Lair Of The Minotaur

Lair of the Minotaur, a Chicago-based outfit, came together during the spring of 2003 when ex-7000 Dying Rats participants Steven Rathbone, handling vocals and guitar, and Donald James Barraca joined forces with Larry Herweg, the drummer from Pelican. Drawing from the crude, anti-human proto-black metal sound first established years before by bands such as Venom and Hellhammer, while incorporating themes drawn from ancient Greek myths, this group put out a six-track EP in the latter part of that same year, securing a deal soon afterward with Southern Lord Records. Carnage marked their initial full-length release in the middle of 2004, succeeded twelve months afterward by the three-track Cannibal Massacre EP, before The Ultimate Destroyer, an even stronger sophomore album, came out at the start of 2006.