16volt - Skin (1994)^{Release ID: 8156}

16volt began their discography with their debut Wisdom. It is a solid cold blend of electro-industrial beats and heavy guitars that form another prime example of industrial rock/metal. The band started recording their next album Skin shortly after releasing their debut, and they seem to really picked up where they left off. They even made a sequel to one of the debut's songs, which we'll get to later...

It's been nearly 3 decades since this album Skin came out, and it still appeals to many industrial metal fans who wish to see them live. Although not as well-known and great as Wisdom, Skin will still have you interested in this cold industrial rock/metal sound.

The title opener already sets the stage for the album as smoothly as the opening track of Wisdom. "Perfectly Fake" is a perfect hodgepodge of experimentation, similar to what Candiria was doing at that time, but the hardcore elements are replaced with industrial ones. I wouldn't say "Uplift" is uplifting, but the end of that track is worth it for its somewhat ambient climax. I love that!

"Slow Wreck" is slower, but it comes out as kind of a trainwreck that made me think "Why did I go from listening to the awesome metalcore of Parkway Drive, As I Lay Dying, Every Time I Die, and August Burns Red, to this sh*t!?" Then we have "Skin", the first of few instrumentals, this one a little bland but slightly better. Greatness is present again in "Stitched", with some impressive vocals to love. However, "Built to Last" again threatens to make me want to skip out on the industrial sound and go back to the metalcore of Parkway Drive, Trivium, Winds of Plague, and A Day to Remember.

"Bottle Rockets" is another instrumental that isn't the best but still works. An inspiring mix of guitars and electronics appears in "Downtime 2", which I find awesome and actually surpassing the first part of that song from Wisdom. "Flick" is one more noise-ridden instrumental. After that, there's 6 minutes of silence before a remix of the title track, "Dead Skin" which is OK but I prefer the original. The reissue has a couple more remixes and covers, but I've already said enough.

I think what really caused two of the non-instrumental tracks to go downhill is, the lyrics sound too simplistic and direct. They don't follow the "show don't tell" technique that English teachers recommend using. Take out those two tracks and a couple of the instrumentals, and you have something worthwhile....

Favorites: "Skin", "Perfectly Fake", "Uplift", "Stitched", "Downtime 2"