Shredder 1984 - Shred 'Til You're Dead

I didn't write about this album in my Synthwave 2021 post, so I'll write about it here. Shredder 1984 has a habit of making short albums. This one contains only six songs. But what Shredder 1984 surrenders in quantity, he more than makes up with large amounts of quality. I am totally in love with this approach. Artists need to stop faffing around with hour long albums with 14 songs and a bunch of filler and just focus on writing 6-8 unforgettable tracks.

Shred 'Til You're Dead has six unforgettable tracks. Right from the get-go, the facemelting riffs assault the listener's ears like burst fire from a plasma rifle. The synthesizer tones definitely mimick the sound of heavy distorted metal guitars; guttural roars erupting from infernal caverns. Despite all the pounding rythms and flesh grinding synth riffs, there's still plenty of melody to go around. In many ways, it hearkens back to old school 80's and 90's extreme metal. It definitely did not shy from brutality, but it also contained sprinkles of melody throughout in order to, not only keep the listener engaged, but to generate a dense layer of atmosphere that tugged at the strings of the human soul. I believe comparing Shred 'Til You're Dead to old school extreme metal is perfectly apt. Instead of guitars, it's synthesizers. The only thing missing is the woofing vocals. Although, I don't think that would fit here.

This album is spectacular. I personally believe that 80's and early 90's extreme metal is best metal. To hear Shredder 1984 emulate the feeling of that era so well makes me hyper content. I can't praise this album enough. Some of these synth riffs are heavier than a lot death metal guitar riffs. It's nuts. Now stop faffing around and go get this album.