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An album with faults that hurt and yet help this intense brutal ride.-
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| Exhumed: Slaughtercult |
Death Metal, Grindcore
Relapse Records
August 6th, 2000
- Decrepit Crescendo - 2:25
- Forged in Fire (Formed in Flame) - 2:56
- A Lesson in Pathology - 3:23
- This Axe was Made to Grind - 2:23
- Carnal Epitaph - 2:59
- Dinnertime in the Morgue - 2:04
- Fester Forever - 3:39
- Deep Red - 3:09
- Infester - 1:21
- Slave to the Casket - 3:18
- Slaughtercult - 1:36
- Funeral Fuck - 3:03
- Vacant Grace - 2:34
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| Review Information |
Release length: 34:51
Review posted on July 3rd, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 8.5/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Goregasm (1992) • Gore Metal (1998) • Slaughtercult (2000) • Anatomy is Destiny (2003)
Garbage Daze Re-Regurgitated (2005) • All Guts, No Glory (2011)
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| EP(s): |
Excreting Innards (1992)
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| Split(s): |
Exhumed/Haemorrhage (1995) • In the Name of Gore (1996) • Blood and Alcohol (1996) • Chords of Chaos (1997)
Exhumed/No Comply (1997) • Pray for War/Tales of the Exhumed (1998) • Indignities to the Dead/Lujuria de Chivo (1998)
Totally Fucking Dead/Sterility (1998) • Recordings 2000 (2000) • Exhumed/Gadget (2001)
Deceased in the East/Extirpated Live Emanations (2003) • Something Sickened this Way Comes/To Clone and to Enforce (2006)
HF Seveninches Collection Vol. 1 (2008)
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| Demo(s): |
Dissecting the Caseated Omentum (1992) • Excreting Innards (1992) • Cadaveric Splatter Platter (1993)
Grotesuq Putrefied Brains (1993) • Horrific Expulsions of Gore (1994) • Rehearsal 99-00 (2000)
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| Compilation(s): |
Platters of Splatter (2004)
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| Review |
After making a strong impression with Gore Metal, Exhumed took to their audience and expanded on their heavily brutal Grindcore and Death Metal sound with their next offering. Slaughtercult marked the third full-length, though the second to actually be made available outside of from the band, and it quickly grew into a cult classic, and as time went on became one of the most important releases for the Death Metal/Grindcore genre since early Carcass and Napalm Death came along. Slaughtercult offers a maturing Exhumed that has grabbed hold of what the listeners wanted, and simply too it to the most over-the-top extremes of brutality and intensity one can find. But, is that really enough for this album to truly live up to the hype that is has received through the years?
One of the first things the listener will pick up on is the muddy and loud production. The quality is still rather clean, but the distortion on the guitars make things a little muddier due to how loud they sound thanks to the loud volume levels in general, as well as the more dominant distortion that gives the recording a much deeper, bass-driven tone. The bass, of course, still remains pretty important to the mix and helps to keep and maintain the Death Metal groove when the band's Grindcore intensity comes into play. The drums themselves slam loudly, especially the cymbols, and offer up a decent amount of energy to the already energetic frothing-at-the-mouth intensity of Slaughtercult, though can feel a little too loud at times. The only gripe with all this is that the guttural vocals utilized on this recording can seem a bit drowned out in the mix, and to begin with they simply are not that clear, coming off more as bassey rumbles then actual vocals, groggy and sickening, though the latter part of that statement becomes one of the more important aspects of this recording. The deep and unclear gutturals, however, leave a little more to be lacking, and leave the rhaspier vocals to really carry the album. Luckily, they hold the same energy as the music, and really end up saving the day from track to track.
The intensity and brutality of Slaughtercult is established right at the sudden start of "Decrepit Crescendo". The song's high energy and bludgeoning sound leaves the listener feeling trapped in an inescapable musical assault. While the song sets up the album perfectly, it's not until "Forged in Fire (Forged in Flame)" that the band really shows what they are made of. This song's intensity greatly tops "Decrepit Crescendo", and perfectly blends together that Death Metal groove with the fury of Grindcore blast beats and aggression. From here, it's just a non-stop violent assault on the listener outside of some eery moments that can appears on this album through breakdowns, or random atmospheric passages such as a little past the half way point of "A Lesson in Pathology". This short repreive from the madness gives you a chance to breathe, like surfacing from under water, leaving you feeling panicky, awaiting the assault to start back up, and sure enough the music slams back in and pulls you back down under to continue the musical assault.
But, those momentary pauses become few and far between, and leave the listener time to breathe only in the dead air between the end of one song, and the start of another, which clearly is very minimal. Each track continues to pound away at the listener on this recording, though some tracks don't quite pack as much of a punch as "Forged in Fire (Forged in Flame) or "This Ace was Made to Grind", both spectacular songs that capture the fury and intensity of Exhumed perfectly and stand out as the more important songs of the album. Of course, "Fester Forever" shows off a little more technicality in the music, especially in the start, which is a bit disappointing considering it starts off very unique compared to many other tracks on here before and after thanks to that hint of technicality, and then just goes straight into the normal brutalizing assault established on the aforementioned two tracks. There are moments of technical chords being played in the song, but they become less important as they were at the very start.
Once again, the album's longer track list is home to plenty of solid, quality tracks. While some songs don't quite have the same impact, as others, they can't even be considered filler. "Carnal Epitaph" and "Fester Forever" are two of the very few tracks like this that hit around the mid-point of the album, but even they are still strong tracks that really grab the listener and demand their attention. The shorter tracks on here like "Infester" and "Slaughtercult", however, also don't quite prove to be the strongest of the album. These tracks go well from start to finish, and have clear cut conclusions to the songs that do work, but in the end it just feels a little more mundane for Exhumed, leaving the listener feeling like a little more could have been done, though in no way does this really hurt the overall vibe of the album, and it does give a bit of a change of pace to the album at times due to their departure from the more dominating Death Metal impression throughout.
Slaughtercult is another fantastic Exhumed album, and it superbly shows off the band and their talents. Granted the production took things into a direction that really isn't the greatest approach due to the incomprehensible gutturals that just sound like muffled deep bass roars and the louder volume levels, but this also works for the band as much as it does against it. The material just sounds heavier and more bludgeoning thanks to the higher distortions, and the overall product feels more commanding. With a few tracks that don't quite feel up to the vibe for the music that the earlier tracks establish, though still come off as enjoyable tracks with no real faults holding them back except the sound starting to feel a little old without that matching intensity and energy, there's no denying Slaughtercult does it's job well of brutalizing the listener from start to finish, and makes for another excellent Exhumed full-length release with plenty of replay value. If you have yet to give into the hype, be safe knowing this is an album that lives up to it.
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