I Always Maim to Please

SLAUGHTER (CAN) - Strappado (1986)

One-Two... FUCK YOU!!!

Oh yessss... this HAD to happen. How could I not present to y'all in all its unrestrained, bloody-knuckled fury thee proto-death metal monster that is "Strappado"??! 22 years on and I still feel the adrenaline charging through my innards, making me a slave to thee thrashing madness contained on this magnum opus. It's next to impossible not to be filled with rapidly dimming visions of myself and merry band of no-goodniks stomping around the rural wasteland we inhabited, fulla cheap booze, screeching every word of every ditty contained here; ghetto blaster on the most sober bastard's shoulder (usually the guy who could grow a full beard at fifteen who bought the shit in the first place) as we wandered around looking for somewhere, anywhere to escape from thee frigid Kanück winter.

What can I say? This is a maelstrom of fat, buzzing guitar, gargled vox and relentless skins-pummel that was/is nothing less than the smoldering embers that created the death metal inferno that would ignite a few years later. All these Toronto boys did was distill their riffing to its most barbaric essence, unleashing a sound that was more extreme than anything else at the time, proving once again that simplicity is thee key to all great R&R. There were obviously a lotta Scandinavians listening closely-- that oh-so-sweet guitar tone associated with the likes of Entombed, Grave and Dismember is already in full bloom on "Strappado"-- but not one damn one of them Swedes ever wrote anything as anti-headbang-proof as "Tales of the Macabre" or "Death Dealer." Fuck it, I see no need to beat my gums together any further-- get yer worthless ass...

Into the comments.

Oh yeah-- if ya were stoopid enough to miss their equally godly "Surrender or Die" demo it's here, dumbass.