Album Review: Sacrificial Blood - "SoulS for Sale"

Sacrificial Bloods’s new record “SoulS for Sale” is a deliciously straightforward affair, unapologetic in its directness. I shall try to honor that by being equally direct in the discussion of it.

With all the image and promotion and jockeying for position and gamesmanship and preening that vies for our musical attention, it’s devilishly easy for artists to get drowned out by big voices and flashy showpieces. If you listen carefully, you can hear Sacrificial Blood calling all of that noise what it is; bullshit.

“SoulS for Sale” is the heart of metal pressed to acetate. It’s all things brash, rude and detuned, recorded in a sea shipping container and punctuated by the rap of a snare drum that must owe the drummer money.

Crunchy like a bag of fresh tortilla chips, Sacrificial Blood rumbles and rolls with song after son of old, blistering thrash and death, embodying the hungry days of metal’s past. There’s a really great solo slipped into the middle of “Tyrant of Pain” and sublime death riffs chug unencumbered throughout the length of “SoulS for Sale.”

It’s part of the album’s highlights; Sacrificial Blood’s ability to not give a crap about presentation or frills or approval and pound ahead. The lead lines of “Hellfire” or “We Rule the Night” are just two of the finer selections, but there are few if any duds to be had.

The album’s only true dud is the vocals, which, if we’re being honest, are pretty awful. It’s a straight-up guttural coughing that does little to accent or advance the music. Luckily for listeners, Sacrificial Blood makes up for this deficiency by simply not singing that much. Each cut offers a couple utterances and then the vocals get the hell out of the way.

So all in all, if you feel too suffocated by all the plumage and ancillary image nonsense that bogs down metal, spend some time connecting to the origins of the genre and what it really always has been about, with “SoulS for Sale.”

D.M

Music Editor

D.M is the Music Editor for Bloodygoodhorror.com. He tries to avoid bands with bodily functions in the name and generally has a keen grasp of what he thinks sounds good and what doesn't. He also really enjoys reading, at least in part, and perhaps not surprisingly, because it's quiet. He's on a mission to convince his wife they need a badger as a household pet. It's not going well.