Skinlab

The Scars Between Us

(Stand and Deliver)

Skinlab’s latest, surprisingly their seventh studio record to date, The Scars Between Us, is a thick slab of hate. This is the most pissed and most dense we have seen Skinlab – ever. There is plenty of stuff in this world for Skinlab to bitch about, that much is evident. Not much normally changes from release to release with these guys, which can be viewed as both a good and bad thing. On one hand, you know what you’re going to get, and on the other, the band doesn’t often offer anything new.

With The Scars Between Us, some progression is there, even if you have to wade through the muck to get to it. You can see the band making strides with southern tinged sludges through the mire (“Karma Burns,” “Still Suffering”) and ominous and threatening affairs (“My Vendetta,” “The Scars Between Us”), but most of the album is what Skinlab is known for - downturned metal churns (“Scream at the World,” “Wolvesblood”). You can hear flashes of influence from heavy hitters like Down or Black Label Society, and can also hear a more modern influence from Five Finger Death Punch. Remember reading about the band not offering anything new? Yeah, chances are you have heard most of what the Scars Between Us has to offer before.