Nunslaughter - Goat
Hells Headbangers
Death Metal
16 songs ()
Release year: 2003
Hells Headbangers
Reviewed by Tony
Archive review
I had a friend from the Cleveland, Ohio area who I used to smoke weed and talk about misanthropy and the NWO conspiracy theories with at college. I absolutely loved spending time with him, and he was a great vocalist, but the NWO stuff scares the crap out of me. Anyways, he showed me a few of the local splendors of the great Cleveland scene.

The first of the series of Youtube videos he showed me was the song Raid the Convent by Death Metal veterans Nunslaughter on their 2003 album Goat . I thought this band were a young bunch but it turns out they have been around for ages. They formed in 1987 with the intention of providing balls out, cut to the chase Brutal Death Metal with outrageous lyrics and Satanic themes.Nunslaughter play short, sweet, and simple headbanging riffs over straightforward hard striking percussion. The vocals range from a mid paced growl to a high pitched shriek. Although on songs like Jesus is Doomed the vox range from very deep to piercing. Although the vocals almost always stay in mids and the high wails are not reminiscent of Black Metal in any way. The recording quality is solid. The drums have a warm, filled tone to them and the guitar is very heavily distorted but all the riffs are clean cut and well mixed. The vox might be a tiny bit too loud but most producers are guilty of this and these vocals are definitely not loud enough to warrant any valid complaint. Sometimes the lyrics can just get too ridiculous on songs such like Satanic Slut and The Guts of Christ . Sometimes the lyrics just seem to be intentionally over the top and offensive and when this occurs there can usually be a semblance of stupidity to the themes. The drums are strange. They don't resemble much of anything Death Metal. There is very little double bass. Even in portions of songs where I could evidently place some sort of double bass work if I were writing this album there is a distinct lack of any but bare minimum bass drum activity. Most of the beats are more punk and thrash derived with only the fills bearing the seal of Death Metal drumming.

I looked up a few amateur reviews on the sites such as Encyclopedia Metallum and noticed that they were given extremely high scores. This album is surely an enjoyable slab of old school Death Metal but nothing on this album is worth the 91+ that these guys listed this album at. Nunslaughter to me are kind of like the ACDC of Death Metal. While they don't produce the legendary records that ACDC spawned, they show similarities in the sense that they use high energy, simplistic riffage and thundering but to the point drumming to establish a band which I like to call a "fun" band. Nunslaughter are not a band that one listens to for shredding guitar solos or insane drum fills and pounding double bass. Nunslaughter are a group I listen to headbang along to or play on guitar or drums. In fact, I was able to learn my favorite song and by far the biggest hit from this album, Raid the Convent on guitar and drums in under 5 minutes by ear. They also do a fine cover of the song Preacher by Running Wild , a band that I really enjoy. Why Nunslaughter chose to cover a Pirate Metal band is beyond my understanding, but this cover works out very well. This cover is included on the digipak release.

Nunslaughter are a band who rely on thrashing, violent riffs coupled with lyrics that entail sadistic, vile, and often sacrilegious themes. The score on this album should be taken as follows: If you like straightforward violent death metal with not a semblance of technicality and even less brutality than say bands like Cannibal Corpse or Deicide , add 10 points. If technicality, striking solos, and progressive drumming are what you seek, subtract 15.

Killing Songs :
Raid the Convent, Jesus is Doomed, Satanic Slut, Preacher, She Lives By Night.
Tony quoted 77 / 100
Other albums by Nunslaughter that we have reviewed:
Nunslaughter - Red is the Colour of Ripping Death reviewed by Goat and quoted 84 / 100
Nunslaughter - The Supreme Beast reviewed by Andy and quoted no quote
Nunslaughter - Hell's Unholy Fire (re-release) reviewed by Charles and quoted 80 / 100
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