Subjugator

This little EP is another good example of a thrash metal band entering into that (for 80's metal at least) confusing decade of the 90's. Now I have to admit that I am not familiar with the earlier works of these guys, only a casual listen of what demo material I could find on Youtube, so I do not have a whole lot of material to compare this EP to, but it was enough to work with, so here goes!

From what I heard on YT, on their demos you could compare Subjugator to a band like Acrophet or early Sacred Reich. Beefy thrash metal with a heavy influence from hardcore punk, with faster songs alternating with more heavier mid-tempo pieces. However, on this EP the fast stuff had to take a backseat to the groovier mid-tempo stuff, which is somewhat of a shame. Opener "Crosses to Bear" still has the influence of Nuclear Assault's slower parts in it and is actually not that bad, it still is a decent mid-tempo banger and the same can be said about the following track. Here the band takes more of its cues from old school NYHC bands like Sick of It All, Breakdown or Rejuvenate, but a certain Prong influence can't be denied either. Unfortunately, on the B-side Subjugator doesn't change up the tempo and it starts to get tedious because you've heard it already on the A-side. Some faster parts wouldn't have hurt proceedings, here it has reached the point of plodding along. Not that it's horrible, it's just ... another mid-tempo dirge. The kinda muffled production does not help either, and while playing is tight throughout, it all just dies out unceremoniously.

While the A-side is pretty enjoyable, it's when the B-side gets going with that very same rhythm that I lose interest pretty quickly. This is a typical product from an 80's thrash act trying to adapt to the 90's by turning back the velocity and focusing on mid-tempo groove instead. Subjugator weren't the only ones to do it around that time, so I can't blame them for trying.