Skill In Veins

Skill In Veins

It's one of the rare times that the Press releases sticks to the truth. SKILL […]
By Grigoris Chronis
June 12, 2010
Skill In Veins - Skill In Veins album cover

It's one of the rare times that the Press releases sticks to the truth. SKILL IN VEINS is bluesy sleazy Hard Rock bans following the gigantic steps of legends such as SKID ROW, SLAUGHTER, LYNCH MOB, BADLANDS and GUNS N' ROSES. The weird thing is that the band hails from Italy, a country with minimal - if any - contribution to this genre. The Avenue OF Allies label successfully carries on releasing interesting efforts from unknown (not for too long, we hope) bands and fans of furious hardhittin' Rock 'n' Roll should keep an eye on this prominent act.

The cover artwork is quite tempting and kinda gives a first description of what the listener is going to spend time with. A set of ten tracks invites you to the warm world of SKILL IN VEINS; the band has put lots of work not only in the songwriting sector but also in the production and mix. The have studied hard - as it seems - the epitome of sounds in America in the late 80s and early 90s, thus the profile of the band is on top while banging hard to the sound of "Can't Ride My Soul", "Youth Times" and "The Way Out". Milder moments do possibly include some power VH1 ballads like "I'm Living My Life" or "Don't Need You To Cry" but also groovy tunes like the WINGER-ish "You're Doing It Again" or the CINDERELLA-influenced "Just One Drink" give a proper description for the Blues profile of SKILL IN VEINS.

The vocals of Gabriele (MARKONEE) is an ace for the band, and that's quite a surprise since a) you usually HAVE to be an American to spit out such an accent and b) the vocal style is convincing, reaching sky notes only where needed while basically using a glossy palette to color each number's needs. A mix of Sebastian Bach (SKID ROW), Mark Slaughter (SLAUGHTER), Michael Sweet (STRYPER) and C. J. Snare (FIREHOUSE), Gabriele pushes the tracklist up one level, but he should also thank the mix of the CD since music and vocals tie hard and create a total result full of confidence for your pleasure.

Omitting the inadequacy of tracks like "Sick Mind" and (so and so) "We Don't Believe In Fables", the debut album from Italy's SKILL IN VEINS is surely worth your money and time. Good thing is - as pre-said - that I'd never expect such a cool release by a non-American band; bad thing is that - as virtually EVERY other release in this field - it is impossible to have a comparison with the 80s/90s originals...Nonetheless, "Skill In Veins" is a good proposal if you want to keep up to date with what's going on in today's sleazy/bluesy Hard Rock world.

P.S.: I don't 'get' the band's name...

7 / 10

Good

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"Skill In Veins" Track-listing:
  1. Can't Ride My Soul
  2. Skulls On The Way
  3. Youth Times
  4. I'm Living My Life
  5. Sick Mind
  6. You're Doing It Again
  7. Just One Drink
  8. Don't Need You To Cry
  9. The Way Out
  10. We Don't Cry
  11. We Don't Believe In Fables
Skill In Veins Lineup:

Gabriele Gozzi - Vocals
Andrea Lanza "Andream" - Guitar
Francesco Jovino - Drums
Nik Mazzucconi - Bass

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