Alastor – Slave to the Grave

So, let me just say that with 2018 comes a shift in my tastes. I have gone from my death metal kick to my black metal kick, and finally I have pumped the brakes on the stoner, psychedelic, heavy, and doom side of metal.

That being said, I am going to review Alastor’s 2018 release, Slave to the Grave.

In a year that has seen some pretty good releases and some turds, it’s hard to pick a true favorite. Good thing this year isn’t quite over.

So comes Alastor with a two ton weight dropped on your soul. These Swedish gentlemen take some of Black Sabbath’s style of riffing and make it their own. While paying homage to Sabbath they manage to make something interesting and sonically pleasing.

From start to finish, this album is fuzzy doom, psychedelic, depressing, cannabis, and LSD laced. The way this band conveys the feeling of depression is enticing and yearning for this is like a drug. I find it being hard to turn off. The vocals echo a melody full of gloom.

The stand out track would have to go to a tie between the 17+ minutes of The Spider of My Love or the acoustic, Gone. I find myself getting lost in both of these tracks.

This is a pretty good album taking Sabbath worship in a direction much darker than most bands. I give it a solid 8.75