If you find yourself wondering exactly what Alex Shikolai is barking about on Slaughter To Prevail’s debut Misery Sermon (Sumerian), it may not be because the vocals are so violently guttural that you just can’t understand a word without following a lyric sheet. It may simply be because you don’t speak Russian.

Formed in 2014, Slaughter To Prevail quickly found themselves in a rather unique position. First, Shikolai (who arguably embodies the ‘vokillist’ moniker more than anyone else in Deathcore at the moment) and drummer Anton Poddyachy both lived in Russia, while guitarist and founder Jack Simmons hailed from the UK. Second, the trio was called to a full European and Russian tour with Ingested on the strength of only two songs.

Differentiating themselves from their peers, with the recording of their 2015 EP Chapters of Misery (Sumerian), Shikolai decided to sing alternately in English and his native Russian, the latter giving tracks like ‘Hell’ and ‘Death’ a natural ferocity based on the articulatory phonetics of the language alone.

Slaughter To Prevail continue to exploit this feature throughout Misery Sermon’s punishing forty five minutes, but while they do the genre proud, there is little else to lift them above the rest. But there are moments on the album that hint at something more, something deeper. The almost hardcore, introspective opening minute of ‘Failed Hope’, the occasional groovy riff and harmonic squeals warning us of ‘The Hell in Man’, and ‘Cultural Ills’, with its almost tribal drum accents and muddy, plodding riffs slogging against blistering double bass drums that make my calves hurt just by listening.

Alas, these moments are all-too-brief. And where Fit For An Autopsy’s latest succeeded by stretching somewhat outside of genre confines (though perhaps aping Gojira a bit too obviously at times), Misery Sermon suffers by being too entrenched in it.

But for less discerning Deathcore fanatics who feverishly devour anything that begins with a “B” and ends with a “rootal,” you will find much to enjoy here.

7.0/10

JASON KOROLENKO