Slaughter To Prevail – Grizzly
Release Date: 18th July 2025
Label: Sumerian
Order/Stream
Genre: Deathcore
FFO: To The Grave, A Night in Texas, Whitechapel, Shadow of Intent.
Review By: Jeff Finch
*Insert thoughts on the deathcore scene as previously stated in every other deathcore release reviewed* Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk Slaughter to Prevail. A band that has made strong strides in songwriting, lyricism, and technical prowess since their debut album Misery Sermon, they’re still just as widely known due to their grizzly bear vocalist Alex Terrible, a beast of a frontman capable of summoning vocals from the deepest pits of the underworld. Though this may not be fair to the rest of the band, given their propensity for writing hooky, chugging riffs and gnarly rhythm sections, sometimes it just happens that way. With this newest album, Grizzly, suffice it to say that the band has decided to just roll with the reality of the situation and, as evidenced by the quality of the material therein, the band has decided that they, too, want to be a part of this feral beast lore, as the intensity brought on Grizzly instantly conjures up images of a bear ripping an enemy to shreds.
One feature of Slaughter to Prevail that has proven to be a net positive is that they do not frequently ascribe to the prototypical deathcore habits of writing insanely paced pieces that ultimately end in a crushing breakdown, allowing their vocalist to make sounds like a snarling monster. No. Instead, the band dabbles with melody, riffs, tempo shifts, all to pummel listeners with crushing heft. On Grizzly, the band have taken what made Kostolom so enjoyable and continue to refine it; the vocal variation Alex brings to the mic, from low demon growls to high banshee shrieks, the constant rhythmic shifts from thrashy to groovy to doomy, and the drums that exist to bring forth more heft and not reduce listeners to chronic headaches due to their inhumanly paced nature.
Sure, there are moments on this album that feel overly machismo in nature and garner massive eye rolls, yours truly not averse to such actions, but this is a band that doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously. Those few moments where Alex stops singing and starts speaking in English, it can come off as forced aggression, sticking one’s chest out to appear more manly in nature, and yield a bit of cringe, but they’re so few and far between they’re but a blip on the overall sonic radar. But then there’s the most confusing section of a Slaughter to Prevail song ever recorded, the false ending of Banditos where we’re treated to a mini acoustic jam session with maracas, horns, and a dual Spanish vocal. Initially almost a dealbreaker for rating the song positively, thankfully it comes through shortly thereafter with its real ending, a chug filled breakdown replete with St. Anger snare that actually sounds good, blast beats, and chunky, slam riffs.
And though listeners may, up to this point, have felt like Staughter to Prevail is a one-trick pony simply using their widely known vocalist as their selling point (*cough* Lorna Shore *cough*), that is not the case here. While, yes, Alex’s vocals are monstrous, alternating between deep gutturals, piercing highs, and lunatic screams, the rest of the band puts on one hell of a good show; rife with dissonance, off-kilter rhythms and earth-shaking breakdowns, the guitars shine in nearly every song, while the drums are simply the definition of aggressive. Machine-gun double bess, blast beats, obscenely swift tempo shifts, all coalesce to bring listeners to their knees with its off-balance precision, tight and violent in only the best way.
The album flourishes on pure fury and intensity, primal in nature yet cathartic in its relentlessness, listeners experiencing an aural beatdown over the course of 13 tracks, no doubt in part due to the production on Grizzly. As referenced before, Alex is still the focal point of the band, but what comes out is expertly crafted, the vocals sitting front and center WITHOUT drowning out the instrumentals (*cough* Lorna Shore* cough*); the entire band is able to pierce the sonic veil, allowing listeners to take their beating from all 5 members nearly equally, the meticulously arranged tracks feral but proving not to be the sole focus, the frequent breakdowns carefully placed for maximum impact. Heck, the band even throws in chanted choral segments, undoubtedly, to add a layer of unease to the experience, succeeding in spades, and that’s not even mentioning Song 3 with Babymetal, a fun romp to break up the deadly serious atmosphere that the band can bring musically.
Where the band shines are also where they falter: with the frontman. The spoken-word segments come across as childishly aggressive while the lyrics, when you sit and listen to them, make you not want to sit and listen to them, just focusing on the vocals as an instrument alone with the other instruments. They aren’t embarrassingly bad or some of the worst you’ve ever heard, they just aren’t great, and as long as that’s not a dealbreaker (definitely not for this listener) then their questionable quality shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Even so, with these critiques on the board, the album is simply fantastic. The group is still inherently a deathcore band that can fall into typical deathcore tropes, but they’ve gotten better with each album, Grizzly proving to be their best work to date.
(4.5 / 5)
