Strappado

Canada’s Slaughter is credited for influencing a lot of old-school/Swedish death metal. They’re also credited for being a first-generation death metal band alongside bands like Deceased, Mantas (pre-Death), Autopsy, Possessed, and Insanity. And it’s clear to see why it’s so influential to early death metal. “Strappado” is a great example of early death metal for many reasons. It’s got the rawness, heaviness, and catchiness that comes with the death metal sound. It is a quick 23-minute attack of pure thrashy death metal carnage.

Right away I have to talk about the gnarly guitar tone. Immediately you can see why it’s so influential in the death metal genre, especially Swedish death metal. It’s got that grizzly HM-2 vibe and buzzsaw attack that rips you to bits. As a whole, the production fits the record perfectly. It’s drowned in rawness and filth, displaying a very aggressive and bare-bone mix. The guitars as I said sound brilliant, the bass has a very low grinding tone as well, and the drums sound barbaric. When it comes to the overall aesthetic and character of this album it screams death metal. The artwork, lyrics, and band logo are filthy and great.

The vocals as well are in your face the entire listen. This is where I would say this album has the most thrashy vibes. The vocals are nowhere near what you’d expect from a death metal band of today. However, that doesn’t mean they’re not extremely heavy. Lead vocalist and guitarist Dave Hewson delivers a lot of nasty and raspy growls. Not once slowing down in terms of intensity and energy. He’s always barking in your face with sharp snarls. It isn’t the most guttural or over-the-top vocal performance but it fits the album and sounds amazing.

The songs on this album are really short. The first half of the album only has 1-2 minute songs. But don’t let that deter you from checking this album out. Because goddamn is the music intense and heavy. Musically this thing dominates and completely tears you apart with chunky riffs and beats. It is an utter assault of thrashing death metal. No matter what song I’m on I’m always banging my head. Each song delivers awesome death metal and nothing else. It’s thrashy, evil, heavy, and groovy. As soon as the first song kicks in it’s full throttle from there. There’s no stopping this bulldozer of a record.

The guitars and bass work on this album are fan-fucking-tastic. Each track has a wide variety of rhythmic groovy riffs, ranging from fast-picked tremolos to a slower-paced section. Regardless of the speed, it’s always giving you an old-school death metal slap to the face. That chainsaw-like guitar tone makes the riffs sound all the more aggressive and evil. You also get a lot of chuggy palm-muted riffs that’ll grind your corpse into bits.

When you hone in on the songwriting and compositions they’re pretty well written. There isn’t a song on here I’d call boring or something that fails to deliver catchy death metal mayhem. Each song is a bash to the skull and has a wide variety of heavy riffs and tempos. My favorite song “Nocturnal Hell” has an amazing opening rhythmic beat and riff. The closing track “Tales of the Macabre” has a very slow start to it, unlike the others on this album. But it doesn’t ounce of its groove or feel. Some other very good tracks are “Incinerator”, the title track, and “The Curse”.

The drumming on this album is absolutely feral. It’s got a very Repulsion-like sound. Brain Lourie has a very energetic and violent drum performance that makes the album all the more enjoyable. His double bass, blast beat, and cymbal work are primal and in your face. It’s nothing short of head-smashing and pounding. The drums have a great flow to them just like with the vocals and the guitars. Overall this is death metal drums done right.

Slaughter’s “Strappado” is a very raw beat down of some of the best early death metal imaginable. If you want something intense, groovy, and thrashy check this out. And if you want to see where the Swedish death sound came from. This is where that HM-2 sound started showing up. It’s got a lovely blend of some punk, and thrash, but mainly death metal. But no matter what this is a classic extreme metal album. Give this banger a listen. Fantastic shit.