American Death Thrash is the perfect title for this 10 song split between Oklahoma’s Sacrificial Slaughter and California’s Enfuneration. 10 tracks, 5 from each of  good ol’  fashioned American metal, with Sacrificial Slaughter firmly gripping the thrash element and Enfuneration being more of the death metal side.

Sacrificial Slaughter are the more veteran act with two full-length albums under their bullet belt since 2002 and their 5 songs are high octane, death metal tinged thrashers with dual screamed/growled vocals, well produced, big burly guitars and a cut throat tempo. Obvious nods the the ’80s/’90s Bay Area and German thrash are abundant (I mean Sacrificial Slaughter just sounds like a late ’80s thrash band name) and the very slight death metal flock, gives it a nastier edge, though they are still thematically rooted in the ’80s thrash with titles like “80 Proof Justice” and “Acid Reflux”. The five songs blaze by with a purposeful hi-tempo with a few stern thrashy marches here and there. While I’m not blown away by the likes of “Reign of the Hammer” and “Acid Reflux”, they did get my foot tapping and made my head thrash a little bit–it’s about as red blooded and denim clad as American metal gets–but not much else as I can’t say I’m going to actively seek the band’s back catalog or future releases, despite the obvious energy and honest influences.

Enfuneration offer something a little more up my alley with a more gnarly, evil take on metal that has a touch of thrash via the strangely cold (and almost bassless) guitar tone. Structurally this is more typical US styled Floridian death metal. Parts of Cannibal Corpse, Deicide and Malevolent Creation can be heard throughout the band’s five longer  songs, complete with dual demonic vocals and shrill chaotic solos. After the blasting start of “Insidious  Domain”, the band caught my attention with the more epic start of “Baring Their Scars” — very nice mid-paced march and confident delivery. “Stygian Darkness” then gets back to no-nonsense death metal ferocity with some very nice churning moments.  The 6+ minute closer “Grieving Process Denied” also features some nice variation between militant marches, solos and more traditional death metal blasting with an opening salvo that reminded me of Brutality. Enfuneration aren’t doing anything ground breaking, but I’d certainly welcome any future releases if they’re able to beef up their mix and production a little more.

All being said, American Death Thrash  is one of the more satisfying and lengthy splits (42 minutes) I’ve heard recently, even if it’s released on a label whose name appears to have been created by a 10 year old boy.

 

[Visit the band's website]

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