Customer Reviews

Slaughter in the Vatican / Law

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4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Law has been shaking my car stereo and speakers lately and I decided I'd write a review. Exhorder is little known to most people, however those who do usually know hear that a certain Texas band "copied" them and know little else about them. I for one heard this rumour so I decided to check out for myself. Yes there are alot of moments that Pantera must have been influenced by- but one fact is that the linear notes of both albums THANK Pantera, so its more of a matter of friends influencing friends. At least in my opinion. But the most startling similarity is the vocal stylings of Kyle Thomas. Phil Anselmo definitely listened to the guy, though also Rob Halford (in the early days). However, as Kyle Thomas has recently retracted the claims of Pantera "stealing" their sound, and Pantera is no more anyway, one fact remains. These albums rock! A slight "groove" is found to both, and their complexity almost reaches Death levels at times. Its awesome, hardcore influenced, semi death metal thrash. Highly recommended and a better candidate for a reunion than many of the second tier thrash bands that have recently reformed (I won't mention names). Too bad they were overshadowed by other emerging trends in the early nineties, and too bad it took "The Law" in paticular this long to be reissued. The albums can appeal to fans of everything from Slayer, to Death, to Machine Head to - yes that Texas band that means "Panther"in Spanish. Buy this now!

You can forget the whole Exhorder/Pantera "who bit who's style" it doesn't matter one bit. What does matter is that all self respecting thrash/metal fans need to own this two for one pack as both Slaughter in the Vatican and The Law are two of the best metal records you've never heard, and that needs to change my friends, NOW!!!!

These two albums rip from beginning to end. No filler, just straight up metal to get violent to. My theory on why Exhorder never quite "made it big" is that their lyrical focus was quite a bit more brutal than that of Pantera's. While Pantera was singing about being the Cowboys from Hell, and Primal Concrete Sledges, Exhorder was singing about killings in the holiest of places, homicide, and a lust for [...] (not quite the makings of a top 20 hit you know what I'm saying?). The music while similar to Pantera is actually quite a bit more brutal and technical as well, this band probably would have had more in common with early Sepultura or Death than Pantera if you really dissect the music. Yeah the grooves are there, the vocals are similar, but for the most part this is much more of a thrash/early death metal hybrid. Not too mention Chris Nail is doing things on the kit Vinnie Paul never dreamed of doing on C.F.H (no disrespect to Big Vin).

The bottom line is, all we can do at this point is buy these two records,praise Exhorder for giving us some of the best metal ever released, and hope for a reunion so we can get the pits swirling.

Make no mistake, if you are old school you will slap yourself for not getting these records earlier. It is without a doubt one of the best $20 purchases I've ever made, and I firmly beleive that if you do the same you will agree.........Exhorder is no f'ing joke.

Highly recommended!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have heard "Slaughter in the Vatican" only 2 days ago!!, and it just blew me away, as simple as that. I have been in the metal business for 16 years, and feel so sorry for myself about not listening to these guys before. As someone here said, these albums are the "lost treasures" of thrash. They simply shred!, from beginning to end. If you are a true fan of the old school thrash metal, do yourself a favor and buy this, you will not regret. Moreover, as "Slaughter..." is produced by THE master of all metal producers, Scott Burns, you cannot afford not to have this double album deal.
P.S. The cover for Black Sabbath's "Into The Void" in "The Law" is one of best I have heard.

Roadrunner released many classics long before that mainstream got wind of their capitalistic endeavours circa 1998. In 1989, the metal world was taken by storm by Louisiana's Exhorder via their debut Slaughter In the Vatican, or better yet, it SHOULD have been taken by storm.

Kyle Thomas, Vince Neil and co. pushed the envelope that Slayer had set by adding some unheard-of hardcore influences in their brand of relentless thrash. Thomas's lyrics, while lacking maturity, were shocking in the least and spat at with such force that it could only force the listener to pay attention throughout the album. The Law, while slightly inferior, was even more hardcore-tinged and brutal in performance. However, record label problems forced them to disband shortly after, along with every side-project attempt that the members tried to put together after the band's downfall.

According to metal legend, Phil Anselmo was a road tech for Exhorder during the Vatican performances. Pantera fans even admit that the evolution from "Power Metal" to "Cowboys In the Vatican" is uncanny after hearing Exhorder's recordings. Therefore, metal historians would be right to think that this unknown New Orleans based thrash outfit would be responsible for changing the face of modern metal forever. I've attended several Exhorder shows in the past few years, so don't think that time has truly forgotten this treasure of a band. They may be quiet, but not dead.

Now before you leave me a bunch of nasty comments...I am just kidding, repeat just kidding, both these Cd's in this set are very good, proud to be loud indeed!

Anyway, wow. This is pretty much at times not much like Pantera anyway for the most part, aside from the occasional down tempo groove in between blasts of speed, and the vocals. "The Law" perhaps is more refined in the groove metal thing, but I prefer to listen to "SITV" for some reason. This is really to me extreme thrash, at times I think.....I don't know but it seems there's a drummer with like 4 legs and 4 arms (perhaps 2 drummers?), and at some point I thought I heard a basketball being dribbled in the background while all this is going on by one of the Harlem Globetrotters, seriously...it's astounding the sounds coming out of the speakers at times! And the riffs are executed at times in rapid succession also, it tends to be speedX3.
A great 2-fer, with a couple underrated gems both thrash metal and groove metal or whatever you wanna call-it.... at it's most extreme. Essential for any metal collection of course.

While Exhorder are best known as a possible influence for Pantera, this distracts from the band's own substantial merits, and both "Slaughter in the Vatican" and "The Law" are quality metal albums. Their debut is late period thrash, and not generally innovative, but it displays an intensity and keen, Sepultura-esque riffwriting, that combined with the envenomed, Anselmo-esque vox give this a rather distinct flavor. Despite the bands general rep, "Slaughter in the Vatican" doesn't display a lot of groove, and instead chooses to pulverize the listener with over the top intensity, though they display some occasional atmospherics, and just enough catchy vox to make things memorable. (Also, despite the myriad riffs, "Slaughter in the Vatican" doesn't have quite the dynamics that your later prog-thrash displayed. It's content to assail the listener with little remorse.) "The Law" is quite a bit more modern and Pantera-esque, though it'a late enough that one can't help but wonder whether they really effected the Cowboys From Hell much. (And, for the record, I probably like Exhorder more than Pantera, so I don't assume that Pantera didn't imitate them out of some misguided loyalty.) I've always been more into thrash than groove-thrash, but "The Law" has more pure thrashing intensity than most groove albums while also managing some great thrashing grooves and funky bass work. (See "Unborn Again") "The Law" isn't quite as consistent as the filler free debut, but it's a solid listen from begin to end, and it arguably has a stronger sense of dynamics as well. Also, though I'm generally not much impressed by anti-religious, violent or otherwise offensive lyrics, Exhorder's lyrics frequently display a level of hostility and rancor so great as to make them endearingly outrageous.

Cool stuff, rather underappreciated, and a steal at the combined price. Check it out.

These are excellent CD's (I have the originals). Can't tell you enough how great they are, and that you should go out and buy them. My big question is this-Have they been remastered, or just re-released? If the sound has been remastered/remixed, I would definitely buy this myself.

Okay, everyone says that Pantera ripped these guys off, but I can tell you simply that Exhorder is a lot heavier than Pantera. Sure, Phil sounds a lot like Kyle Thomas, but apart from that Exhorder is faster, meaner, and way more violent. Good stuff.
Slaughter In the Vatican is top notch thrash, with a hint of death metal, recorded in Morrisound, so you know to expect a good sound. My only problem is that there is one part where the drummer screws up a beat, but all the rest of the time he's tearing right along.
The Law is a little bit more groove-heavy, but there's still a great degree of violent riffing going on here. The Black Sabbath cover is a good one, I might add.
So there you have it. If you like Pantera, check these guys out, for a more brutal sound. Even if you're a big fan of really extreme thrash, it would be good to give these albums a listen. For the price of one CD, how can you go wrong?!

I dont write alot of reviews on here because I figure whats the point? However I am forced to respond to the first reviewer on here who said that,"The songs are sloppy and barely digestible in comparison. I realized that comparing these two bands is like comparing lemons and oranges. If Pantera mimics Exhorder, then Exhorder mimics Slayer." First of all this guy is either a ingrate or he has no knowledge of the history of metal. First of all Pantera did mimic Exhoder's sound and were very influenced by there sound. Nothing wrong with that, I enjoyed both bands however to say that Exhorder's songs were sloppy is like comparing a Geo Metro to a Porche, its just ignorant. Exhorder were one of the tightest and most crushing metal bands that have ever played. The Law is a masterpiece and any metal fan who truly appreciates true ferocity is going to like this band.

I can't believe i didn't know about this band ,exhorder is the most intense shredding thrash band i have ever heard since forbidden,but frankly i think exhorder blows everybody away!!I hope it's true that they're making a comeback,because i think i found my new favorite band,if you're a big fan of pantera listen to these guys i think pantera was influenced by them.