When I first saw the name SLAUGHTER pop up in my review assignments, I'm not going to lie, I was dreading it. The band that immediately came to mind was the American Glam Metal group who hit their peak briefly in the 80's with "Up All Night" and then promptly dropped off the face of the Earth. I didn't want to struggle through another washed-up, half-assed effort to create a new Glam Metal album. However, this review wasn't regarding that group at all. The SLAUGHTER I'm dealing with is a Canadian band credited with being one of the godfathers of Death Metal, and at one point even included a Metal legend, the immortalized and revered Chuck Schuldiner (of DEATH). The band formed in 1984 in Toronto and recorded on-and-off over the years, before disbanding in 1989, returning in 1995, and finally declaring themselves inactive in 2001. The band hasn't had it easy; difficulties in the music industry, lineup changes, and the deaths of Schuldiner and drummer Brian Lourie made it practically impossible for the band to reach the level of success they had in their early days. However, their style of grinding Thrash is credited with being a crucial part of the rise of Death Metal and they definitely deserve more recognition than their Glam counterparts.

"Nocturnal Hell" is a blasting, throbbing mass of distorted guitar riffs and blast beats. This song caught my attention right from the get-go, while the vocals aren't the type of baritone gutturals that are common in modern Death Metal, SLAUGHTER's style works well here. The background instrumentals are plenty heavy all on their own without relying on screams to get them to that point. "One Foot in the Grave" is clearly Thrash-influenced, and a blend of offbeat drums and whirling guitar riffs. The kind of fuzzy, raw melody in this song is indisputably 80's, and while the vocals are pretty rough, the amateurish quality matches the song's feel, anything too polished would've stuck out here.

In "Tortured Souls", the guitar is low and sizzling, and the drums take center stage and give the whole track a deliciously nightmarish feel. Lourie was an animal on the drums. His high-energy beats never let up and add complexity to every track. The slow breakdown here was one of my favorite parts of the song, as well as the distorted, demonic vocals growling "We are the tortured souls." "Disintegrator" opens with a chainsaw revving, which pretty much sums up this song. A quick burst of absolute brutality, the guitars grind over each other and the drums blast relentlessly in the background.

"Incinerator" seems like a natural follow-up, and is one of my favorite songs on the album. The guitars introduce a chugging, thrashing rhythm, and the vocals here seem to take on a clear melody, which is pretty unexpected in Death Metal. While the drums aren't always complicated, they back the guitar and bass perfectly and set up the backbone of the song. "Maim to Please", apart from the clever name, is a bass-centered and gritty track which starts off slowly before throwing itself into a sea of double bass drums and distorted riffs. While the vocals seemed a bit disjointed to me in places, the manic screams of Hewson's guitar made up for it in pure musical talent.

"Tyrant of Hell" is a galloping ride through hellish riffs and the same ruthless drumbeats as before. One of the standout qualities about SLAUGHTER is undoubtedly the nonstop energy they bring to the table, and that's exemplified in this song. I don't think the vocalist took a single breath between his powerful shouts, and the same goes for the rest of the band. "Shadow of Death" introduces itself with thumping bass drums and a guitar riff that slides its way into a blast of aggressive vocals. This song was another one of my favorites. It wasn't the complexity so much, but rather the attitude of the song. It was angry, remorseless, passionate, and embodied everything a good metal song should have. This song made me want to punch through a wall, in a good way.

"Death Dealer" is just a roar of drums, grinding guitar, and animalistic, growling vocals. The rhythm was the best part in this song. It added even more heaviness to an already heavy track and chugged behind the percussion to Sadler's snarls of "Death! Dealer!" "Surrender or Die" is arguably one of the band's best songs. I can see the influence of this song in plenty of other Death and Thrash Metal tracks I've listened to, and the mixture of the shrieking and growling of the vocals adds a demonic variety to an already great instrumental rhythm. The drums and guitar riffs align perfectly to create a blast of pure Metal. "Eve of Darkness" was a solid song, both rhythmically and musically. However, it did seem a bit repetitive, and I felt as though it took too many elements from previous songs. I couldn't really hear the guitar much, and it would've been nice to see a variety in the drum rhythm. However, this was an outlier, the rest of songs didn't seem like this at all.

"Strappado" was a screeching, explosive track which showed off SLAUGHTER's exquisite knack for Speed and Thrash Metal. The guitar and drums were both almost inhumanly fast, and I'm guessing the reason why this track was so short is because it drained the musicians' energy. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I got tired just listening to all of the energy blasting out of this song. "Tales of the Macabre" is a kickass song. While it's longer and more nuanced than SLAUGHTER's usual shock wave of Thrash, the bass riff here was grinding, sludgy, and a perfect backdrop to the diabolical distortion of the guitar riffs. The drums, while incorporated beautifully into the background, didn't overpower the other instruments or the vocals, which just elevated this song more.

"Cult of the Dead (Instro-Mental)" definitely exemplified what Death Metal is all about. I don't understand how Lourie's arms didn't fall off after playing this beast, and the start-and-stop riffs and syncopated rhythms added some much-appreciated diversity to the song and kept me engaged. Despite having no vocals, this was still undoubtedly one of the best tracks on the album. Overall, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this album. It's easy to see why SLAUGHTER are regarded as legends of Death Metal, and despite not having the best recording quality, the gritty, raw, tone works perfectly for their style. I would absolutely recommend this album to any fans of Death or Thrash metal; you'll be captivated.