Review by Greg on August 3, 2025.

Success, exposure, and legacy are all interconnected concepts. They also don't follow a mathematical equation, but can sometimes surprise you with their evolution. Or at least, that's more or less what I'd say to Avenger Of Blood, as I'm sure they're still wondering how the hell nobody remembers them, given that they were arguably the chronologically first band to appear in the newborn retro-thrash movement. Granted, as I said before, their debut Complete Annihilation wasn't exactly a revolutionary work by any means, but neither were those who actually wound up being the most remembered ones of that period. Show some respect, you short-term-memorized ingrates!

But I'm not here to advocate an LP I'll probably forget soon as well, and the guys themselves didn't do much to keep whatever momentum they had, releasing just another album before folding (even still, not that Violator did more). They then returned as a studio-only project, even if their latest sign of life dates back to 2016, with the here examined On Slaying Grounds, and now the band could be considered an old guard as well, if you come to think of it. Line-up changes are to be expected, but only drummer Shannon Frye managed to keep his seat, a fact that could explain the more intrusive death metal influence, even if Avenger of Blood were already on the more violent end of the thrash spectrum. Without further ado, let's check out what this one has to offer, shall we?

Of course, I had taken a certain song's interchangeability into account, but I figured that, at the very least, the more successful cuts were lively enough to make a little neck exercise. I'm not disappointed in this regard. The blueprint for On Slaying Grounds isn't too dissimilar from Complete Annihilation, even if it appears that the band has lost a bit of their capacity to avoid overstaying their welcome (don't forget that one of the debut's strongest songs was six minutes and a half long, believe it or not). Nonetheless, absolute triumphs of tremolo like the outstanding 'Instruments of Chaos' or the exquisitely US death metal banger 'Sealed in Blood' provide enough energy to charge your laptop, even if I'm all for the more hybrid deathrash numbers like 'Aggressive Psychotic Behavior' and 'Under the Death Cross', that managed to grab me by the balls before I even noticed it. Only the last three tracks were somewhat disappointing, maybe underdeveloped, especially the anticlimactic, pedestrian closer 'A Curse from the Grave'.

Summing it up, Avenger of Blood is one of those bands you must never realistically expect a masterwork from, but I'll be damned if they don't manage to constantly get some adrenaline rush whenever they play. On Slaying Grounds is more or less on par with the latest Riotor in terms of hellish death/thrash records, yet with the undisputed plus of a vocalist who sounds like he's actually uttering real words.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Greg on August 3, 2025.

Success, exposure, and legacy are all interconnected concepts. They also don't follow a mathematical equation, but can sometimes surprise you with their evolution. Or at least, that's more or less what I'd say to Avenger Of Blood, as I'm sure they're still wondering how the hell nobody remembers them, given that they were arguably the chronologically first band to appear in the newborn retro-thrash movement. Granted, as I said before, their debut Complete Annihilation wasn't exactly a revolutionary work by any means, but neither were those who actually wound up being the most remembered ones of that period. Show some respect, you short-term-memorized ingrates!

But I'm not here to advocate an LP I'll probably forget soon as well, and the guys themselves didn't do much to keep whatever momentum they had, releasing just another album before folding (even still, not that Violator did more). They then returned as a studio-only project, even if their latest sign of life dates back to 2016, with the here examined On Slaying Grounds, and now the band could be considered an old guard as well, if you come to think of it. Line-up changes are to be expected, but only drummer Shannon Frye managed to keep his seat, a fact that could explain the more intrusive death metal influence, even if Avenger of Blood were already on the more violent end of the thrash spectrum. Without further ado, let's check out what this one has to offer, shall we?

Of course, I had taken a certain song's interchangeability into account, but I figured that, at the very least, the more successful cuts were lively enough to make a little neck exercise. I'm not disappointed in this regard. The blueprint for On Slaying Grounds isn't too dissimilar from Complete Annihilation, even if it appears that the band has lost a bit of their capacity to avoid overstaying their welcome (don't forget that one of the debut's strongest songs was six minutes and a half long, believe it or not). Nonetheless, absolute triumphs of tremolo like the outstanding 'Instruments of Chaos' or the exquisitely US death metal banger 'Sealed in Blood' provide enough energy to charge your laptop, even if I'm all for the more hybrid deathrash numbers like 'Aggressive Psychotic Behavior' and 'Under the Death Cross', that managed to grab me by the balls before I even noticed it. Only the last three tracks were somewhat disappointing, maybe underdeveloped, especially the anticlimactic, pedestrian closer 'A Curse from the Grave'.

Summing it up, Avenger of Blood is one of those bands you must never realistically expect a masterwork from, but I'll be damned if they don't manage to constantly get some adrenaline rush whenever they play. On Slaying Grounds is more or less on par with the latest Riotor in terms of hellish death/thrash records, yet with the undisputed plus of a vocalist who sounds like he's actually uttering real words.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10