AVENGER OF BLOOD is a Thrash Metal band that was born in 2002 in the United States with one goal "to forge a sound in the vein of Germanic thrash and adding a modern aggressive edge to it." The band has two full length albums released among other demos, EPs, and a split album. They are back, after a brief hiatus, for a studio only full length release "On Slaying Grounds". This album comes in with nine tracks and about thirty-five minutes of listening time.

The open track "On Slaying Grounds" comes in sounding like something from your nightmares. Demons, screeching, screaming: and then these guys come bursting in like something from hell. The vocals bite hard and gritty, the fast paced drums, and the ripping guitars, all are aggressive and hard hitting. "Warbound", track two, is overwhelming from the very beginning. There is too much and everything seems overly muted under the drums. The vocals are overlaid on the track. They are gritty and hard, but this track just seems off.

Track three, "Sealed In Blood", is fantastic. The beginning starts of furious, but lighter, then leads into a hard drum intensive session. Once the drums even out abit with the rest of the music, the track evens outs and it has some great energy behind it. "Aggressive Psychotic Behavior", track four, is pretty much the title. The song is hard, all over the place, and completely aggressive. I like this track too. It's written really well and has a kick as guitar solo at about a minute thirty in that lasts for ages. There is a little more evenness in the writing and that comes through in the sound. What a great track.

Track seven, "Spawn Of Evil" is another one of those tracks the sound a little off. It's definitely the drums. Sometimes they are a part of the overall sound and sometimes they sound like they are overlaid. There is another kick ass guitar solo in this track at about one minute and forty seconds. The final track, "A Curse From the Grave" starts off hard with blast beats for days. The vocals and the drums take center stage, everything else just kind of sits in the background. The track is full of energy and pretty good for a track that is led by vocals and drums.

AVENGER OF BLOOD broke a three-year hiatus to release "On Slaying Grounds". These guys have the talent to create good music, but when the production is off, the music suffers some. I feel like this is the case here. You can hear it and you can feel it, especially in tracks that are done so well.