If one can look back in the past to the first generations of Metal bands from USA, one will have the idea of 'chaos', because things weren't as ordered and defined as it became after 1985-1986 (when some canonizations happened, especially separating Thrash Metal from Death Metal and traditional Heavy Metal). It was similar the first seconds after the Big Bang: everything was still becoming organized as the energy density was decreasing. But the Portland assassins of SOUL GRINDER drinks from such a source, as "Filth Encrusted" depicts clearly. It's not a sin to say that their music is a form of proto-Thrash Metal that is fierce and nasty, but with a good technical level (a feature usual for North American bands), and a strong melodic sheath gluing things up.

Their music can be compared (please, just as a reference) to SLAYER (on the band's prime), ABBATOIR, AGENT STEEL, LȦȦZ ROCKIT and all those bands of the first half of the 80s on USA that mixed the influences of traditional Heavy Metal (JUDAS PRIEST) with the fast filthy sonority of MOTÖRHEAD with the inner musical core of what would become US Metal (the technical care and Hard Rock melodic influences). Of course one can say that their music isn't something new and different, but it's full of a menacing and hooking energy, so the album is really very good to be heard. The sonority of the album depicts something that has strong resemblances with the first wave of North American Metal scene (the independent productions of those days, namely), or in other words, something nasty and filthy, but organic to show that humans are playing (and not machines). It's good, indeed, but it could be better (just a matter of adjusting the instrumental tunes and reducing a little the filthy).

Musically, the fans will not bear complaints about what "Filth Incrusted" is offering, especially on moments as "Melting Spree" (a ferocious and fast song that makes heads bang as Hell, with sharp and deadly guitar riffs), "Siege Breaker" (a massive song that bears melodic influences of ACCEPT on its hooking tempos, with a solid rhythmic wall unleashed by bass guitar and drums), "Filth Encrusted" (based on slower tempos, it's raw energy is hard to resist due its melodic hooks, and a nasty guitar solo tempers things), "Overload" (a faster moments with good technical arrangements and fine vocals in a similar way to Schmier on the high pitched screams), "Plague Pilgrim" (that king of song that begins like a ballad and becomes a mastodon of energy in a moment, using strong riffs and solid bass guitar lines), and "All is Dust" (what a brutal song with some double bass parts of the drums).

As final words, all that's left to express is that SOUL GRINDER is a pure breed of the US Metal scene that carries the torch of the past into the future. And to listen to "Filth Encrusted" is really an excellent experience, indeed. But why in the blazes doesn't the band have a label?