Review: “Grizzly” by Slaughter To Prevail

If you asked Slaughter To Prevail a decade ago where they would be right now, we very much doubt that they’d be talking about selling out huge venues, taking Suicide Silence and Dying Fetus on tour across Europe, inciting a record breaking wall of death at Hellfest last summer or having over a million monthly listeners on Spotify. But four years after the arrival of their Slipknot influenced album “Kostolom” in 2021, those things have either been achieved or are in the pipeline. What began as a writing partnership between Russian vocalist Alex Terrible and English guitarist Jack Simmons trading their cryptic writings over the internet has become a gargantuan beast and when you consider the success of bands like Lorna Shore, it seems that the sky is very much the limit. Could we be talking about either of those Deathcore titans being heirs to the Slipknot crown in another decade? Alex Terrible has to survive his fights in the Bare Knuckle boxing arena first…

Pushing on Extreme Metal boundaries “Banditos” roars into life with an infectious main riff designed to set off circle pits, the band chemically enhancing the burnt offering with orchestrations to give it a cinematic quality. After a couple of moments of epic grandeur however things go off-piste as if you’ve been zapped into local radio. A bridge in Mexican with a little acoustic guitar and some horns is at best avant-garde before the band cut back into an almost Downtempo Deathcore grand finale. Fortunately as weird as that moment is on the first few spins, it does grow on you, largely on the strength of that main riff which will no doubt have audiences eating out of the palm of their hands live. Next up is “Russian Grizzly In America” and the would be title track is another powerhouse offering with fierce vocals from Terrible hitting an ocean of pummelling groove head on. The influence of the self titled Slipknot record is evident on this one, the drum sound from Evgeny Novikov being nothing short of immense, especially in the heavy hitting final moments which reach skull crushing levels with some truly blood gargling vocals. If Alex Terrible is considered a controversial figure then getting someone as outspoken as Ronnie Radke of Falling In Reverse to provide guest vocals on “Imdead” is a bold move. Ignoring that aspect for a moment, the track itself is a beast with Radke’s clean vocals adding a haunting Nu-Metal quality to a cut that is just as heavy as what came before it. Refusing to compromise, the band unleash a tornado of percussive battery and razor sharp riffs, Terrible even getting a fleeting spoken word moment that works incredibly well.

A death march embellished with ethnic touches “Babayka” has a stompy swagger to it, the clean chorus feeling almost Rammstein inspired. A little programming adds a nice touch, the jackhammer footwork from Novikov reaching almost seismic levels by the end. Terrible growls like Satan’s hellhound before offering up some dense rap-scream unclean vocal flow in “Viking“, more cinematic tinges adding a spice that’s nice to a cut that might usually be considered too heavy for the mainstream. You can’t argue that some of the vocal moments aren’t Slam inspired even if they are fleeting and masked by some spellbinding leads and almost tribal drum fills. A little Russian during the most menacing vocal parts of the track ensure the band can’t be accused of watering anything down before “Koschei” moves in similar circles. Some Russian folk inspired moments are bridged by heavy guitars in stompy patterns, the rumbling bass the glue that holds it together. The stand out moment is when Terrible utters “you can kill me, I don’t care, hell exists, see you there!” which sends a chill down the spine. Imagine joining ten thousand people screaming that back to him live. The second of the guest appearances comes from Japanese outfit Babymetal on one called “Song 3” which is actually “Song 7“on the track listing. Urgent staccato riff breaks from Dmitry Mamedov and Simmons set the tone, the clean vocal passages from Babymetal adding the air of J-Pop to contrast the aggression of Terrible’s uncleans. The result is something that borders on anthemic, Slaughter To Prevail managing to avoid watering down their material and instead simply chemically enhancing it further.

Terrible rants and raves like Corey Taylor on the self titled Slipknot record during the all out assault on the senses that is “Lift That Shit“, the whirlwind of percussive battery and abrasive guitars making for an anthem for gym bunnies and steroid abusers the World over. Even if you’re not into that scene, you can make the song your own which is very clever given how punishing it actually is. “Behelit” brings back the orchestrations as the guitars chug with vocal layering used to mix a clean vocal with an unclean one to give us a chorus. If those cleans belong to Alex Terrible and he’s able to carry them off live, this beast of a track could be the start of era for the band, opening up more possibilities creatively. That’s not to say there aren’t a wealth of anvil heavy parts in this cut, the brutal grand finale demonstrating strength beyond strength. Would it surprise to hear this one rolling during the credits at the end of a summer blockbuster movie on the big screen? No. Not for a nano second. Blending the acoustic with the electric “Rodina” has the air of a folk-metal track as Slaughter To Prevail push into Extreme Metal territory with screams of “Motherland!” and a sizzling solo. Despite the early flirtations with their softer side, the cut gets heavier as it plays out, the orchestral finale a masterclass in the epic. Flipping the script “Conflict” is urgent and aggressive, exchanging the almost melancholic qualities of the previous cut for all out venom. Terrible spits blood as Novikov brings the blast beats to the King’s table and as breakdowns begin to stack up, this one feels like the band at their finest. Variety is the spice of life and they need that on this to have an album of this length but when they hit you with something more primitive, it really works.

The bouncy “Kid of Darkness” incites a riot with screaming guitars sounding like sirens before wave after wave of blast beats and bombastic bass. It’s like the band have admitted that sometimes violence is the only answer and this one is a fine example of what they can do when they’re in all out attack mode, biting like a rabid dog. Tasteful leads elevate proceedings in the second half and by the end Slaughter To Prevail make you wonder if there is anything that they can’t do. Rounding out this collection is the punishment beating that is “1984“, a cut which flirts with Metalcore as it smashes and crashes its way through the urban jungle. It benefits from a cleaner unclean vocal in the chorus which makes it one that you may actually find yourself joining in with, the sinister acoustic bridge into the final chorus a nice touch. Let’s be honest for a moment. Slaughter To Prevail are as successful as they are because they have broad and instant appeal with an air of familiarity about what they do. They might not be doing anything you haven’t heard before elsewhere but what they do they do so well that it doesn’t matter. There is very little here not to enjoy even if there is the odd cliché and strangely enough that only adds to the charm so be warned. If you’re a naysayer this could very easily end up being a guilty pleasure of an album… [8.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Banditos
2. Russian Grizzly In America
3. Imdead (ft. Ronnie Radke of Falling In Reverse)
4. Babayka
5. Viking
6. Koschei
7. Song 3 (ft. Babymetal)
8. Lift That Shit
9. Behelit
10. Rodina
11. Conflict
12. Kid of Darkness
13. 1984

“Grizzly” by Slaughter To Prevail is out 18th July 2025 via Sumerian Records