Karma Violens – “Skin Of Existence” [Album Review]

Greek extreme metallers Karma Violens return with their new album and follow-up to their Katara release from 2014, an EP which saw the media heap all sorts of praise on the band. So, will Skin Of Existence, the follow-up, see the band maintain the momentum they’ve already built up?

Well, having shared a stage with the likes of Judas Priest, Amon Amarth, Fear Factory, Arch Enemy, and The Black Dahlia Murder, it comes as no surprise that the material on Skin Of Existence is tighter than the proverbial nun’s chuff. Aided by a crystal clear production, tracks like “About My Creator” and “Incubation Day” are slammed out in a display of crunchy, moshy, death metal. Traditional sounding death metal all the way, Skin Of Existence is precise, catchy and unrelentingly heavy.

On the downside, this means that this solid wall of brutal riffs and feral vocals becomes something of an endurance test, despite the display of quality death metal from the outset. On the upside though, while this brutality is challenging at times, as you listen you’ll find that a clever use of samples and sound effects layered into the sound gives it a real dark edge, especially on the strangely eerie album closer “Dead Man’s Story,” where the band sign off in gripping fashion.

Skin Of Existence is probably best described as a solid example of a proper death metal album – none of this modern death metal malarkey. So if you like plenty of kick drums, vocals that sound like hell is erupting, and guitar riffs that make you headbang so hard you feel like your head is going to snap off, Skin Of Existence is probably worth an investigation.

Track Listing:

01. Incuarius
02. Bloodbath
03. Soulless Child
04. Floating in Sadness
05. Le temps du suicide
06. About My Creator
07. Skin of Existence
08. Si Vis Vitam Para Mortem
09. Incubation Day
10. Paralyzed
11. Dead Man’s Story

Run Time: 39:42
Release Date: May 25, 2015

Check out the song “Floating In Sadness” here.