4

Random, unique and a tad messy

Stockholm is renowned for providing some of the best metal acts; however sadly Skiller is probably not one of them. The Swedish five-piece's "Follow the Siren" EP is filled with songs that are heavily influenced by electronica.

The EP kicks off with this heavy electronica feel, but soon explodes into solid death metal growls. For a brief moment I was impressed with this blend. Sadly the moment is spoiled by the clean vocals. They are a bit too clean and accompanied by the synthesiser it changes the dynamics too much into a dance / pop track. Another downfall is probably the lyrics. When researching the lyrics using the Swedish to English dictionary, it may not have caught up on using phrases such as "...where my secret lies, the sun never shines..."; unless they are actually implying that they are still coming out of the closet.

There are many bands where the synthesiser sound works very well with metal or rock; bands such as Rammstein come to mind. However, I don't feel that Skiller have found that balance with this EP. It really works at times, but at other times it could be quite irritating and a bit too poppy.

The songs are filled with catchy hooks and riffs, but without the substance to go the distance. The lyrics are a bit confusing at times and the synthesiser loops get a tad boring after a couple of plays.