''Slaughter in the Vatican'' is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band

Exhorder Exhorder is an American heavy metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana. They are considered progenitors of the groove-oriented thrash sound later made famous by bands such as Pantera, Lamb of God, White Zombie and Machine Head, and their music ...

, released on October 23, 1990 through

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is an American record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock bands. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. History The label was launched in 1980 in t ...

. It was reissued by Roadrunner in 2003 in a double-disc package with the band's follow-up album '' The Law'' and reissued again in 2008. The album saw the band compared with

Pantera Pantera () is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas formed in 1981, and currently comprised of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-kn ...

, with

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

commenting on the album's "

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

-style double kick drums, chugging

guitar riffs A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accomp ...

played at both slow and blistering tempos, and, to top it all off, the gruff but very expressive lead vocals of frontman Kyle Thomas". On May 25, 2018, ''Slaughter in the Vatican'' was inducted into the

Decibel Magazine ''Decibel'' is a monthly heavy metal magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media since October 2004. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame. The magazine's tag-line is currentl ...

Hall of Fame.

Track listing

Personnel

*Kyle Thomas – vocals *Vinnie LaBella – lead guitar, bass *Jay Ceravolo – rhythm guitar, bass *Chris Nail – drums Production *Arranged by Exhorder *Produced by Exhorder and Scott Burns *Recorded and mixed by Scott Burns at Morrisound Recording (Tampa, Florida) *Mastered by Mike Fuller at Fullersound (Miami, Florida) *All songs published by Roadrunner Music Publishing *Photography by Kurt Coste; artwork and illustrations by Kent Mathieu

References

{{Authority control 1990 debut albums Exhorder albums Roadrunner Records albums Albums produced by Scott Burns (record producer) Albums recorded at Morrisound Recording