(written by Islander)

When you name your metal band Skumstrike you’re not trying to hide the ball. You’re sending a very clear signal that the music will make no pretenses to artistic refinement, thought-provoking intellect, or avant-garde experimentation. Instead, it brandishes the idea of leaping from the gutter, unclean to the bone, and attacking with no holds barred. But what kind of musical attack do they launch?

This Montreal trio gave us a ferocious idea of their attack with a 2022 debut album named Deadly Intrusions (well-named, that one), and now they’re reinforcing those deadly impressions with a second album titled Flawless Intrigue from Hell, which will be released by their new label Dying Victims Productions on September 25th.

As vividly described in the PR materials, the new music “combines a lethal dose of speed metal with the gunpowder roar of thrash and death metal,” “cross-contaminating the wild fury of Japan’s Sabbat with the abandon of early Slayer and Bathory“.

Those aren’t empty words, as you’ll discover for yourselves through our premiere of the album’s second single, “Mastery of Sin“. Continue reading »