Review Summary: Blackened chaos
Hailing from Sweden, Skam is the one-man grind project from Mats Andersson, guitarist of death metal metallers Wretched Fate. If this name doesn't ring a bell, it's largely because their last year's debut album
Fleshletting went almost completely under the radar. Which is unfortunate, because even though it didn't bring anything new into the chainsaw shack, its Bloodbath-esque signature deserved more attention. Besides the man at the wheel, the two musical projects have little or nothing in common, as Skam is a ferocious grind delivery that blends the more straightforward approach of bands such as Nasum and Rotten Sound with Anaal Nathrakh's blackened chaos. It's an explosive mix that could only lead to thirty minutes of raging mayhem, with few resting moments. Anaal Nathrakh-esque tracks 'Have You Tried Not Thinking About It' and 'When Liquid is the New Solid' provide a devastating start. Everything runs at warp speed. The interlinked songs create fluidity and greater destructive effect, only mitigated in the opening moments of 'Passenger of Decline' or in the instrumental 'Echoes and...' which presents itself as the album's softest moment. 'Millstone Gallows' with its Immortal-esque riff and '*** Out of Luck' through its neoclassical technical approach, are the greatest stylistic contrasts in
Sounds of a Disease while never losing coherence with the surrounding chaos. It's hard to highlight any particular track because they all work together as a juggernaut, nevertheless 'When Liquid is the New Solid', 'A Stray in the Life' and the crushing 'Learning to Die' may be seen as the most lethal parts of the machine.
Andersson says
Sounds of a Disease intends to be an act of catharsis through music, having as its main goal the release of stress while regretting the world's declining mental health and suicides caused by it. I like the script, it sounds good, really. However, what I treasure the most is the thirty minutes of overwhelming power I've just experienced. Honestly, I don't know if I'm relieved now, but one thing's for sure, I had a ***ing great time.
