Slugathor: Circle of Death (2005)

Of course I'm going to pick up an album by a band called "Slugathor".  What a great name.  Slugathor is a death metal band from Finland, which has produced a number of off-kilter death metal bands.  Demilich is the best example of this with their tech-leaning riffs and frog croak vocals, but there is also the cavernous sound of Convulse to consider.  Slugathor is another in a line of such death metal bands.

Slugathor's sound on this release is heavily reminiscent of Bolt Thrower's Realms of Chaos with a little bit of Asphyx thrown in, particularly in the opening salvo of "Cycle of Destruction" leading into "Slow and Painful Death".  It is a down-tuned, grinding guitar riff that sounds like a massive war machine headed into battle.  The vocalist utilizes a dual vocal technique.  The primary vocals are deep and guttural, but underneath throughout the album are black metal-esque shrieking.  It is a technique used frequently by Deicide among other groups.

The most interesting aspect of the album is Slugathor's ability to fuse disparate sections together.  Not content to stick with just one riff throughout a song, the songs on this album ebb and flow into a variety of unpredictable movements.  Add to that the amazing guitar soloing and no two songs sound the same.  Slugathor is constantly shifting and never standing pat for more than a minute or two at a time.

I love this album.  This is an overlooked gem from a country and scene that has a lot of them.  Slugathor was not around for very long, but they definitely made a statement when they were around.