Bust out the hardhat and safety goggles, confirm your health insurance coverage, and update your immunizations, this one’s gonna be downright hazardous. It hasn’t been too long since Lair of the Minotaur dropped the teaser preview single/EP Cannibal Massacre, but it’s still been longer than desirable. The single made it abundantly clear what to expect out of The Ultimate Destroyer, which is, thank God, the same unrepentantly filthy classic minded metal the band dished out on its debut, Carnage. Filthy and metal are key here--we’re talking dysentery spreading, air polluting, tooth shattering, denim covered ghoulishness. It just don’t get any more metal than this, folks. Exhibit A: the album dedication reads "This album is dedicated to metal". How metal d’you gotta be to dedicate your album to it? But it’s consistent with the respect and dedication LOTM show for the institution of metal, and The Ultimate Destroyer, just like Carnage, pays bloody tribute to the history, principles, and ethos of real deal metal. The truth in advertising title of lead off track "Juggernaut of Metal" pretty much says it all.

For the benefit of those who haven’t yet ventured into the minotaur’s lair to experience what lies in wait within that corpse littered maze, prepare yourself for an old fashioned metal bludgeoning in the spirit of Celtic Frost, Slayer, and Venom, with traces of Motorhead and High on Fire. And they haven’t lost any of their fixation on gory mythology, as evidenced by titles like "Behead the Gorgon". Sanford Parker returns as co-producer, and together they’ve delivered a gloriously sludge coated thickness that has the grittiness that suits the band’s personality. Steven Rathbone’s guitar sound is massive and meaty, and even for a three piece the band makes a hell of a din. It must be said that a good bit of LOTM’s charm (if you can call it that) comes from their spirit and presentation. The Ultimate Destroyer, both in style and mood, just oozes metal, and it’s damn near impossible not to give a hearty "fuck yeah!" at the sheer metalness of the album. It’s pretty easy to get swept up by the vintage, filthy, blood spattered spirit (warning: may cause prolific use of hyperbole, in case you haven’t noticed). The point is that even before the issue of actual content is considered, The Ultimate Destroyer still has some stylistic allure to those who revel in the visceral nastiness of early metal. But the content IS there, and Lair of the Minotaur has delivered a second set of memorable and unquestionably strong metal.

The band sidesteps the threat of their single mindedness becoming samey by doing a nice job varying their assault. Although they never deviate from the tone of their skin shredding aggressiveness, the band regularly adjusts the tempos, sometimes chugging with a furious locomotion and at others slowing to a mid tempo impassioned pounding. The members play off each other well to create dynamics by taking turns hammering out double timed percussion or riff work. Songs like the title track and "Lord of Butchery" barrel headlong behind Larry Herweg’s propulsive double bass, while "Behead the Gorgon" begins with an extended intro of savage, plodding buildup that screams "set opener". "Grisly Hound of the Pit" is an especially venomous track that shows the band at its best. Throughout, Rathbone, who also handles vocal duties, alternates between a bearish growl and a vein popping shout, delivering lyrics like "I/I stand on this hill/My will is law/For meat I kill", like his life depended on it. The album consistently delivers and by the time The Ultimate Destroyer wraps up with the seven minute, noxious, doomy battering “The Hydra Coils Upon This Wicked Mountain”, you’re apt to feel fairly well spent. There’s no other way to say it: The Ultimate Destroyer is one flat out ass kicking metal album. Highly recommended.