ALBUM REVIEW: Skin Show – The Lion’s Daughter

THE LION’S DAUGHTER as a band are an interesting proposition. Having spent their first few albums as a sludge metal outfit (with occasional blackened dalliances), their 2018 album Future Cult saw them take a sharp turn in to more synth-laden territories. Their latest album, Skin Show, sees THE LION’S DAUGHTER wholly double down on Future Cult’s experiment, fully embracing the horror movie atmospherics while still somehow maintaining the original sludge sensibilities that started them off.

For the most part, Skin Show defies pigeonholing, with its one constant being a focus on finding the melody amongst the harshest sounds. The opening track, Become The Night, acts as a statement of intent in that regard, with gothic synths counterpointed by muddy, dirge-like guitars and THOU-esque screaming. Indeed, synths permeating a foggy wall of noise is a recurring theme throughout the album, with the band seemingly taking inspiration from a mix of classic goth bands, 90s industrial and more recent synthwave to shape their tracks.

Neon Teeth is that mixture in full throttle. Beginning with a keyboard motif that wouldn’t be out of a place on a JOHN CARPENTER soundtrack, the track moves from thundering toms and grunted vocals to a chorus that has the almost disco-tinged bass groove of Floodland­-era THE SISTERS OF MERCY. That sense of danceability crops up again later in the bleak Sex Trap. The ATTICUS ROSS infused modular pianos loop over sludgy metal riffs, occasionally punctuated by bouncing, dirty bass lines and reverb-drenched synths. Combined, the measured yet frantic sounds evoke neon lights through the haze of a smoky room. On the grimier side of things is the menacing All Hell Is Mine, which finds a way to meld the thick, swaggering bass lines with an industrial pelt a la KMFDM.

To help break up the hazy atmospherics and weighty basslines, there are a few moments where THE LION’S DAUGHTER lean completely in to their heavier history. Curtains feels like the band letting loose, as metallic riffing and punk-inspired drums create a far crustier atmosphere than the rest of the album. Werewolf Hospital has THE LION’S DAUGHTER tap in to their blackened roots on the other hand, with a middle section of discordant, sliding power chords, maddening incantations and blast beats creating a notably bleaker tonal shift on the album. Ultimately though, it’s when the band meld this heavy underbelly with their more industrial tendencies that they excel most. Skin Show’s finale, The Chemist, is the culmination of this; its aggressively picked guitar lines reek of death metal while the haunting synths provide a black metal fog, pierced only by square leads.

There are certainly a couple of small dips on Skin Show. Numbers like Snakeface and the title track itself wear thin quickly, but these moments are brief. For the most part, THE LION’S DAUGHTER seem to effortlessly maintain a steady momentum throughout Skin Show. Crucially, the album as whole showcases THE LION’S DAUGHTER forging ahead on their new path, their willingness to infuse melancholic gothic rock with the DNA of sludge metal creating a sound quite unlike any of their contemporaries.

Rating: 7/10

Skin Show is out now via Season of Mist.

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