Becoming a complete metalhead is when you stop associating German metal with Rammstein and start with Teutonic thrash. There’s something about Germany that makes thrash metal wilder, filthier and uglier than anywhere else, and without Teutonic thrash, extreme metal would probably sound very different from where it is today.
Knowing and loving this heritage, the Germans Teutonic Slaughter throw their hat into the ring with their third album, Cheap Food, displaying both a ridiculous cover and the conviction to preserve the glory of old Teutonic thrash metal. But staying firmly rooted in the past while sounding vital in the present can be a challenge. Can Teutonic Slaughter pull it off with Cheap Food, or will this record go down hard like a dry currywurst?
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Many bands aren’t good judges of their own sound, but Teutonic Slaughter deliver what they’re after with Cheap Food: a straightforward German thrash, made to hit your bratwurst right away. Teutonic Slaughter‘s riffs roll without restraint or mercy, drawing inspiration from the melodic but almost death metal aggression of Kreator (“Redistribution,” “Hostage”) as singer Phillip Krisch roars and growls with the instability of Sodom‘s Angelripper and the band tries out tracks with reckless, Tankard style, evoking goodwill (“Witches Rock ‘n’ Roll,” “Give em Hell”). Krisch and Jan Heinen’s guitars are heavy and sharp on Cheap Food, reinforced by drummer Christian Vollmer’s thundering hits and Fabian Kellermann’s even heavier bass presence. Power chords dominate Cheap Food, but Teutonic Slaughter stir them in whenever needed, as in the swirling leads of “Cheap Food,” the arpeggios that open “Redistribution” or the harmony-filled chorus of “Witches Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Teutonic Slaughter promised nothing other than good, archetypal German thrash, and Cheap Food has that to the fullest.
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But more impressively, Cheap Food also delivers good thrash to the masses through lean songwriting, blistering energy and savage vocals. Although the songs often linger in the questionable thrash zone of five-plus minutes, Teutonic Slaughter serve up riffs and ideas economically, letting nothing wear out and keeping the energy right at eleven. Except for the back end of “Eviscerating Surgery” and the one-and-a-half-minute “Intro,” Cheap Food is lively across its 36 minutes and flies by as if it were breathless. Teutonic Slaughter sound a volt away from exploding on Cheap Food, baring their teeth on “Redistribution” and “Fight the Reaper” with crossover levels of hardcore intensity reminiscent of Municipal Waste. Personally, I think Krisch’s bestial work on the mic is what gives Cheap Food its wildest flavor, filling songs with deadly screams (“Eviscerating Surgery”), blackened roars (“Witches Rock ‘n’ Roll”), hardcore gang shouts (“Hostage”), and some of the wildest barks and voices on this side of Sodom. The wild vocals over blunt, relentlessly aggressive songs are the head on Cheap Food‘s beer, and brother, it’s overflowing with water.
Teutonic Slaughter have made a simply fun album. You won’t get any radical surprise from Cheap Food, and that’s by design. Instead, Teutonic Slaughter excite through professional performances of classic thrash tracks. Heinen delivers the dive-happy, shredful solos you expect and demand from the genre, leaving all he has in the closer “Give ’em Hell” in a display of unrestrained guitar aggression. Thematically, when they aren’t dealing with social or political issues (“Cheap Food,” “Redistribution”), Teutonic Slaughter enjoy the macabre (“Witches Rock ‘n’ Roll,” “Eviscerating Surgery”) and fist-pumping motivation (“Fight the Reaper,” “Give em Hell”). It isn’t meant to be complicated. Teutonic Slaughter aimed to hammer your brain into engaging with Cheap Food, and if you give it a try, they’ll have easily succeeded.
Worthy of their countrymen’s thrash heritage, Teutonic Slaughter created an incredibly enjoyable album in Cheap Food. With loud, fast and relentless riffs, it’s a record that exists for good times and to create good times. It may drag a little at the end, repeating a short list of moves for half an hour, but Cheap Food proved a surprisingly thrilling listen that I liked even more with each spin. Obviously, if you like thrash, I’ll suggest you try Cheap Food. If not, don’t let the door hit your lederhosen on the way out. Mahlzeit!
Rating : Very good
DR : 6 | Format reviewed : 320 kbps
Label MP3 : Iron Shield Records
Websites : facebook.com/teutonicslaughter | teutonicslaughter.bigcartel.com
Available worldwide : January 30, 2026
The review was done by Angry metal guy.
