Slaughter to Prevail’s GRIZZLY Is Deathcore’s New Apex Predator
“…Every track here has its own identity, its own flavor, and its own sense of violence…”
My girlfriend would probably see a grizzly bear in the woods with that face, and still want to boop the snoot. What is it with goth girls and danger-floofs?
Russian deathcore monsters Slaughter to Prevail are back with their third studio album, GRIZZLY — and it’s a feral, bilingual beast that shatters expectations with every grotesque breakdown. If you thought Kostolom was unhinged, GRIZZLY is the sound of that same monster juiced up on radioactive gym chalk and primal rage.
The album kicks off with “Banditos,” and from the moment it starts, it’s clear the band has no intention of easing you in. The song explodes with violence and swagger, fusing deathcore chugs with cinematic, symphonic layers. Alex Terrible, once again, proves he’s the reigning king of hellish vocals, screaming like he’s trying to summon a demon straight through your headphones. And just when you think you’ve got a handle on it, the track briefly morphs into a bizarre Russian impression of Mexican narcocorrido music before snapping back into its deathcore carnage. It sets the tone for the rest of the album perfectly: unpredictable, unrelenting, and just a little unhinged.
“Russian Grizzly in America” follows, opening with a fake-out moment of restraint before unleashing pure chaos. Alex roars, “This is going to be fucking brutal,” and damn it, he delivers. The mix of English and Russian lyrics adds a layer of personality throughout the album, and here it feels like the band is both celebrating and mocking their new Floridian life. And that closing breakdown? Disgusting—in the best possible way.
One of the album’s most bizarre choices comes with “Imdead,” which features Ronnie Radke. It’s a weird combo on paper, and even weirder in practice. Radke’s clean vocal section before the breakdown isn’t bad, but then he tosses in what can only be described as an anime moan. It’s… a choice. The song isn’t terrible, but Radke feels like a guest star on a show he’s never seen. Not a total misfire, but a curious detour.
“Babayka” brings the focus back to pure Russian deathcore. Sung entirely in Russian, the lyrics are a mystery to non-speakers, but the music is anything but subtle. It's dirty, crushing, and enhanced with atmospheric clean vocals that are surprisingly effective—though let’s be honest, we’re all here for the gutturals, and Alex doesn’t disappoint. “Viking” might be the album’s most cinematic moment, opening with dark ambiance before evolving into a Viking metal-meets-deathcore beast. Hearing Alex growl in Russian over deep gutturals feels like being attacked by a mythological warlord. It’s one of the strongest openers to a deathcore song in recent memory—and yes, there’s another ridiculous breakdown to seal the deal.
The weirdness returns on “Koschei,” which starts with a clean, acoustic deathcore riff, and keeps going with “Song 3” featuring BABYMETAL, of all bands. This should not work—and yet, it absolutely does. The song is literally just counting “1, 2, 3” for most of the runtime, but somehow it’s heavier than what most bands are doing these days. Alex even tries his hand at Japanese, and his growled delivery of “BABYMETAL” had me howling with joy. It’s absurd, but so much fun.
By the time “Lift That Shit” drops in with the line, “Do not be a fucking pussy,” we’re deep into the back half of the album. Normally, this is where most deathcore records start to fall apart, repeating ideas or numbing you with the same song over and over. Not here. Slaughter to Prevail keeps things dynamic, maintaining that adrenaline and unpredictability, especially as we get into “Behelit”—a standout track for me, opening with a string quartet before plunging into a symphonic deathcore hybrid. It feels like a demonic ballad—something you’d expect if Dimmu Borgir and Nightwish had a lovechild raised by Russian bears. The string interludes genuinely elevate the song, adding a sense of drama and grandeur not typically found in deathcore.
“Rodina” continues the experimental streak, opening with clean guitars and showcasing some of Alex’s best clean vocal work on the album. It’s still heavy, but more restrained—what I imagine a deathcore ballad might sound like. It trades the relentless breakdowns for emotional weight, though it still ends with a necessary final gut punch.
And even though the album does have one filler song in “Conflict”, GRIZZLY makes up for it with “Kid In Darkness and “1984”. That closing track especially blends cleans and heavy sections seamlessly, and while it doesn’t end on a breakdown (surprisingly), it instead fades out with a melodic lead, giving the album a strangely beautiful sendoff after all the carnage.
So where does that leave us? Well, I personally loved this album! I’ve seen a bit of push back from some of my colleagues in this sphere of metal review, calling it “overrated” and “a mess”. And while I disagree with that sentiment, I do get where they might be coming from. The album doesn’t do straight deathcore, and goes in more directions that can make it feel all over the place. That said, after having heard so many deathcore bands write the same 10 songs for one album, this experimentation on GRIZZLY is very welcome.
Every track here has its own identity, its own flavor, and its own sense of violence. It’s rare for a deathcore album to be this fun, this creative, and this relentlessly heavy from start to finish. Even with a few oddball choices, there’s barely a weak moment in the entire runtime.
If this is where Slaughter to Prevail is headed, I want more. Now.
14.5/15
… because this album got me through 14 deadlifts… until Cocaine Bear jumped me halfway through the last one.
Tracklist:
Banditos
Russian Grizzly in America
Imdead (featuring Ronnie Radke)
Babayka
Viking
Koschei
Song 3" (featuring Babymetal)
Lift That Shit
Behelit
Rodina
Conflict
Kid of Darkness
1984
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