REVIEW: SkinSewnShut - ...To Quell This Agony [EP/2026]

Artist: SkinSewnShut
Album: …To Quell This Agony - EP

Feedback crashes and rolls. Dissonance and shrill noise snares the listener in a loop. That loop draws tighter, forming a noose. Tension builds, the slack is drawn to its limit and the anxiety is almost palpable. Then, it starts—the tension breaks and rains down on the listener akin to a mixture of broken glass and anvils; agitated, suffocating, desperate and bleak. This is the first thirty-ish seconds of “XSS,” the introductory track from brand new alternative metalcore act SkinSewnShut’s debut EP, …To Quell This Agony. A short but sweet sonic reminiscence of Illinois metalcore (iykyk) circa 2010-2016, SkinSewnShut are as chaotic and intense as they are dynamic and mesmerizing. …To Quell This Agony is a stunning addition not only to the Waxverse, but to 2026’s increasingly impressive roster of heavy music, expertly highlighting a scintillating blend of subtle technicality with outright immense aggression and devastating desperation.

Instrumentally, …To End This Agony carfefully—but openly—channels 10 Code and Freudian Slip-era Yuth Forever (formerly known as Villains). Pulsing kick drums and sharp, explosive snare absolutely dominate, driving dizzying grooves deep into the listener’s head as though they were a jackhammer to styrofoam. “Cacoethes” is perhaps the best example of this, though it could be argued just about every song on the EP highlights it, with an introduction supremely reminiscent of Yuth Forever’s “Black,” staggering off-kilter chugs and a stellar drum groove against wailing, cyclical guitar that sounds not-unlike an ambulance. Meanwhile, “Skin Debit” and “Slouch” highlight the band’s versatility—channeling Yuth less specifically than they channel the era in which Yuth was at their peak. Everything from fleet two-steps to soul-smothering breakdowns run rampant, tied tightly together with crisp production that emphasizes contrast between SkinSewnShut’s rumbling low end and loud, noisy guitars.

Without leaning on nostalgia, SkinSewnShut manage to very soundly make a release that just doesn’t sound like anything else recent—even from those precious few bands still channeling the type of vicious, bouncy, groovy and weird metalcore that poured out of the midwestern United States a decade or more ago. And sure—with a lot of it rooted in breakdown and groove, it’s easy to look past the subtle flashes of technical skill that appear abundantly throughout the release; the quick kick drum patterns on “XSS,” the quick transitions on “God Alone,” expert examples of adding depth and creativity to sound often written off as simple. The instrumental stylings that define …To Quell This Agony exist as an earnest homage to sound that is simultaneously formative yet forgotten—and it is done in an extraordinarily tasteful fashion.
Vocally and lyrically, …To Quell This Agony is laden with almost exactly what you would expect, based on what the instrumental soundscape demands. Bitter, harsh screams serve as the vocal mainstay, serving as a vector for lyrics that touch on everything to self-worth (and the lack thereof) to socio-political commentary (a page out of Villains' Extortion playbook). While the shrill vocals aren’t what many purveyors of more contemporary metalcore would consider “good,” I’d argue nothing would fit this release better. On one hand, its a matter of simply understanding the references drawn from to make …To Quell This Agony, but on the other, it speaks to the inherent need for authentic, unfiltered desperation to shine through on every applicable aspect of SkinSewnShut’s debut.

On paper, this is a record that looks as though it may as well have been written with me in mind as the intended consumer. Breakdown-heavy downtempo meets with spazzy, aggressive dissonance highly referential to Yuth Forever, released under Wax Vessel—in fact, making music like this was the exact reason I started my own band 12 (ouch) years ago. With that said, there’s a bit of a learning curve—if you weren’t around to witness what artists like Yuth Forever, Kingmaker, Sworn In and Barrier did to metalcore in the early 2010s, this release might not land as squarely. I do think that, in spite of how strong the references to that era are throughout …To Quell This Agony, even the uninitiated will find themselves hooked on this release as well. It is jam-packed with over-the-top aggression, instrumental ingenuity, eardrum-rending dissonance and neck-snapping groove; moreover, it is perhaps the most authentic recapitulation of a monstrous era.

9/10
For Fans Of: Yuth Forever, Kingmaker, Devthbed, Barrier
By: Connor Welsh