Release date - 13th August 2021
Label - Sumerian Records
Slaughter to Prevail (STP) are set to release their new album Kostolom via Sumerian records. If you are not familiar with the band, the high-level story is, they started when guitarist Jack Simmons (UK) saw vocalist Alex Terrible (Russia) on You tube. Alex covered various songs from artists including Suicide Silence and Jack contacted him, and here we are.
Deathcore is the genre; brutality is the game. It can however, be a fairly repetitive and predictable scene with one album sounding like the next. But STP are mixing things up and bring a refreshing approach to deathcore which keeps the listener engaged, not the standard template used on most deathcore but adding in different styles of the metal genre and a mix of vocal styles.
Opener ‘Bonebreaker’ does exactly what it says on the tin, and you bet your bottom dollar that there will be bones broken in the pit when this is played live. There are clearly nu metal influences that shine through on this album. ‘Bonebreaker’ has similarities to Slipknot, in fact think of ‘The Heretic Anthem’ but on speed.
The drumming is so on point, so tight and just a ridiculous pace, oh and the sound of the bass drums are out of this world. Remember in the Matrix when Neo is fighting Agent Smith? Agent Smith does about a hundred punches in Neo’s abdomen, the camera cuts to Neo sat in a chair writhing around. That is the equivalent of the bass drums on this album.
‘Demolisher’, at the time of writing this has 14 million streams, 14 million!! That’s an incredible feat considering the band are fairly underground. There are vocal parts on here which will have the envy of many a vocalist.
Vocally, Alex Terrible has put in one of the best vocal performances of the year, yes, the lyrics are mostly in Russian but this only adds to the heaviness. His low vocals are astounding, like out of this world, and not just in the deathcore scene but in the whole of metal. When you hear his vocal style, the switch between low growls to cleans boggles the mind. It will come as no surprise to Alex’s 750,000 subscribers on You Tube what he has in the locker, but new listeners will be blown away.
‘Baby Yaga’ is the first time you hear the switch between growls and cleans, on first listen it seems a bit out of place considering how heavy the track starts, but with multiple listens you can see what they are going for.
A solid tech metal guitar solo lends itself on the track ‘Agony’ and works absolute wonders to make it the stand out track on the album. The drumming is monstrous and the bass drums drives through the chest like a sledgehammer.
The production on the album is superb, every instrument is perfectly balanced in the mix and has a rich sound throughout which makes the listening experience even more enjoyable.
This album might not hit the spot for older generation metal heads but, the new generation of metallers will absolutely lap this up. For those not familiar with this style, 12 tracks of this brooding intense metal could be too much and to an extent, one or two tracks could have been taken off the final piece. That being said, some people will enjoy it so much they will say its too short! You can’t win them all!
This album is just so brutally heavy (at times you may find yourself laughing out how heavy it is) that even thinking of the pit during a live performance of these songs makes the palms sweat.
STP have released an album that shows they are one of the heaviest bands in this genre, while also switching things up that will give them a mass appeal to listeners in the metal world.
8/10
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