Flesh - Skin

Following the release of the "Black Walk" EP some months back, the French dark electro duo Flesh are back to deliver their debut album, "Skin". Formed in 2012, the team presently consists of vocalist and producer Antoine Lauzel (aka Nine) and live stickman Thomas Szdorak (aka Tom Toxic). 

  

"Skin" emits an oppressive energy and beams with efficacious simplicity, as Nine deftly repurposes traditional trance and hardstyle elements which are then interposed with hard-as-nails industrial rhythms. Add some caustic vocals to that noisy brew and you've got a satisfying collection of heavy electro bangers that are as infectious and danceable as hell as they are brutal. 

A stabbing synth line and booming descending bass dominate on the opening track, Black Walk, followed by the gritty synth assault of The Light, blasting out a steamroller beat and Nine's highly animated vocals. The mesmeric mid-tempo pulse of the title track is enveloped in layers of piercing synth phrases and menacing bass. Towards the end of the album, Hotter Than Hell delivers a weighty slab of dark techno, featuring vocals and lyrics by synthpunk maestro Oliver Chesler (The Horrorist), while grating electro drops slash and tear on the unsettling I Wanna See You Bleed. 

Skin will most definitely impress connoisseurs of modern, percussive hard electro, and I can say with confidence that Flesh are destined for all things great. The writer will be watching these guys closely.