A song can tell a story. Whether it be one of joy, triumph or profound sadness, an artists’ music is their expression. Skin on Flesh’s new EP, “Terrible and Sad,” uses all three tracks to tell an emotional story of love lost, with each track hanging on its own quality of a painful process.
The title track, “Terrible And Sad” uses dark, sludgy guitars to create a foreboding and edgy rock aesthetic. The in-your-face vocals feel like a wake-up slap to grab you by the ears and work perfectly when the track kicks itself into overdrive. The guitars begin to fly while the drums power on and never stop going. The slammin’ drums make it easy to headbang to the track, and the vocal performance brings the attitude to match making it easy to get into the mood that “Terrible And Sad” sets up.
“Aquí Está Tu Pendeja” follows it. The vocal intro carries on the in-your-face from the last track. The smooth power that Laura Jiménez Alvarez brings to the mic can be deceptive but always rises to the occasion when the track starts getting chaotic. The low, creeping guitars and bass alongside the power of the percussion creates a building anticipation that explodes with power during each chorus, making it hard to not sing along after you’ve heard it the first time. Lyrically, the track uses the vocal power of Alvarez to tell a tale of betrayal, which is evident in lines such as “now the trust is shattered and is scattered around the floor. While you try to pick the pieces, I walk out the door.” These lines hit hard and leave a sting with the lyrical venom they leave coming from Alvarez’s vocals. With a killer guitar solo around the 2:30 mark, “Aquí Está Tu Pendeja” is a track that brings the noise in the best possible way.
“Se Perdió Mi Corazón (This Is The Part That We Hate The Most) Ft. Andy’s Panic” is the outro track, with a deep bass and low, distorted guitar that cradles the vocal intro from Alvarez and Andy’s Panic. This creeping aesthetic from the strings persists and while it’s picked up a bit by the bounces of percussion, the ramp up is slow and contemplative. This aesthetic is reinforced by the Spanish vocals of Alvarez, which takes over after the intro until the changeover after the first chorus. When Andy’s Panic takes over, the vocal power he brings adds a new dimension to the track. The melancholy and pain of the mutually ending a relationship is palpable in this track, whether it be in Alvarez’s lines “Lo siento mucho. Fue una ilusión. Que a los dos nos hechizó” or when Andy’s Panic mourns “Happy ending, never came. We realized it was too late,” the melancholy of their story is inescapable.
“Terrible and Sad” is a beautiful display of emotion. The power and sadness behind every track is on full display from start to finish, as the album builds itself up with the first two tracks and caps it off with “Se Perdió Mi Corazón (This Is The Part That We Hate The Most)” to tell a story of letting go of lost love and the pain that accompanies it. This makes the EP a rewarding listen when experienced in order and is guaranteed to have one of its tracks make it onto the playlist of any rock fan that listens to it.
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