For many rock listeners, Gaborone, Botswana is not the first location one thinks of when it comes to the hometown of many heavy metal bands. But since 2006, the three-piece Skinflint has been making their hometown located in Southern Africa proud. On June 1st, the group will be issuing their fifth full-length release overall via INTO Records (distributed by Cargo Records), which will be self-titled, and as heard by such standout cuts as “Eyes in a Leopard’s Spots” and “Birds and Milk, Bloody Milk,” Skinflint continues to build on the promise of their previous albums. Pre Order the new release here.
“We feel that this album is the culmination of our style of African metal,” explains the band. “The album was named Skinflint as we feel that the music here best showcases our artistic vision and what Skinflint stands for. We chose ‘Birds and Milk, Bloody Milk’ as the first single of the album, due to its distinctive style and Kwasa Kwasa influences. Which has never been explored in the realms rock/metal music before. For the video, we included Kwasa Kwasa dancers and shot it in two days at a village called Mokatse, in Botswana.”
“Making this album was a challenging experience even though, strangely, we wrote the majority of the songs in about a week. We allowed the compositions to happen organically and as a result we uncovered a new mystical, dimension to our style of music. The album is not overproduced and retains the raw energy and passion of a band live in the studio. The video for ‘Birds and Milk, Bloody Milk’ was quite fun to shoot, as we have never featured dancers in any of our videos.”
The music video for “Birds And Milk Bloody Milk” can be viewed here
Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Giuseppe Sbrana, bassist Kebonye Nkoloso, and drummer Alessandra Sbrana, Skinflint puts a unique spin on heavy music, by incorporating elements from African culture with metal music, and in the process, has attracted the attention of such international media outlets as CNN, Dutch TV, Swedish National Television, BBC and many more. Their earlier releases,‘Iklwa,’‘Gauna,’‘Dipoko Nyemba,’ and ‘Chief of the Ghosts’ pay homage to African spirituality and mythology, while still playing in the vein of traditional heavy metal, and have been credited as a pioneering example of African metal.
And along the way, Skinflint has collected countless accolades, such as being named one of the top 5 “Best Metal Bands from Botswana” by Metal Hammer, their song “Iqungo” being selected as one of the ‘Top 20 African Metal Songs of 2017’ by the African Metal Facebook page, the Metal Temple website calling the group “one of Botswana’s most well-known metal bands for good reason, and I’d highly recommend checking them out to those who haven’t heard their music yet,” and the Metal4Africa site declaring “Skinflint keeps its heritage close to its heart. Themes within the lyrics, and more as of late within the music itself, are deeply rooted in African folklore. Listening to Skinflint‘s five albums, one can follow the progression.”
So far, Skinflint has played shows in Southern Africa, Kenya and enjoyed successful tours as far as Sweden and throughout Europe with Tarja. And on the strength of their forthcoming self-titled offering, are looking to perform their music to metalheads throughout the world.
‘SKINFLINT’ TRACKLISTING:
1. Eyes in a Leopards Spots
2. Birds and Milk, Bloody Milk
3. The Prophecy of Nongqawuse 4.Chiruwi
5. The Hyena Sorcerer
6. Thorns of Fire
7. The swallowing Monster 8.Tuyewera
9. Mathoa
10. Tokoloshe
For more info – skinflintmetal.com
