The Reflecting Skin II cassette
Another three songs and nine minutes of rank sludge punk to sit with this Leeds band’s first tape from early 2022. They’re faster and more hardcore-leaning this time out compared to the BRAINBOMBS vibes sloshing around the debut, though I still catch a black metal street punk influence, especially on “Irreversible Damage.” The goth-y guitar refrain on “Grimace” totally works too, cutting through the mire without cleaning anything up in doing so. Suspect the REFLECTING SKIN hasn’t gotten in enough faces live for the word to really spread yet, because this is blown-out, sloppy, and brutal in all the best ways.