ALBUM REVIEW: Slam Rehab – Slamophiliac

One-man slam project SLAMOPHILIAC has returned with a brand new album, entitled Slam Rehab. Since starting the project in 2013, SLAMOPHILIAC has turned into a serious project for creator Darryn Palmer, who has since released two albums under its name, with Slam Obsessed being unleashed in 2014. After releasing another record, Perihelion, towards the start of this year, it’s surprising that another record has showed its gruesome face so soon. However, SLAMOPHILIAC has finished Slam Rehab. We tried out the slam project’s latest offering to see how it fares up.

Punched with a Forklift opens up the record to a strong start. Guest vocals from I Am Destruction boost its power, alongside blast beats aplenty and devastating riffs from Darryn. The album keeps up the pace and ferocity throughout without losing its touch which is commendable, thrashing through into Fecal Infection. One of the most memorable and impressive tracks on the record is Intermediate Manual Uncoiling, which is an onslaught on the ears as much as it has plenty of groove and different sections to keep you interested. Lennon O’Donnell (DECIMATED HUMANS) provides some nice vocals in this track too, which again add strength to Slam Rehab. While some tracks aren’t as strong as others, the whole album demonstrates SLAMOPHILIAC‘s musical ability and that slam doesn’t have to sound exactly the same in every song. Each track has a little twist or part of a section that makes it stand out in some way, for example the guitar patterns and high notes in Resonation of a Crackling Ribcage. Another example of this is how Creepy Crawly Booty Party alternates between frantic riffs and slower, more gruesome sections that really keep you interested.

While listening to Slam Rehab, you have to keep in the back of your mind that only one person is behind it. Darryn’s musicianship is something that must be commended on this record, as it can easily be mistaken for a full band line-up given its execution and production. What gives Slam Rehab an extra kick to its appeal is the amount of guest vocalists on the record. While Darryn performs well on his own, these guests make the album a little more diverse vocally, for example in Special Leather. It may not be the most original album, in that it’s nothing particularly new to slam, but it is a strong record that has been executed very well. It is also surprising and impressive that another record of good quality has been released by SLAMOPHILIAC in such a short space of time, which again demonstrates that Darryn is a very good musician.

Overall, Slam Rehab is a solid slam/brutal death record that fans of the genre will snap up in a second. It manages to keep its ferocity and brutality through every second without slipping up nor becoming boring, which is no easy task in such a genre. It could easily be recommended to those who are looking for an introduction to the genre, or those who need their next fix of gutturals, blast beats and good old slam.

Rating: 7/10

Slam Rehab is out now via CDN Records.

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