Review by JD on February 5, 2014.

The picturesque state of Vermont is filled with beauty and all of nature’s spectacular wonders. Who knew that lurking just under the sanitized Norman Rockwell setting, lays a surging metal scene that is now beginning to be unleashed onto the world stage, and blowing the whole Rockwell thing away. One such band is Musical Manslaughter.

Taking cues from such notable acts as Pantera and High On Fire, Musical Manslaughter borders on thrash styled groove metal, with sort of death metal vocals crashing through the metallic assault. With catchy, yet impressively heavy riffs accenting every acid spat gutter vocals that are braced by a strong rhythm section… this is the new breed of groove metal.

Impressed with most tracks that were on the disk, the main ones that shouted out at me, was the complex riffs of "Automaton" and the sheer power of "Murder". Each of the songs had some form of catchiness, yet they all held enough power that old school metalheads would gyrate towards listening to ever pounding riff and intense vocal delivery. It was not the best of recordings they have delivered, but it’s still was better than some of the albums I’ve been getting lately.

Impressive would be the word for Musical Manslaughter. Pretty good for a thrash/groove band that comes with a sort of punk sounding name. I will say this album is worth getting, but Double M’s music still needs a bit of work at the same time, but me thinks they will get there, but with a wee bit ‘o work.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 8.5
Production: 7
Originality: 8
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.9 out of 10