REVIEW FROM METAL WARFARE - Avenger of blood is a thrash metal band that has been one of my favorites out of the newer thrash bands. It's old thrash done by old thrash bastards. This is not your retro-pizza party band. They released an EP a couple years back which was more in the death metal vein and their record Death Brigade was just pure on thrash assault in the vein of the Teutonic bands. So this record to me mixes the best of both worlds. “On Slaying Grounds” just by the cover and title you know this is just going to pour molten metal into your brain. So the first track is just a pure thrash assault. With the heaviness and crushing tone of death metal. “Warbound” is bound to break your neck. It’s just a crushing song that I can see them playing live. “Aggressive Psychotic Behavior” has this frantic feel to it. It makes sense especially with that title and it has a great thrashy riff and it kinda reminds me of the Swedish band Hypnosia. Under The Death Cross is just a kick a** title and it delivers. It definitely has quite a bit of death metal riffing and the drumming is excellent on this song. The closer “A Curse From the Grave” is an excellent song to end off on. This whole album is pure death/thrash awesomeness. Avenger Of Blood have once again solidified why they are a force to be reckoned with. This is album is basically what happens when attack dogs get titanium teeth. It’s more brutal than ever before and it goes straight to rip your throat out. So for the people who don’t want to hear your usual bay area thrash rip off this year check out this record. If your put off that they are a (semi) newer band don’t worry these guys aren’t the kids you see with Nike hightops. It’s metal for people who like to bang their necks until they bleed! Avenger of Blood have managed to hit that perfect medium of thrash and death. Kick a** band and kick a** record. REVIEW FROM UNDERGROUND MUSICK ZINE - Avenger Of Blood are a band from Las Vegas, Nevada that plays a very aggressive form of thrash metal with some death metal elements and this is a review of their 2016 album "On Slaying Grounds" which will be released in July by Times Ends Records. Wind sounds start off the album along with some whispers and spoken word samples before going into a very fast and aggressive old school thrash metal direction along with some screaming vocals and blast beats and the music goes for more of an 80's style of thrash metal along with a touch of early death metal. At times the riffs can be very melodic and you can also h ear all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording and the solos and leads also bring in an old school style of thrash and while the music is rooted in the past the production makes the tracks sound more modern and some tracks also add in elements that where considered as being very technical in the mid 80's or early 90's and all of the songs remain very true to a heavy sound. Avenger Of Blood plays a style of thrash that goes back to the 80's German style of the genre while also mixing in some death metal influences to create a very heavy recording, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover apocalypse and post apocalyptic themes. In my opinion Avenger Of Blood are a very great sounding aggressive thrash metal band with a touch of death metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out t his band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "On Slaying Grounds" "Aggressive Psychotic Behavior" "Spawn of Evil" and "A Curse From The Grave". 8 out of 10. REVIEW FROM SKULL FRACTURING METAL - One of the longer running modern thrash bands, Avenger of Blood, has returned in 2016 with their first full-length record in 8 years. I hate to admit it, but this is one band I missed the boat on back when the thrash revival was in full swing. Even now, I still haven’t quite caught up to them, so “On Slaying Grounds” marks my introduction to the band. Much to my surprise, this is actually quite a bit different than I expected. While the band is often noted for their similarities to Kreator, this record shows them playing a style of thrash that is even heavier. In fact, it would be fairer to say that it borders on death metal most of the time. Many of the riffs are clearly written from a thrash perspective, but the rest of the music drives the band towards death metal. For starters, Avenger of Blood’s vocalist is absolutely crushing his vocal chords all throughout this release. He retains some understandability in a lot of his lyrics, but his voice is even harsher than Mille’s, for example. To complement this brutality, the band’s drummer also tends to step things up a notch from the typical thrash beat. There is a fair amount of blasting throughout the record (though it certainly isn’t as prominent as it would be were this a full-on death metal record). The guitar tone is absurdly heavy and crushes everything in its path, while the guitar solos are wild, frenetic, and fast. Unsurprisingly, the increased emphasis on aggression comes at the expense of memorability. While there are several inspired moments throughout this release (particularly on the thrashiest track: "Aggressive Psychotic Behavior"), it doesn’t feel particularly catchy. There isn’t much to scream along to, even after several listens. Rather than knowing exactly what part is coming next in each song, your headbanging is likely to increase or decrease in ferocity as the drums change their intensity. But the key point is that you will be headbanging, and for that reason, “On Slaying Grounds” is more than worthy of a few listens. Admittedly, my expectations were higher on this one, but it is nice to hear a band that edges on death metal still utilizing a ton of thrashy riffs, as it seems a lot of death metal has lost its thrash metal influence these days.