro transitioning into a finale of all the attributes that have been used to describe all of the songs.

"Sounds Of A Disease" is a more than decent Grindcore album with Death Metal elements. It is raw and it is aggressive. SKAM understand it perfectly to lay out aggressive guitar riffs combined with brutal growls and screams as well as hammering drums at high pace as a sound basis and mix the right amount of technicality and darkness to it. It needs, however, very careful listening to detect all the layers and details in sound. The album is very well produced. "Sounds Of A Disease" is an album for fans of high speed Grindcore. It would be interesting to see how SKAM play their material live in the future.