UMUR "Harrowing Faith" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Ohio based death metal act Shed the Skin. The album was released through Hells Headbangers Records in May 2016. Shed the Skin was formed in Cleveland in 2011 and their first release was the "Rebirth Through Brimstone" EP in 2014. "Harrowing Faith" was mixed and mastered at Unisound Studios, Sweden by Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, Witherscape...etc.).

The material on the 12 track, 38:53 minutes long album is relatively standard early 90s influenced death metal. It´s well performed, very well produced (the sound production is powerful, clear, and detailed), and the songwriting is decent too. It´s in the latter department where Shed the Skin could improve though. As written the material is decent enough in terms of being powerful and brutal death metal (mostly mid-paced with both brutal growling vocals and higher pitched screams), but when "Harrowing Faith" has finished playing, I don´t really remember any tracks off it. That´s not unusual for a death metal album, and it´s not always a major issue, as long as the album is enjoyable while it plays, and "Harrowing Faith" certainly is that, but I can´t help thinking of the album as a release with some brilliant moments but also a lot of generic ones. It just doesn´t stand out much.

When that is said, "Harrowing Faith" is still a quality release on most other parameters, and as mentioned above entertaining while it plays. So while my description above may sound a bit negative, "Harrowing Faith" is overall a pretty strong debut release by Shed the Skin. The lack of hooks mentioned above is meant as a constructive criticism in terms of Shed the Skin hopefully adding more catchy moments to future material. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.