Seeds of Torment / Creation 44

It took me years to track down this Slugathor/Deepred split 7" but as I consider Slugathor to be one of greatest, most underrated death metal bands ever, I knew the catch would be worth the chase, and for Slugathor it was.

Slugathor are one of death metal's most underrated bands. While the genre sank in a stew of outside influence and irrelevance in the late 90's, Slugathor flew the cult flag and helped keep the genre alive. "Seeds Of Torment" just explodes out the dock with smashing drums, knotty, gnarled riffs, murky production, deep, snarling vox, and the lowest of bottom ends. This is tremendous death metal, occludedly heavy without sinking into incoherence. They even offer up a Bolt Thrower cover, "Remembrance," and nail it utterly, sneaking in blasts where previously there were none -- and it works, paying respect to the influence but usurping it into their own template. Slugathor did no wrong in their brief career and their side of this split is aces.

I want to be upfront about Deepred: they stink! Despite sharing a member with Slugathor and boasting luminaries from the legendary Demigod, Deepred's death metal is of the most trendy yet generic late-90's style imaginable. Mixing lots of tremolo picked trash runs with utterly obnoxious single-chord slams with muddy tough guys growls, Deepred's music belongs in the discard bin of bad ideas. They even manage to ruin an Impetigo cover!

There's a comp out there somewhere with these Slugathor tracks bundled in but being a completist, I went for the 7" but it is not necessary. Slugathor fans will definitely want to hear these tracks though, one way or another.

Slugathor side: 98%
Deepred side: 45%
Total: 71.5% (rounded up)