Slaughter to Prevail is still going strong.
Formed in Russia but relocated to the US by frontman Aleksandr “Alex Terrible” Shikolai (vocals, Scumsters), and joined by English musician Jack Simmons (guitar, Hollow Prophet, ex-Acrania), the Sumerian Records-signed band unveils its third album, Grizzly.
The band is completed by Dmitry “Dima” Mamedov (guitar), Mikhail “Mike” Petrov (bass), and Evgeny Novikov (drums, Katalepsy).
They kick off at full throttle with Banditos, the first track where jerky riffs meet particularly disturbing electronic effects, perfectly complementing Alex Terrible‘s screams, but the band also seems to use some more majestic samples to make the track impressive. Nu Metal/Hardcore roots bring diversity to the track, whose dynamics are broken by the sample that takes us to Russian Grizzly In America, a well-known track that sums up the band’s music, combining simple rhythms with the vocalist’s roars. The track remains fairly consistent, offering a catchy chorus, while Imdead is already a little more edgy and features a duet with Ronnie Radke (Falling in Reverse), who brings his Trap-style vocals to the track. We’ll mainly remember the track for its violent impulses during the break, but we quickly move on to Babayka, where mysterious sounds join the party, tinging the track with a strange, unhealthy feeling when the clean vocals dominate, but which disappears during the mosh parts. Viking offers us a moment of respite with its tribal introduction, then blasts and other aggressive riffs full of palm mutes resurface, leading us to fairly melodious leads before a final wave of hatred, followed by the acoustic intro to Koschei, quickly erased to let the saturated riffs return. Once again, the vocal experiments remain strange, but they bring a touch of diversity before Song 3, where the band welcomes BABYMETAL to give a more danceable feel, even letting the women guide the song by teaching us to count in their language. We continue with Lift That Shit, a fairly simple composition where the vocalist seems to want to encourage us to do some exercise, then he openly threatens us on the dark Behelit with screams, then orchestrations, and finally Alternative Metal-oriented parts. The song is ultimately quite varied, and the sound softens further with Rodina, which offers a clear sound complemented by Alex and his vocal experiments that end up giving the track the feel of a tortured power ballad with a long solo, but the band saves itself for the explosive finale before letting the wild Conflict relentlessly hammer us for a little over two minutes. We move from waves of raw power to a dry groove before reaching Kid Of Darkness, where the energy of the 2000s is palpable, but the piercing leads easily bring us back to our era, giving the track all the weapons it needs to become one of the band’s next anthems, followed by 1984, which they already play and which will have no trouble getting the crowds going wild.
Already well known around the world, Slaughter to Prevail continues its more or less original musical experiments, but offers us some really solid tracks with Grizzly!
80/100
