Coming back from any sort of hiatus and planning to make an absolute killer of an album is a struggle that has been conquered by many bands and proved to be too much of a challenge by others. In the case of the comeback of “Only the Ruthless Remain” from the death metal legends Skinless, they have succeeded in more than enough ways to impress me and it will definitely impress all the fans who have been waiting 8 years for a new album. Absolutely everything about “Only the Ruthless Remain” is brutal from the cover art to the vocals to the riffs and to the vicious beats of every single track off the album. In all seven tracks there are intense growls that are brutal to the max, complex guitars that made your ears melt in pleasure every time there was a riff pulled off, and then the monstrous beats of the drums gave the album an even faster pace that just made every minute infinitely better than the first. And I can guarantee you that by the time you finish listening to “Only the Ruthless Remain” and you liked it, then your face is going to look exactly like that guy’s on the cover. Except the blood will be coming out of your ears and you’ll be f**king happy about it, too. This entire album is exactly what death metal fans could ask for out of a raw album without it straying into the territory of that brutal death metal. This is brutal without a doubt, but not brutal enough to be put into that category of death metal. Skinless have made an excellent album that will be added to the already great list of albums that they’ve already put out.
“Only the Ruthless Remain” is available for streaming on Spotify here, purchase the album via iTunes here, and watch the music video for “Skinless” off of the album via YouTube below.
