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LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR
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The relentless old-skull battering is hampered, somewhat, by the rather plaintive punk grunts of Steven Rathbone, but his batwings-blazing riffs and murderous feedback squeals nearly kill the vocals off anyway. The rhythm section is a crawling king snake with a spine of steel, the drums seemingly splitting the floor open with every room-shaking thump, and the songs roll drunkenly from the bludgeoning biker metal of “Cannibal Massacre” to the sinister, blood-cooling uber-doom of “The Hydra Coils Upon This Wicked Mountain”, plus back alley scuffles with neck-snapping speed metal and pig-fucking deathcore stuff along the way. As ever, the subject matter revolves around guys with swords eating each other’s bones, or whatever. You know, metal. Lair of the Minotaur did not invent this stuff, a buncha Germans with goofy haircuts did about 22 years ago, but “The Ultimate Destroyer” is a remarkable simulation of 80’s bullet-belt thrash, and it rocks like crazy. If you’re not throwing the horns and worshipping Satan after a spin of this hoary taste of used leather, than there just ain’t no headbanger in ya. Metal up your ass! ________________________________________________________ |
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-Sleazegrinder |
Suitably
monstrous third full-length album from these frankly terrifying thrash
metal soul eaters from the very bowels of Chicago. This thing is just one
greasy pile of guts and gore, slapped down on the table at some
Bacchanalian lower-gods feast and devoured, with abandon, by flies,
vermin, and bleary eyed underworld ghouls. It’s like Slayer, Possessed,
Destruction, and Sodom all getting tossed into a giant meatgrinder by a
gleeful High on Fire. It’s the stuff of really bitchin’ backpatches and
really cheap speed. It's the perfect soundtrack for fucking in the
bushes with a teenage metal priestess and a bottle of anything.