Release date – September 21, 2004

Lineup:

Steven Rathbone – guitar, vocals, synth

Donald James Barraca – bass

Larry Herwig – drums

Featuring Larry Herwig from Pelican, Lair of the Minotaur take a completely different approach to music than Pelican do. Instead of slow buildups to the climax of the song, Lair of the Minotaur just spew it all out right in front of you from the very start. From the blistering beginning of this album with “Carnage Fucking Carnage” you’re in for a ride that resembles High on Fire on speed. Given the grooves aren’t quite as heavy, the intensity is there in full force and doesn’t give you a chance to catch your breath throughout the album. “The Wolf” is also of note, because it’s the only song that I can recall that I’ve actually heard announced on a studio album. The riffing on the song is just absolutely amazing though, and the drumming throughout the album is nothing short of insane. Each song follows a slightly different pattern, but the intensity is always there in full force throughout the album. The styles of riffs differ throughout though. You’ll have a straight brutal riff in one song followed by the next song with a slightly more old school of riffing. RRAAAAWWWGGGGGG AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!! Sorry, cool part of the album for a second, I just had a Mark Prindle moment there. Then again, I could do that and no one would know, because if you’re actually reading this far into one of my stupid pointless reviews, you’re a fucking idiot (read Mark Prindle’s reviews instead anyway, anything that he doesn’t have review, go ahead and check out here, but that guy’s much better than me and much funnier than me). Anyway, if it’s extreme, this CD has clear elements of it throughout. It’s some highly recommended listening.

The sound quality on this is pretty raw, the vocals are very raw, but the lyrics are still pretty easy to make out, which with this album is a huge plus, because that really adds to the intensity (the lyrics and the raw element).

This is an awesome debut album from what looks like what will be shaping up to be an awesome band (shaping up? They’re already there). There are some killer riffs on this as well as a wide variety of them. The drumming is out of this world as well, and of course there’s no such thing as a bad bass player, it doesn’t come out a lot on this, but just to follow along with this stuff takes some skill, so I give credit where credit is due, awesome bass on this. Out of 100 this is an 89.

Track listing

1. Carnage Fucking Carnage

2. The Wolf

3. Lion Killer

4. Caravan of Blood Soaked Kentauroi

5. Enemy of Gods

6. Demon Serpent

7. Warlord

8. Burning Temple