Revolting Room

Skinlab's 2002 offering, reVolting Room, comes at a career-defining moment and is an album that will either make or break this metal quartet. Even the bandmembers themselves know this, as vocalist/guitarist Steev Esquivel stated this was "the most important album of their lives," and where prior albums found their share of praise, the band has never quite broken through into the big leagues despite having been part of the scene for several years. ReVolting Room finds Skinlab at a musical crossroad, as they show the first signs of turning their signature sound into a more acceptable, easier-to-digest mainstream metal version, injecting the songs contained on the ten-song album with newfound bursts of melody. While Esquivel's singing needs work and his attempts come across flat and monotone, it does open a whole new dimension to the group's potential, transforming this band from just another heavy metal group into one of the more promising nu-metal bands inhabiting the scene. One positive is that the former Skinlab sound, which arguably relied on large doses of Sepultura similarities, has now been completely re-adjusted, so in a sense reVolting Room could very well be considered the first true Skinlab album. With this album, the band has gone to great lengths and even replaced a guitarist to evolve their musical repertoire, and on that they have succeeded. The dual-guitar machine that is Esquivel and Snake keeps building the album extremely well, as the musicians play with heart and pull no tricks in stepping forth and assaulting the listener with surprising riffs. Esquivel's vocals are either hit or miss, as he has one of the best screams in the nu-metal kingdom, but certainly needs to work at smoothing out his singing and broadening his range if he wishes for the band to keep their head above water in years to come. Songs like "Slave the Way" bring to mind Slipknot in the volatile blend of hatred and musical ferocity which throttles the listener relentlessly from beginning to end. In a sense Skinlab has crossed the same bridge Machine Head did with The Burning Red, seeking to distance themselves from the straight-up metal style and find open arms from nu-metal fans. Skinlab seems to have gone about this in a much more subtle way, as reVolting Room should not shut out past fans and may have the strength to open many eyes to the Skinlab sound. In all, reVolting Room is a solid album, as tracks such as "Purify" and "Disturbing the Art of Expression" are commendable strides in building this newfound alternative metal style Skinlab has chosen to experiment with. ~ Jason D. Taylor, Rovi