'Condemning the Empty Souls'

 (Shinigami records)










MARK: 74/100




 
Reformed after an eight-year hiatus, the Cariocas took two years to record, mix and master their debut CD, following their only demo "Reign of Chaos". The songs are both new and old, in that three come from the demo but they are all musically and lyrically integrated; the lyrics deal with crucial words, hate and other feelings, racism, alienation, suffering and darkness and they are all in English except four verses in Portuguese.
The Thrash songwriting base is reinforced by the three-piece by Death metal riffs, 80s/90s blastbeats reminding the early Sepultura, Nailbomb and Sarcofago; the guitarist tries to break the expected inserting a few original riffs in order to keep the attention high and surprise the listener at the first listen or a listen after a long time, yet there are some references to other European and north American bands. For instance the initial and the final riff of the video-accompanied (check here) "Pride and Rancour" remind me of Fear Factory, and later there're similarities with the Industrial side of Napalm Death; "Regressing from the End" contains two axe solos close to Morbid Angel's, whereas "Global Desolation" blends Kataklysm, Fear factory and the tighter Exodus.
"Perversions of Racial Hatred" is one of the heaviest tracks off the Brazilians' repertoire, possessing crushing Death metal riffs and demonic vocals, while "Alienation" was written to conquer all those who love it when the fast relentless drumwork holds the spotlight.
Skinlepsy are a fairly good act enjoying a much more than decent production with few faults in the seams. It's a pity to listen to the singer's accent plainly marring the pronunciation of some words, which won't be easily accepted by English mother-tongue speakers. As for the music, for all those whom raw pre-new millennium Thrash/Death is their cup of tea with a frequent traditional twist, "Condemning the Empty Souls" can be a choice bringer of multiple satisfactions.


MARKUS GANZHERRLICH - January 10th, 2014
























Line-up on this record:
Evandro Jr. - d. (also in Anthares, Desaster, ex-Convulsion, ex-Siegrid Ingrid)
André "Gubber" - v., g. (also in Desaster, ex-Nervochaos, ex-Pentacrostic, ex-Siegrid Ingrid, ex-Skullcrusher)
Luis Berenger - b. (ex-Opera, ex-Siegrid Ingrid)





Contacts:
Sao Paulo - Brazil
E-mail: skinlepsy@hotmail.com
Official site:
http://www.skinlepsy.com



Demo-/Disco-graphy:
-Reign of Chaos (demo - 2003)
-Condemning the Empty Souls (CD - 2013)