Dread Emperor

Sometimes you just need a good set of crusty riffs and an angry German bellowing at you, and that’s what duo Slaughterday provide. Cranking out death metal since 2010, fifth full-length Dread Emperor shows the band off well, beginning with a melodic scene-setter in Enthroned before the galloping Obliteration Crusade comes in and levels all. Shifting tempos down to a slower trudge with more than a little doom-death in its DNA before ramping back up with plenty of widdly lead guitars, Slaughterday more than understood the assignment, as the kids say!

And although they may not be rewriting the textbook when it comes to oldschool death metal, their mixture of classic styles such as Vader and Bolt Thrower more than works – Rapture of Rot an early example of how a crushing riff and some simple melodies can carry a song and injure the listener’s neck! Astral Carnage is an early tracklisting highlight thanks to the flawless way that melodic lead guitar is woven in across the track, dipping into Entombed-esque crunch to keep the headbanging energy up.

Guitarist and bassist Jens Finger more than knows his way around a Dismember-esque riff or solo, and he’s more than ably backed by drummer and vocalist Bernd Reiners – Subconscious Pandemonium a fine example of how well the two work together. And considering this is old school death metal, there’s a fair amount of variety between tracks which each usually have their own little hook or twist – the title track’s ominous air given a psychedelic edge thanks to the lead guitar, more than reminiscent of Temple of Void’s recent triumphant return.

There’s nothing too avant-garde on show, but the way that, for instance, The Forsaken Ones dips a little more eagerly into groove metal territory shows a band capable of tinkering. There probably isn’t much more tinkering to come, but you could dip into pretty much any track on Dread Emperor and hear a death metal band playing the style extremely well, with more than a little catchiness to boot. Could Slaughterday write even better material? Perhaps. Yet for the moment, this is death metal at its most solidly enjoyable.