NoLifeTilMetal Records has officially licensed the back catalog of a Classic Heavy Metal artist from the early 90’s from the Metal Blade Records catalog, SLAUGHTER HOUSE. Completely remastered and reissued for the first time ever in a way only the NLTM Records team can, and we are pretty stoked about these limited edition titles.
Slaughter House were a working-class metal act out of the Newark area of New Jersey formed in the mid-1980’s. Slaughter House ignored the glitz, glam and gimmicks that were prevalent in a lot of the metal scene from that era. In fact, Metal Blade promoted the band with the following expression, “Slaughter House is proof that licks are more important than looks.”
Slaughter House played for years at every club they could find and accepted every gig they could lay their hands on; from local pool table pubs to world class NYC showcases to opening for national touring acts. Their intensity stems from this classic Jersey cross-breeding of metal styles and sub-genres that the band has been exposed to and forced to share bills with. But Slaughter House would take on a different direction from other bands in the area.
Slaughter House combined their influences of thrash, heavy metal, hard rock and punk to come up with a sound that was distinctly Slaughter House. The band felt labels were needless and decided they were just going to let their music do the talking.
Lyrics were also an important asset to the group as well. Slaughter House felt that if people were listening to their music, they might as well make a statement. Slaughter House made those statements but in a very peculiar way… negatively. Songs like “Crawling At My Command,” “DW Die,” and the “Baby Song” are anti-cocaine, anti-drunk driving, and anti-abortion, respectively. The band never claimed to lead straight-edge lifestyles nor did they want to preach, but they knew the difference between right and wrong and wanted that message to shine. They claim that they never set out to be a negative band but just chose to take this standpoint because it was more aggressive, and not a lot of bands outside maybe the Christian Metal movement were bold enough to make these types of statements.
Slaughter House recorded and released their 10-song demo tape in 1987 to massive fan approval. The band signed to Metal Blade Records in 1989 and released their self-titled album in 1990. The album was a solid, fast and furious mix of metal and thrash with definite punk leanings. In short, this was thrash metal defined. Reviews from the time were mixed with some publications showering praise on their sound while others were making claim that their music wasn’t original and some accusing them of sounding too close to Metallica. (We can only assume those reviewers didn’t actually even listen to the album.)
Their second LP was titled “Face Reality,” and I t was a more powerful and straight-ahead thrash album than its predecessor. Slaughter House looked poised to gain the recognition they deserved. As guitarist Danny Greco said, “Some people start a band to get women, I started one to make good music. I can get women on my own.”
Unfortunately Slaughter House remained one of Metal Blade’s lesser known thrash bands, despite their massive success in their home state and around the East Coast tri-state area. The band’s two albums have been out-of-print and hard-to-find for decades. Now in 2024 NoLifeTilMetal Records and Metal Blade Records are re-releasing both albums, completely remastered. This exceptional new reissue was remastered for this release by Rob Colwell @ Bombworks Sound (Flotsam & Jetsam, Nevermore, Accuser, Sacred Reich) and also features new layouts and designs, with expanded booklets that were done by Scott Waters of NLTM Graphics and Design.
Both “Slaughter House” and “Face Reality” will be limited to only 300 heavyweight, splatter vinyl copies and 500 CD copies of each title.
Remastered edition of “Kick ‘Em When They’re Down” off the S/T debut
Remastered edition of “Getting Away With Murder” off the sophomore and final release ‘Face Reality’