UMUR
"The Rotten One" is an EP release by Belgian death metal act BleedSkin. The EP was independently released in April 2018. BleedSkin formed in 2016 and "The Rotten One" is their debut release.
BleedSkin play a brutal and raw type of death metal but still with an intention to create something memorable. It´s brutal, punchy, and aggressive death metal, but the tracks are composed with at least a degree of catchiness to them. To my ears the songwriting is actually relatively mature considering that this is the band´s first release. The band are well playing and although the growling vocals aren´t the most unique or well sounding, they get the job done.
The recording quality isn´t up to par with what most listeners will expect from a professional studio recording, and "The Rotten One" should probably have been labelled a demo rather than an EP release, and the quality would have better fit the expectations. It´s not a lo-fi recording, but it´s pretty raw and rough around the edges. Featuring 5 tracks and a total playing time of 20:02 it´s a good length release to get introduced to BleedSkin´s take on death metal, and although they would improve greatly on their 2020 debut album "Blood Reign", "The Rotten One" is still a decent first release by the band. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.