Slugathor - Circle Of Death LP
$20.00
Slugathor - Circle Of Death LP
$20.00
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Slugathor were certainly no slouches on their debut album Unleashing the Slugathron. On that release, the Finnish death metallers managed to compile the stock ingredients of old school death metal together and coat the whole affair with more than enough class and a sense of genuine creativity that resulted in a record that transcended the craftsman-like quality of other modern bands that sit just below the peak of the old-school worshipping death metal heap. On this sophomore release, the band has taken that idiosyncratic approach that oozed through Unleashing... and placed it squarely front-and-center. Luckily for us, Slugathor's particular blend of crushing, riff-driven brutality and haunting atmosphere helped along by just enough melodicism is a joy to behold.
While Circle of Death certainly can't be described as a major departure for the band, there is a noticeable change in the ratio of influences that inform the music on the album. The most prevalent riffing style this time around is a punishing, Bolt Thrower-ish downtuned grind. The more staccato, punky riffs from the first album are almost nowhere to be found and the higher-pitched tremolo sections are less prevalent than before. You know how Bolt Thrower have that tendency to have those long chugging sections that are punctuated with what could be described as triumphant melodic flourishes? Here, Slugathor use a very similar approach but their melodic vocabulary is notably different. Comparisons could be made to the sort of eerie melodies Dismember used so effectively on their early releases. The production on the guitars has taken a turn for the better, too; the mid-range finally gets the emphasis it needs in order to have the lower-end chugging riffs stand on equal footing with the higher tremolo bits. I can't really understate how perfect that guitar tone is. Combined with riffs of this caliber, the effect is that I'm compelled to keep turning this up louder and louder, something that always serves as an indicator of truly magnificent melding of guitar tone and riffsmanship, in my experience. The riffs, as before, are mostly mid-paced but this time around Slugathor have added a larger helping of slower, death/doom riffs, especially at the beginnings and endings of songs. "Final Ceremony" is a fairly short (mostly) instrumental interlude track that serves as a fantastic showcase for Tommi's proficiency at writing these kinds of riffs. The guitar tone makes these sections just as weighty as the faster bits so despite the relaxed pace these moments bring, they absolutely don't act like the oft-boring ambient filler tracks that one so often finds sprinkled throughout extreme metal albums. Once again, the bass just rumbles along next to the rhythm guitar but as on the debut that's not something that should be complained about as anything else would result in unneeded extravagance at best and a sludgy, indistinct soup of bass tones at worst. Tommi also makes more use of lead guitar throughout the album; there are a few sections that veer into genuine solo territory (see the short yet flawless solo in "Temple of Shadows") but there are also some slow-burning leads that soar out over the rumbling chaos. It's a nice effect and something that would get emphasized further on the band's third and final album.
Once again Axu employs his perfect dual-vocal technique. For those not familiar with the style, the lead vocals are a very low register growl not too dissimilar to the style used by many funeral doom bands. Underneath the growls, for a large percentage of lines delivered, are perfectly executed black metal shrieks. Those shrieks reinforce the album's bleak atmosphere perhaps more than anything else and add some much needed thickness to the upper end of the very bass-heavy mix. The vocal delivery itself consists of low, drawn-out syllables (rather than short, angry barks à la Corpsegrinder) which are just as effective over the album's faster riffs as they are over the doomier sections.
With the shift in focus of the guitar riffing comes a necessary change in Immu's drumming style. Blastbeats are more rare here than on the debut but not entirely absent, either. Most of the drumming isn't too dissimilar to what Andy Whale does in Bolt Thrower: rumbling double bass that follows the chugging guitar pattern with judicious use of snare and cymbals. Fortunately, the overall mix on the drums is more even now than before, meaning the bass drums are much more prominent in the mix. Though nice and even, the drums, at first listen, could be described as being pretty quiet in the overall mix but the more I think about it the more content I become with how they sound. The drums being a bit on the buried side give those mighty guitars room to really throw their weight around and there's no way I'd want anything getting in the way of these riffs. Immu generally slows things down to a crawl during the doomier sections, as you'd expect, and the fills are more workman-like than showy. The performance is flawless, though, and as on their debut I can't help but think a more technical approach would only detract considerably from the experience.
The most appealing thing about Circle of Death is how the band has retained their knack for writing incredible songs while simultaneously moving away from the more utilitarian riffing of the debut into undeniably atmospheric territory on this second album. Sure, it's not an easy thing to do to glue riffs together end-to-end and have them make sense as a cohesive song, but if anything it's just as difficult to reduce the riff count and drag song lengths out while keeping things interesting (the average song length has gone from about 3:14 on the debut to almost 4:30 on this album, and that's counting two two-minute "interludes"). While some of the punky energy from the debut is missed here, I can't really complain because the overall package is so much more refined and united under the guidance of a better-defined artistic vision this time around. If I wanted fun and punky, I'd just listen to some Nunslaughter or Jungle Rot, anyway. Rather than simply hint at a unique and compelling take on death metal as the band did on their debut, here Slugathor go all out in focusing on exactly that. They would continue to do so on their third and final album, somehow defying logic and honing the edges of their bludgeons to create a masterpiece of crushing death metal that would serve as their ultimate expression of their vision. - Metal Archives
Pressing Information
Drakkar 2020. Green / Black LP
