Allo.B – “Shadow Skin” | Review
- Editorial Staff
- Jan 19
- 3 min read
The dark empress opens a new powerful chapter!
The goth artist Allo.B is known for Dark Pop, Sadcore, and ritual soundscapes. The Berlin-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer starts the new year with an intense journey into fragile emotions. Coming from punk rock, metal, and classical music, Allo.B began playing the violin at the age of six, continued performing in symphonic orchestras, and sang and played in bands - learning her craft from the ground up.
As an independent solo artist, she creates everything from scratch, resulting in an imposing, cinematic sound deeply rooted in gothic aesthetics.
But let’s dive into her latest release. Here’s our Allo.B “Shadow Skin” review:
The song opens with a powerful piano pattern that fully unfolds its sound in the intro. Accompanied by a punchy kick drum, the beat drives the track forward. Allo.B’s warm yet strong and confident vocals enter in the first verse, carrying emotional depth and a sense of steadily rising tension. The verse culminates in a strong chorus - initially reduced in instrumentation, led by powerful vocals and a catchy hook. The kick drum steadily supports the song, combined with a consistently present bass line. The piano functions here more rhythmically than melodically.
Halfway through the second verse, cinematic strings and background vocals join in, creating an atmosphere of floating through the track. The second chorus arrives with full instrumentation: powerful and forward-driving - showcasing Allo.B’s full vocal range. The final chorus is stripped back to piano and strings, delivering a fulminant ending.
Overall, the production is clean and meticulously crafted. Allo.B records, mixes, and masters everything herself, making the production quality all the more impressive. The string arrangement, mix, and panning clearly reflect her advanced musical knowledge.
“Shadow Skin” is a dark ambient/industrial composition that explores themes of devotion, loss, and the inescapable weight of emotional attachment.
Through haunting melodies and atmospheric production, the track captures the experience of being haunted by someone, of carrying their ghost in your veins.
Lyrics like “Pull me closer, I'm still bleeding. Every scar is still repeating. Can you feel the weight I hide?” reveal a fragile vulnerability. The second verse takes us deeper into an unfulfilling and seemingly already ended relationship that continues to haunt the narrator: “Echoes from the dark, they're carving through my heart. Every step I try to take leads me back to where you stay.”
The chorus makes the emotional core unmistakably clear: “Your ghost is all I crave, and I can't let you fade,” culminating in the final line: “Your shadow owns my veins, and I can't break these chains.”
Another standout element is the official video. It translates the floating soundscape into equally floating visuals. We mainly see close-ups of Allo.B’s mouth: fangs, dark liquid, smoke, punk accessories, and, of course, shadows. Everything fits together seamlessly. The ebony gothic singer clearly understands her genre and conveys it consistently across every element of her art. Overall, the audio and visual components form a cohesive and compelling whole.
Allo.B's “Shadow Skin” is the first single from the upcoming EP “Hymns of Ash & Gold”, a thematic continuation of the previous release “psalms of the fallen.empress.”
The latter stands as a testament to resilience, healing, and human connection. With this new chapter, Allo.B once again transforms personal pain into a sonic journey that is as vulnerable as it is empowering. Now, the empress rises again in a new compilation of hymns and we are already eagerly anticipating what’s to come.
"Shadow Skin” is now featured on the INDIENOXZINE Playlist - follow the playlist to stay updated on new highlights.
🎧 Listen to Allo.B here: Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube
The video to "Shadow Skin” is also featured on our INDIENOXZINE YouTube Playlist. Check it out for more great videos!
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