Lair of the Minotaur – Ultimate Destroyer

Lair of the Minotaur – Ultimate Destroyer / 2006 Southern Lord / 8 Tracks / http://www.lairoftheminotaur.com / http://www.southern.com / Reviewed 25 March 2006

The average track on “Ultimate Destroyer” is not a short one, with the eight songs of the disc reaching well over the thirty-eight minute mark. The band does not need anything in the way o fvocals to affect ttheir listeners; all that Lair of the Minotaur needs to rock is the guitars, bass, and drums that are typically present on a metal disc. When vocals do occur (as is the case with “Behead the Gorgon”), they add a dollop of whipped crème to the sundae that is Lair of the Minotaur.

The style in which Lair of the Minotaur works is not limited to thrash or power metal, but hints of a gamut of different styles make themselves known throughout “Ultimate Destroyer”. This is not a Pantera ripoff band, even if tracks lie “Behead the Gorgon” do have a little in common with the original track. The title track is very narrative, with the lead singer pushing through a set of vocals that are as rich as Steinbeck in their descriptive nature, even of Lair of the Minotaur is a band that makes it pretty hard to understand what exactly is being said. This is not metal for the mind; the average Lair of the Minotaur song is something that will get bowels quivering and spines chilled the hell out. Even if the vast majority of songs on “Ultimate Destroyer” are those that are done well before the four minute mark hits, the way in which Lair of the Minotaur arranges them is so dense that listeners will have to dissect each riff a number of times before fully getting what the band has to say in that specific song.

The style of music is not at the end of what metal can be, but the heavy, crunchy sound of the guitars during tracks like “Horror” is enough to keep individuals listening throughout the entirety of “Ultimate Destroyer”. What is astounding about Lair of the Minotaur is the fact that the band can come up with a number of these longer introductions for each of the tracks on “Ultimate Destroyer” without making individuals wait too long for the ultimate payoffs. Lair of the Minotaur is a hard-rocking band that works throughout the entirety of this disc to come up with a style of their own, and by the end of the disc the chance is good that individuals will be able to identify a Lair of the Minotaur track if they heard one.

Top Tracks: Behead the Gorgon, Ultimate Destroyer

Rating: 5.8/10

[JMcQ]