Skin Chamber was a short-lived industrial metal project, led by two members of the legendary experimental group Controlled Bleeding Paul Lemos and Chris Moriarty. This oppressive music creation combined cold, raving electronics with brutal guitar riffs and sickening vocals. The duo released two full length albums Wound and Trial before ultimately disbanding in 1993. And today Metal Mind Productions presents an exclusive two-disc reissue which brings back a truly violent phenomenon in all its despicable glory
The project emerged in 1991, after Controlled Bleeding had left their label WaxTrax!, which caused the group to put their artistic output on hold. The duo managed to interest Roadrunner Records in their work and this way, in 1991 they released their official debut album called Wound. This 13-track monstrosity delivered a powerful sonic attack, described by some as a soundtrack to a cybernetic nightmare. The band totally blurred the line between the synthetic and organic sounds, placing pounding late 80s industrial (in the vein of Chemlab for instance) right next to slow, metallic brutality (think early Celtic Frost). It wasnt an entirely new idea, as Godflesh paved this road long ago, but the combined talents of Moriarty and Lemos made up for an extremely intensive record. With such tracks as the upbeat Skin Me or the creepy, atmospheric Slice of God Skin Chamber managed to mark their name on the industrial map with capital letters. In 1993 the duo released their second album, entitled Trial. Lemos described it as a logical continuation of the bands style: It just kind of continues where Wound left off. It's a lot more focused than Wound ( ) I think the production is a lot more interesting, and within it are certain structured frameworks; there's a lot of experimentation going on. Trail was indeed a more diverse offering, presenting a very focused material filled with all the best qualities of brutally heavy industrial. The bands love for sickening electronics was best heard in the track Swallowing Scrap Metal (Part 5) a 25-minute string of uncontrolled noise, depicting all known forms of destruction. Or, as the reviewers often called it, an electronic Armageddon. Paul Lemos was very thrilled with his projects output: I think Skin Chamber is something that's new, it has no history behind it, there's no big catalogue of obscure releases. And so it's kind of in a way a fresh start in a whole new orientation for us. But in 1993 both Lemos and Moriarty decided that Controlled Bleeding should be their main focus and the spontaneously created side-project was soon shut down.
To fans of industrial all over the world, Skin Chamber was something much more than a mere project. Many scene activists point to both Wound and Trial as some the genres most overlooked and admired releases. With this exclusive double re-issue we give you a genuine industrial phenomenon, proving that metal and electronics can form a truly ferocious mixture.
Wound and Tail will be available in a double digipak edition limited to 2000 copies. Wound includes a bonus track. Digitally remastered using 24-Bit process, released on a golden disc. The release date is scheduled for 2nd August in Europe and 5th October in USA.
Tracklist:
CD 1 – WOUND:
1. Carved In Skin (Apt. 213)
2. Slice Of God
3. Sucked Inside
4. Skin Me
5. Mind Grinder
6. In The Sewer Of Dreams
7. Burning Power
8. The Nails Of Faith
9. Fat Hacker
10. Horde
11. Swollen Underground
12. Swallowing Scrap Metal (Pt. 2)
Bonus track:
13. Healing Time
CD 2 – TRIAL:
1. On A Drunk
2. Throb
3. Bleached Bones
4. Torturous World
5. Sloven
6. Glisten
7. Slow Crime
8. Trial
9. Swallowing Scrap Metal (Part 5)