Skin You Alive call themselves a death metal band, but their guitarist, West, is quick to point out they don't fit neatly into any box. Their sound pulls from early brutal death metal and goregrind, but their foundation is hardcore.
"We're a DIY band from Charlotte that's been around for about a year and a half now," West tells No Echo. "We're a death metal band, but we all play in hardcore bands as well, play a lot of hardcore shows, and that's the scene we're firmly planted in." Those bands include Unruly Boys, Distrust, Level 6, Raw Hex, Nö Pöwer, Stepdad SS, and Barrow.
The current Skin You Alive lineup formed in 2024, but the band's origins go back further. After a Swedish-style death metal project ended, bassist Mike brought the idea for something new to the group. "We decided to switch up the style and play something a little more visceral and heavier overall," West explains. "Skin You Alive was born from that idea, and we've been on a warpath ever since."
They call their sound 'Degenerate Death,' which West breaks down for our readers:
"The Skin You Alive sound is especially inspired by the niche period of proto and early brutal death metal. A time when the genre was very primitive and a little less paint-by-numbers."
Just a few days ago, the band released Suspended by Entrails, a two-song single that bridges Skin You Alive's early work and an upcoming full-length. "This is a much more realized version of the SYA sound," West says. He cites Damonacy, Infester, and Embalmer as core influences, along with European goregrind like Necrony, Dead Infection, and Regurgitate. "The NYDM scene was heavily informing the groove, which we all know they borrowed from NYHC," he notes.
Guitarist Jacob Beeson tracked most of the release in Kernersville, North Carolina, handling mixing and mastering himself. Drums were recorded by Jasper at Full Force Audio in Savannah, Georgia. "This was our first release with two guitarists and focused more on structured, cohesive songs," West explains. "It's still raw as fuck, just injected with an audial anabolic this time around."
Corpse Gristle Records is handling the physical release, which comes with a Mortician cover as a bonus. For Skin You Alive, physical formats are still a core part of underground culture. "In a world where digital drops are easier and far more convenient, we're still firm believers that physical releases are an important part of our culture."
How about the death metal and hardcore scenes in and around Charlotte? "If you're skipping over NC/SC on tour, you're fuckin' up," he says. "There's a ton of awesome young aggressive bands playing everything from grind to youth crew to beatdown and everything in between."
West shouts out bands like One of Nine, 80 Bagg, Level 6, Distrust, Eyez Wide Shut, Primitive Warfare, Invoke, Twisted Fate, DeathDealer, Ends of Sanity, Jaw, Gradually Melted, 7.62FAFO, Demiser, Negative Bias, Selfish Means, Lucky Feeling, Rat Poison, Divine Right, xTestifyx, and Barrow. He also credits promoters Strange World, For the Freaks, and Blind Path for keeping the scene alive.
As far as immediate future plans, the rest of the year will be spent writing. "We've got some gigs scheduled this summer and fall, but mostly we're focusing on writing a new LP that we'd love to have out sometime next year."
If you've been a regular reader of No Echo in the last few years, you already know that more hardcore-influenced death metal bands (and vice versa) are emerging from our community. But how have crowds on the mixed bills taken to Skin You Alive? "We've played with everyone from Crown of Thornz to Antichrist Siege Machine," he says. "Sonically, we're often the odd band out on most bills, but never manage to not make sense on a bill either."
West's advice to younger bands is simple:
"It's 2026, and there's a million bands doing this shit. Quit being scared to color outside the lines and shake shit up."
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Suspended by Entrails is available on CD via Corpse Gristle Records.
Skin You Alive on social media: Instagram
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