The 20 Buck Spin website says SLIMELORD is England’s most peculiar Death Metal oddity and I couldn’t agree more. SLIMELORD has been on my radar ever since their EP “Miss Contamination”, which I duly purchased upon listening just once. What we have today is however their first full length, which I cannot get enough of. The band is back to present their first full length, which is presented by the ever impressive 20 Buck Spin. The sound is the perfect mix of slime, dirt and thunderous screams across lands of graves. This is what the genre needed, I absolutely love how sludgy this entire release is. The opener ‘The Beckoning Bell’ is the perfect representation of things to come and my goodness does SLIMELORD slay through and through. I often complain about a release or a certain sound lacking a specific soul as part of their entire sound. Listen to “Chytridiomycosis Relinquished” and you’ll know what I’m talking about. SLIMELORD present to your their vista of putrid horror like no other band in the recent past. The riffs sound like a monster’s shrieks in a dungeon, the vocals interweave with the dense atmosphere and the drumming is magnificent. There is absolutely no compromises anywhere on the album, with each instrument and each sound carefully crafted to reflect the horrifying image that the band has in mind. This is truly a journey in mid-tempo horror, which gently places a delicately constructed movie, which invokes a trepidation drenched in the bitterness of life. I want to go song by song and write a detailed note about how it all sounds, but I want to focus on one very specific SLIMELORD approach to Death Metal. The band often derails their entire structure to simply veer off into the darkness with no regard to time or cohesion, rather paying attention to construction and manner which is an absolute delight to listen to. On the whole it is the atmosphere that the band creates, which totally engulfs you into their vision, as dark, bleak and hopeless as it feels. SLIMELORD ensure they pull you up from the murky wall of sound into the light, just to drown you back into a barrel of hopeless acidity. I also want to take a moment to appreciate the cover. I’d have honestly preferred another colour but the album instantly takes me to WORM’s “Foreverglad” and well turns out it is the same bloody artist! Take a bow Brad Moore, your work is absolutely amazing and I cannot wait to see the vinyl version of it. In all honesty, I haven’t been this excited in a while and I cannot stress the impact this entire package has on a fan. The art, the sound, production and add to it all the label! Absolutely brilliant all across! This is my first contender for the album of the year. For more information, please visit: www.facebook.com/horriblebog, www.facebook.com/20buckspin