Skylimit – Skylimit

Skylimit was pretty much guaranteed to get some attention through their inception on YouTuber Jared Dines‘ show “Musician Mansion”. For those who don’t know, the concept of the show was to bring various musicians together, have them form bands, and compete to create a song in record time. Skylimit was one of those bands, and it’s so cool to see that after their participation in the show, they kept making music. Now they have a self-titled EP, and it’s an absolute banger.

Genre-wise, this EP is sitting somewhere between radio friendly American rock, metalcore and pop hooks, though I would say there’s some Nu-Metal, djent and even melodic death creeping its way in (the opening riff on ‘Damage Control’ is so Amon Amarth). Now, that sounds like quite the list, but don’t imagine some ridiculous over-the-top genre cocktail. Most of these styles are adjacent, and this band rather seems to have created a sound compatible with all of those labels. But it is clear, straightforward, catchy, consistent and engaging.

Skylimit – Designed to Lose

The songwriting is very accessible. Although the sound is heavy, the writing is catchy, accessible and fun, to the point that I would easily qualify this as a “gateway into metal” band. It’s just 5 punchy bangers with catchy choruses, a ton of groove and melody, and heartfelt, though somewhat cheesy and clichéd lyrics. However, the virtuosity of these musicians is undeniable. The drum sections are quite typical metalcore, with groovy kick patterns and juggling snare placements. Every now and then there are some furious transitions though, sometimes super technical, other times just brilliantly accentuated. The kick-off to the chorus on ‘A Place You’ll Never Find’ is certainly one of those moments. There are also quite some nasty djenty riffs in there. The alternation of running parts and more rhythmic, headbanging groove is another key component that keeps a great flow to the music.

Vocally, Lauren Babic is an absolute beast. Her growls sound mighty, her high screams aggressive, and her cleans are mixing in different levels of distortion very interestingly, to the point where the vocal performance doesn’t feel segmented between cleans and screams. She’s just spontaneously fading through the spectrum between clean and harsh. Her chorus belting however, is as catchy and instantly recognizable as on her own band, Red Handed Denial.

Skylimit – Damage Control

The solo sections are great as well: fiery, show-offy, but also melodic, and perfectly fitting the vibes of the songs. Speaking of vibes, the first two songs have more of an aggressive, confrontational energy, while ‘Tears Like Rain’ and ‘Alive’ go towards melancholic sad boi vibes. This somehow still allowed them to make these songs properly heavy in sound, with ‘Tears Like Rain’ even ending on a tempo-shifting disjointed breakdown.

At the end of the day, this EP isn’t anything I haven’t heard before, and I’m not gonna pretend I’m massively blown away. At times it feels generic and predictable. But I feel like it was mostly intended to be a compact dose of energy with some catchy hooks and grooves. And that mission was fully achieved.

Track List:

1. Damage Control (03:22)
2. Designed to Lose (03:44)
3. Tears Like Rain (04:08)
4. Alive (03:48)
5. A Place You’ll Never Find (03:10)